Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi was held to a draw by little known Basher Iyti but the Indian team coasted off to a 3.5-0.5 victory over Syria in the 41st Chess Olympiad here today.
On what turned out to be an indifferent start from Negi, the Indian was staring at a shocking loss in the first round but survived, thanks to Iyti missing out on some simple winning moves. The Indian, however, sensed that he had no chances just in time and his peace offer was something that Iyti could not refuse after 44 moves.
On the remaining three boards, the Indian men scored victories. S P Sethuraman used his white pieces to beat Hasan Omrani, Akhras Khaled proved no match for B Adhiban, while M R Lalith Babu had it easy against Ward Al-Tarbosh to complete the Indian triumph.
Highest rated Indian, Krishnan Sasikiran was rested in the opener.
There were no surprises in the opening round and fancied teams scored easy victories. Match point being the case here, each of the winning team got two points apiece.
In the Women's Olympiad, which is being held simultaneously, the Indian eves had little problems in outwitting New Zealand 4-0.
Led by Tania Sachdev on the top board, it was an expected whitewash.
Sachdev defeated Helen Miligen on the top board as D Harika dropped herself in the first round. Eesha Karavade put it across Marani Meyer, while Mary Ann Gomes and Padmini Rout accounted for Judy Gao and Nicole Tsoi to ensure a perfect score.
