Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika did not disappoint as she won her first round against Sopiko Guramishvili of Georgia. After Koneru Humpy, all eyes were on her as she won the first round of the Womens World Chess Championship on Monday. Harika won 2.5-1.5. Unfortunately, Rout went down to Zhansaya Abdumalik of Kazakhastan by a similar result.
Koneru Humpy earlier managed to get in the second round of the 64-player knockout tournament. The Petroff defense by Harika seemed to work in her way as the queens got traded early on in the match, and then she established dominance. Sopiko had the mindset of exchanging pieces and ultimately ended up Surrendering Bishop pair.
Rout lost her second game after drawing the first with black against Zhansaya. The English opening going as white, Rout got outplayed after slight advantage at the beginning of the match.
