Pentala, who hails from the Indian state of Andrha Paradesh, is his country’s second highest ranked player (guess who’s #1!). He has a long list of successes and titles as a junior player, including winning the world junior championships in 2004. His career, despite his young age is already saturated with wins in open and closed events.

Harikrishna, who is a member of his country’s national team, is India’s second youngest to have achieved the GM title (after Negi). He was introduced to the game by his grandfather, and gained his first fame in 1996 when he won the world under 10 championship.

In 2007, Pentala had mixed success in his chess endeavors: He tied for first (with Acs) in the Marx Gyorgy memorial in Hungary (6/10), and did well in the Russian and German leagues – 5.5/9 and 8/10, respectively, without a loss.

This will be his second visit to Corus.