Harika held by Shamima in Women's World Chess Championship opener

Fourth seed Grandmaster Dronavalli Harika was held to a surprising draw by lower ranked Shamima Akter Liza of Bangladesh in the first game of the first round of the Women's World Chess Championship, here.

Harika, who started the first round contest as an overwhelming favourite, tried hard with the black pieces but Shamima was quite up to the task to match the Indian star move-for-move. In the return game now the Indian will play with white and is likely to press hard for the victory. International Master Padmini Rout, however, got off to a good start as she played out a draw with Grandmaster Elina Danielian of Armenia, who played white.