Grandmaster and highest ranked Indian junior Vidit Gujrathi outclassed compatriot Parab Ritviz to get off to a fine start in the World Junior Chess Championship here today.
It turned to be an expected start from fourth seed Gujrathi who gave no chances with his black pieces against a much lower ranked Ritviz and the outcome of the game was never in doubt once the opening was over.
The opening round had its share of upsets and from the Indian perspective, recently-crowned under-10 world champion Nihal Sarin brought cheers for the home crowd defeating International Master Jonathan Westerberg of Sweden.
Playing for the first time against an International Master, the 10-year-old scored what will be surely known as one of the most dramatic opening round games of world junior championships ever.
For the records, Sarin played the Queen pawn and faced the Bogo indian defense as white and outwitted Westerberg in the endgame wherein he had two pieces for a rook. The 94-moves marathon would generally leave a seasoned master tired, but the youngster was still raring to go and is now waiting for his next victim.
"There was no tension in the game," Sarin said nonchalantly after what seemed like a routine day in office.
Among the Indian seeds, Grandmaster Sahaj Grover also romped home with his white pieces against A Abhishek. It was a positional display by Grover out of a queen pawn opening and even as he had to sweat a little in the middle game, the Indian was satisfied with his performance.
At the top of the tables, the top two seeds Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia and Robin van Kampen of Holland had it easy against M Chakravarthi Reddy and Jan Rindlisbacher of Switzerland respectively.
In the girls' championship being organised simultaneously, Woman Grandmaster Padmini Rout got off to a flier at the expense of Karolina Turkova of Slovakia. Playing black, it was a good beginning for Padmini as the highest ranked Indian in the fray.
Madhurima Shekhar caused an upset in this section defeating Lisa Schut of Holland from the black side of a French defense. The Indian girl displayed resolve after attaining a balanced middle game and Bishops of opposite colours worked in her favour.
