Pendyala Harikrishna Wins Edmonton International Chess Tournament
Pendyala Harikrishna
Grand Master Pendyala Harikrishna won the 10th Edmonton International round robin Chess tournament at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The World No. 25 took the first place in the 10-player round robin event held from 20th to 29th June 2015. He scored 7.5 points from 9 games to beat the Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk, who finished second. Ivanchuck was the defending champion.
As a result he improved his FIDE rating to 2740, according to an official media release.
Harikrishna had six wins and three draws on his way to the title.
In the opening round, Harikrishna faced Olympic Gold Medalist Samuel Shankland of USA.
His second round opponent was Matras Clement from Poland and Harikrishna smoothly overcame him.
The fifth round was a bit tricky for him against Dale Haessel. However, he defeated the veteran who has played all ten editions of the tournament.
The game against Vassily was of extreme importance. An unusual mistake by the defending champion allowed Harikrishna to advance.