World Chess Championships | Indian men stun Sweden as women stop Georgia

The perfect start in the first round was provided by Grandmaster B Adhiban on the top board as he did well to craft the white pieces for others to capitalize. His teammates didn’t disappoint him either with the likes of Surya Shekhar Ganguly having an easy win over Axel Smith while SP Sethuraman overcame Linue Johansson easily. However, the second board saw Krishnan Sasikiran conceding a half point to Erik Blomqvist.

India were definitely the better side given their massive winning margin and only defending champions China could match it as they overpowered Azerbaijan with the same 3.5-0.5 margin. Iran had a relatively young side in the tournament and although they lost to Russia 1.5-2.5, they did win hearts for their effort.

England also made a winning start with a 2.5-1.5 win over Kazakhstan while United States defeated Egypt 3-1. As per points table, all the four India, China, Russia, USA and England are now on two match points as the others wait to open their account.

The women’s category saw India hold Georgia to a 2-2 draw after some brilliant display by Soumya Swaminathan on the second board. Playing against Meri Arabidze, she had higher stakes of restoring parity for her side as Padmini Rout had lost to Nino Batsisashvili. Previously, on the top board, Eesha Karavade also did well against Bela Khotenashvili while compatriot Bhakti Kulkarni, on the fourth, staved off the pressure from Melia Salome.

Armenian women started with an easy 4-0 victory over Egypt while Russia beat Kazakhstan 3-1. US, however, played a sort of upset to hold off Ukraine for a draw, while China defeated Hungary 3.5-0.5 margin.

Results round 1 open: India beat Sweden 3.5-0.5 (B Adhiban beat Nils Grandelius; Erik Blomqvist drew with K Sasikiran; Surya Shekhar Ganguly beat Axel Smith; Linus Johansson lost to S P Sethuraman); China beat Azerbaijan 3.5-0.5; Iran lost to Russia 1.5-2.5; England beat Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5; Egypt lost to USA 1-3.

Women: India drew with Georgia 2-2 (Eesha Karavade drew with Bela Khotenashvili; Meri Arabidze lost to Soumya Swaminathan; Padmini Rout lost to Nino Batsiashvili; Melia Salome drew with Bhakti Kulkarni); Russia beat Kazakhstan 3-1; Egypt lost to Armenia 0-4; China beat Hungary 3.5-0.5; Ukraine drew with USA 2-2.