Hari in line to replace Anand as top-ranked Indian player

This is mainly because of Anand’s abysmal performance in Gibraltar and not particularly because of Hari’s great run there. True, Harikrishna is among the four leaders with 6.5 points each after eight rounds but he has so far added only about five rating points to his current tally (2755). Anand’s drop is unprecedented as he is down 24 points after his eighth round draw and if does not stem the rot, he would go down to 2760-level for the first time in 10 years and take second position in Indian charts for the first time in almost 31 years. 

At the home stretch, the Gibraltar is like a steeplechase event. There are 16 players in the top two positions, four in the lead and 12 on six points currently jockeying for space as they attempt to negotiate the final two hurdles. 

The top board game between the leader David Antón Guijarro of Spain and Li Chao of China ended in a draw after promising a result with black and white holding a slight edge at different stages in the middle game. The Spanish GM’s draw meant seven players had a chance to catch up with him on the top. Only three managed that.

Harikrishna, meeting an Indian for the fourth time in the tournament, played like Carlsen, employing the modest London System and gradually outplayed Vidit Santosh Gujrathi. Hari broke open the King-rook file after winning a pawn and finished off the game in 33 moves with a piece sacrifice. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Etienne Bacrot (both France) too joined Guijjaro and Hari in the lead with eighth-round wins. India’s Abhijeet Gupta, SP Sethuraman and MR Lalith Babu were among the 12 players in second position. Sethuraman and Abhijeet Gupta drew their games against Chinese players Yu Yangyi and Ni Hua respectively. Lalith Babu played a remarkable game to outwit former Challenger Nigel Short of England. 

Indian women had a poor day as Dronavalli Harika lost to Zoltan Almasi of Hungary and Padmini Rout bowed to Lenic Luka of Slovenia.