The first round saw some exciting games in the highest category tournament of the country with Abhijeet Gupta holding out Krishnan Sasikiran to a draw, and Ukrainian Anton Korobov also signing peace with Evgeny Alekseev of Russia.
It was a tense affair for Negi after he made a slight error in the endgame arising out of a Grunfeld defense.
Playing black, the Indian said he was quite satisfied with his preparation.
"I played a home-cooked idea which worked quite well for me in the middle game as I equalised quite easily. It should have been an easy draw but I made this slight error that gave Radek (Wojtaszek) some chances."
In the endgame, the Polish GM tried hard but could not really make an impact after running short of time. The game was agreed drawn after 50 moves when it was no longer possible to penetrate through the fortress.
Abhijeet played the most exciting game of the day but the Indian conceded that it was just a blunder that led to complexities.
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Playing the white side of a Chabanenko Slav, Abhijeet got a symbolic advantage out of the opening, which grew after Sasikiran parted with his light Bishop for a Knight.
"I was thinking that perhaps I was slightly worse but his plan allowed me to get a level position just while I was a little worried," said Sasikiran after the game. (MORE)