Harikrishna upset at Commonwealth Chess

Grandmaster elect Pendyala Harikrishna suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of International Master Graeme Buckley of England to slip to joint second position in the eighth round of the Commonwealth Chess Championship at London.

The previous round leader Harikrishna failed to add to his score of 6 points and shares the second position with Daniel Gormally of England and GM Dimitri Anagnostopoulos of Greece.

The victory helped Buckley emerge as the sole leader on 6.5 points.

GM Abhijit Kunte drew with compatriot GM Pravin Thipsay to be placed fifth on 5.5 points. Thipsay, GM Dibyendu Barua, IM Neeraj Kumar Mishra and Lanka Ravi are among a group of 11 players on 5 points and still in with a chance with two more rounds remaining in the prestigious championship.

The Indian women contingent had a disappointing day with all the three -- Bhagyashree Thipsay, Saheli Barua and Y Prathima succumbing to defeats.

For Harikrishna it was a big let down after having done so well so far. Playing black against Buckley who had lost his first round game here, Harikrishna was certainly not his usual self and lost an interesting middlegame that arose from a French defence game with black pieces.

Playing an old and popular line against the Advance Pawn variaton, Harikrishna wriggled out of opening with only a slightly inferior position and strove for counterplay on both flanks. However, Harikrishna blundered on the 27th move to lose a rook and resigned immediately