Harikrishna would begin aggressively then lose steam midway through the games and end up losing all games. Sensing his talent, the grandfather organised a tournament in his village Pratipadu near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. It was the first board-ploy he learnt, from his grandfather who introduced him to the game when he was barely five. But the Indian is too experienced to fall for such tricks. His opponent, a familiar veteran who defended as stodgily as the victorious Greece of Euro 2004, would dangle an easy pawn capture, or move his pieces so that Harikrishna might be tempted into an attacking move, whereupon he could counterattack. So, most of his early moves could be called defensive -building a wall around his king, stealthily moving pawns into positions where they could attack as well as defend, if need be. Harikrishna explains his philosophy: “I don’t rush my moves, and would go for a win only when the patterns are clear.” He does not do the spectacular, or the outrageous, a reason perhaps he’s underestimated, though he has been India’s number two behind Viswanathan Anand for a long time and held in high respect among his peers. Put the opponent under pressure with dour defence, block out his attacking paths, bottleneck him, induce mistakes and then go for the soft-kill. That is the essence of his game, irrespective of his openings.
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