Corus Chess participant P Harikrishna

Viswanathan Anand, Carlsen, and Kramnik are Chesshousehold names. But how many of the others invited to this years Corus Chess tournament do we know? We present these talented but relatively lesser known players in a different, interesting way. Be aware that most of them are super stars in their own country/region.

Pentala Harikrishna

Look at this www.chessmetrics.com list.

1 Kramnik, Vladimir 2541
2 Bu Xiangzhi 2520
3 Kundin, Alexander 2494
4 Radjabov, Teimour 2474
5 Leko, Peter 2466
6 Kamsky, Gata 2462
7 Polgar, Judit 2458
8 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2452
9 Bacrot, Etienne 2432
10 Harikrishna, Pentala 2381

According to Jeff Sonas, this is the list of the highest ratings of 14 year olds, ever!
Sure, No. 3 Kundin is not popular, but No. 10 is not a bad ranking to have, especially if you go down the list and find Jakovenko, Aronian, Naiditsch, Short, Kasimdzhanov, and last but not the least Topalov at Nos 12, 13, 17, 30, 44 and 50! i warned you No. 10 is not bad! (Probably No. 11 now that Carlsen is on the scene after that list was lasted updated in 2005)

Harikrishna is the third seed in the tournament after Naiditsch and Nisipeanu and ahead of Ni Hua (Yes the London tourney player!) He has to contend with a host of other strong players such as, Sutovsky, Wesley So, Howell, and Anish Giri among others.

In his career Harikrishna has won age group titles notable ones being the U-10 when he burst onto the Indian scene and the Junior World Championship title. Hari has good wins over Nisipeanu (2004), Mamedyarov, Almasi (2006), and Dominguez (2005). Notable tournament wins include the Cat. 17 Bermuda International, Essent Hoogeveen and the Max Gyorgy Memorial. He has been awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in India for his solid performances in the international chess scene. Harikrishna is the second highest rated Indian after Anand in India today.