In Chess, India's Koneru Humpy went down to Mariya Muzychuk in the second round of the Cairns Cup while compatriot Dronavalli Harika drew with Nana Dzagnidze at St Louis in US. The Ukrainian Grandmaster and former world champion Muzychuk was the best performer of the day who displayed scintillating chess to outplay India's top player and the reigning world rapid champion Humpy early today.

Humpy had opened her campaign with a win over Carissa Yip. The other two victories were clinched by the Russians Kateryna Lagno and Alexandra Kosteniuk who defeated Carissa Yip and Valentina Gunina. The 10-payer tournament concludes on February 17.