India's Harikrishna beats Shakhriyar Mammadyarov

With five rounds still to come, Mammadyarov and Alexei Shirov of Spain are in joint sixth spot on 3 points while Harikrishna is next in line on 2.5 points along with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania. Ukrainian trio of Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Areshchenko and former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov are at the bottom of the tables with just 2 points apiece.

The sixth round produced as many as four decisive games out of a possible 6 and Harikrishna was the first to notch his maiden victory here. The Hyderabad based was in full swing in a four-knights opening that caught Mammadyarov by surprise and the latter went for a risky variation earlier on.

The double edged middle game gave both sides chances and Harikrishna was in his element in working out a terrific attacking plan that spelt disaster for Mammadyarov.

Uncorking a knight sacrifice on the 25th turn Harikrishna got a winning position on board and Mammadyarov resigned after seven more moves.

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