World Chess Championship: India finishes second in Pool A

India will take on Kazakhstan in the last-eight stage. Bhakti got the better of Natacha Benmesbah in a 51-move encounter while Mary beat Silvia Alexieva, also in 51 moves. 

D Harika, the top Indian player in the event, shared the honours with Marie Sebag in a 45-move game while Tania Sachdev drew with Andreea Navrotescu in 34 moves. In the fourth round, India lost by a scoreline of 1-3 to the top-seeded Russia late on Tuesday. India finished the league phase with three wins, a draw and a loss.