Good opening round for Indians

Harikrishna, the favourite in the section, was forced to share the point by Oscar Gutierrez Castillo of Spain while MR Venkatesh, who won the bronze in the U-12 section in the last edition, was also held to a draw by Russia8217;s Dmitry Kokorev.

Among the other Indians to tally full points were Sunil Rangarajan, who won against Jorge Martinez Perez of Spain in the boys8217; U-12 section and Rahul Sangma who beat Simon Fandler of Australia in the boys8217; U-10 first round.

In an English opening game, Humpy obtained a strong positional advantage in the middle game and thereafter coasted to a fine win by attacking on the Kingside, forcing her opponent to resign in 32 moves.

Karvade, also playing in the same section, won in a Sicilian Defence game when her opponent traded pieces. Esha won easily as Basak Snylu overlooked an immediate capture and blundered a piece.

In girls8217; U-14, Tania played a long manoeuvring game from the black side of the closed Sicilian defence. Neither player could secure definite advantage and they finally agreed to split the point on the 41st move.

Harikrishna opted for his favourite English opening against Oscar Gutierrez Castillo. The game went into a closed position where Harikrishna8217;s opponent held a slight edge. However, the Indian defended well to salvage half a point.

Pratibha obtained a strong positional advantage in a Ruy Lopez game against Katarina Jonoska in girls8217; U-16 when her opponent made a wrong move in the opening. The Tamil Nadu girl won a pawn in the middle game and thereafter played strongly to net a full point.

In the boys8217; U-14, MR Venkatesh played a tough game and held an advantage in the rook and pawn vs rook endgame. But the Indian could not press home his advantage due to time pressure and had to share the point after 67 moves.

Valay Parikh opted for the closed variation against the Sicilian defence of his highly rated opponent Dmitry Kokerev of Russia in boys8217; U-18. Although Parikh played well he was outwitted by his strong opponent in 41 moves.