Kunte, Sasikiran draw opening matches

By Rakesh Rao

NEW DELHI, NOV. 27. Grandmasters Abhijit Kunte and K. Sasikiran drew their respective opening matches of round one but Dibyendu Barua crashed to defeat as the World chess championship opened at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here on Monday. On a day when the covering mediapersons went through a harrowing experience waiting for the pairing sheets to be made available until the fourth hour of the match, majority of matches ended in with honours even.

With the bigger names of the game entering the contest only in the second round, the lesser mortals chose to go a litte easy. Among them was L. Van Wely. The Dutch, playing white, quickly agreed for a 14-move draw with Karen Asrian of Armenia and provide the first result of the championship.

But the Indian interest naturally hovered around the performances of its trio of GMs.

Playing against a much higher rated Brazlian GM Gilberto Milos, Kunte drew with white pieces. This result left the Indian pleased since he was a bit surprised by the Ruy Lopez opening adopted by the rival who is otherwise known for his preference for Sicilian Defence.

Milos, a semifinalist at the World Cup in September, offered a pawn on the 23rd move after a the match followed theory well into the middle-game. Kunte, who had sensibly delayed biting the bait, chose his time to take the pawn and also went on to deny Milos the control he had aspired to gain on the long black diagonal. The double-bishop advantage enjoyed by Milos meant Kunte had to make precise use of his two knights. Finally, Milos chose to force a draw by repetition of moves leading to the 31st move. Sasikiran played solidly against the underdog from Zambia, Anan Simutowe, and drew in 23 moves of King Indian Defence. With Sasikiran set to play with white pieces on Tuesday, there is ample hope for the Indians to see a second Indian, after Viswanathan Anand, in the second round.

Barua suffered a tame loss at the hands of Kazakh GM Evgeny Vladimirov 59 moves. Vladimirov, feared for his end-game tactics, opted for an outside line of this French Defence game, that followed the Tarrasch Variation.

Sitting behind the brighter pieces, Barua tried to put pressure on the rival's queen-side but soon the plan proved futile. Vladimirov, who had coached the Indians, particularly Barua, in preparing for the Olympiad, enjoyed a clear psychological advantage and it showed. He managed to break into Barua's defences from the kingside, exchanged some pieces and reached a queen-bishop versus queen-knight ending. It was here that Vladimirov won a pawn and gained another following the exchange of minor pieces. Thereafter, it did not take Barua long to resign.

The results (Round One : Game One) : Victor Bologan (MDA) drew with Hannes Stefansson (ISL); Jonathan Speelman (Eng) bt Bartlomeij (Pol); Sakaev bt Volkov; Christopher Lutz (Ger) drew with Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (Ira); Fabian Fiorito (Arg) lost to Joel Benjamin (USA); Alex Yermolinsky (US) bt Mohammad Al-Modiahki (Qat); I. Hakki (Sur) lost to U. Akianto (Ina); L. Van Wely (Ned) drew with K. Asrian (Arm); A. Simutowe (Zam) drew with K. Sasikiran (Ind); A. Kunte (Ind) drew with G. Milos (Bra); E. Vladimirov (Kaz) beat Dibyendu Barua (Ind); A. Rustemov (Rus) drew with P. Tregubov (Rus); A. Lesiege (Can) bt R. Vasquez (Chi); J. Norguieras (Cub) drew with Jan Ehlvest (Est); M. Godena (Ita) drew with V. Lordaschescu (Mda); G. Serper (US) bt A. Bagheri (Iri); E. Agrest (Swe) lost to A. Onishchuk (Ukr); E. Dizdavrvic (Bih) drew with L. Psakhis (Isr); V. Nenednichy (Rom) drew with H. I. Labib (Egy); I. Zaja (Cro) drew with V. Balkan (Ukr); A. Bezgodov (Rus).

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