HYDERABAD: After her runner-up finish in the Women's online speed
chess
tournament to Chinese top ranked player GM Hou Yifan, Grand Master
Dronavalli Harika
is ready for the
World Cup
starting in Sochi, Russia, on July 12.
The former world women's online blitz champion was leading 4-2 in the final against a four-time women's world champion Yifan before an internet glitch cost her the game and eventually the match at 13-15.
Harika, who has an ELO rating of 2515, is now looking forward to an on-board tournament, which she will be playing after more than one year.
"Overall, I am satisfied with my performance in the Online tournament. I played against some very strong opponents. I was playing the online blitz tournament after a very long gap. My last online blitz tournament was in 2015. It's a good positive result ahead of the World Cup," Harika told TOI on Friday.
Harika reached the final by beating reigning world blitz champion
Kateryna Lagno
of Russia and world champion Kateryna Lagno of France and didn't want to blame her loss on the internet. "It could have gone either way. The internet glitch might have slightly affected me as it was at the back of my mind. I am satisfied overall."
Now, Harika is focused on the World Cup. "It's my first on-board game after a very long time. I last played an on-board game at
Swiss Grand Prix
in March last year. I'm not really thinking of the result. Besides, it will be played in a completely different format. Since it's a knockout tournament it will be very unpredictable. So I just want to go there and enjoy my game," she said.
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