Indian International Master Padmini Rout continued her fine form holding eighth seed Chinese GM Zhao Xue to a creditable draw in the first game of the second round of World Women's Chess Championship, here today.
After beating 25th seed Elina Danielian of Armenia in the first round of the knock-out championship, Padmini displayed courage and accuracy to hold another higher ranked opponent playing with black pieces.
In the match against Danielian too, Padmini had drawn the first game and had went on to win the second as white.
The other Indian in the fray, Dronavalli Harika continued to hunt for her form and played a rather quick draw with Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan.
Harika, who struggled a long time before pulling it off in the opening round against Shamima Akter Liza of Bangladesh, surprising took a draw in a mere 17 moves playing with white.
The Indian will now have an unenviable task of playing with black pieces in the return game and if the deadlock continues, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Top seed Ju Wenjun of China scored her third victory on the trot and took and early lead against Chinese Zhu Chen, who represents Qatar.
Ukrainian second seed Anna Muzychuk also maintained a clean slate thus far and put it across Alina Kashlinskaya of Russia.
With just 32-players remaining in the championship that started with 64-players, Georgian Sopiko Guramishvili also made a strong case for entering the third round by beating Nalaiya Buksa of Ukraine.
There are four more rounds remaining in the championship, each round has two games under normal time control followed by the tiebreak games. The total prize pool is 450000 USD (About Rs. 3 Crores).
Padmini Rout faced the London system from Zhao Xue as black. The opening was a clear indication that the Chinese player did not want a theoretical discussion and the Indian probably did not mind that either.
The middle game saw Padmini under some pressure but consistent play ensured that she maintained parity in the endgame.
Harika started with the King pawn and faced the Sicilian defense. The players entered less trodden paths early in the middle game and Harika decided against any risky play in a dynamic position.
Complete results round 2 game 1: Zhu Chen (Qat) lost to Ju Wenjun (Chn); Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) beat Alina Kashlinskaya (Rus); Inna Gaponenko (Ukr) drew with Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus); D Harika (Ind) drew with Dinara Saduakassova (Kaz); Olga Zimina (Rus) lost to Nana Dzagnidze (Geo); Valentina Gunina (Rus) lost to Ni Shiqun; Melia Salome (Geo) drew with Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul);
Zhao Xue (Chn) drew with Padmini Rout (Ind); Anna Ushenina (Ukr) beat Tan Zhongyi (Chn);Nino Batsiashvili (Geo) drew with Nino Khurtsidze (Geo); Huang Qian (Chn) drew with Natalija Pogonina (Rus); Shen Yang (Chn) beat Anastasia Savina (Rus); Sopiko Guramishvili (Geo) beat Nataliya Buksa (Ukr); Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) drew with Pia Cramling (Swe); Pham, Le Thao Nguyen (Vie) drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus); Anastasia Bodnaruk (Rus) lost to Olga Girya (Rus).
