Grand Master Harika Dronavalli adjudged best women's player in Eurasian Blitz

Close on the heels of breaking into the top ten in the classical rankings list, Grand Master Harika Dronavalli has put another achievement next to her name by winning the best women's player award in the Eurasian Blitz chess tournament in Kazakhstan. Last week the chess player had moved up to number 9 in the rankings thanks to being declared the best woman player at the Zalakaros International Chess Festival in Hungary

Dronavalli took home a cash prize of $2500 and 60 ELO points for her performance in the Kazakhstan tournament. "I am really delighted to win these two awards back to back," an elated Harika stated, reported by TOI.

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The Blitz tournament wasn’t an easy one for the 25-year-old as she was competing with some elite field champions, which included world number one Hou Yifan of China. Tied with Yifan with 12.5 points at the end of the tournament, she managed to win the tie-breaker and emerge victorious. Another key player she beat was Russia's GM Boris Savchenko who is rated 2706 in the Blitz chess.

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Harika’s entry into the tournament was a sudden one as she got the invitation at the last minute when she was already in Europe. Well, she will be glad she made it!

Feature Image Credit: Sportskeeda.com