Humpy wins, Harika loses in Cairns Cup

St Louis: Indian players had mixed fortunes in the fifth round of the Cairns Cup Chess here with Koneru Humpy posting a win and D Harika suffering a defeat.

Humpy returned to winning ways with a superb victory against overnight leader Nana Dzagnidze with black pieces on Tuesday. She had suffered a defeat in the second round and shared points in the third and fourth rounds after opening with a crushing win over Carissa Yip. She is on three points after five rounds, half a point behind the leaders -- Wenjun Ju and Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Humpy, the world rapid champion, outlasted her rival in a long-draw 83-move game. Dzagnidze, who had been in good touch in previous games, was undone in Lady Gambit game as the Indian ace capitalised after gaining a pawn. World champion Wenjun Ju posted a win over Katernya Lagno, despite making errors which her Russian opponent could not capitalise on. Harika was beaten by Valentina Gunina in a Sicilian Closed game in 38 moves. It was Harika's first defeat in the 10-player tournament.

Meanwhile, former world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk outplayed Mariya Muzychuk to join Ju at the top. Young American Carissa Yip, who had faced four straight defeats, opened her account with a win over compatriot Irina Krush. In the sixth round, Humpy faces Kosteniuk while Harika comes up against the current world champ Wenjun Ju.