Moscow, May 20, 2017: After a defeat in the last game, Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna bounced back to draw against Russian GM Evgeny Tomashevsky in the seventh round of the FIDE Moscow Grand Prix 2017 at the DI Telegraph here late on Friday night.
World No. 16 Indian, playing with white pieces got off to a good opening and it was evenly poised for much of the initial phases. But he miscalculated his 24th move which allowed the Russian to take advantage mid-way into the game but the Indian hung on and with time running out both the players decided to share the point.
“Kc2 was a bad move allowing Black's maneuver Bb7-Bc6. After the time control the position was more in favour of Black, but eventually it finished in a draw,” Harikrisha said after the match.
Harikrishna now has three points and is placed 15th on the points table. He will take on Russia GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the next round later tonight.
With two more rounds remaining, Harikrishna is still in contention to finish in the top half of the table and amass maximum ratings points from the campaign and stay afloat in his hunt for a spot at the Candidates Tournament.