Nations Cup: India to face USA in opening round

Viswanathan Anand-led India will face off against USA in the opening round and Rest of the World in the second round of the Nations Cup.

File Photo: Viswanathan Anand (left) might face familiar foe in the form of USA Fabiano Caruana (right).

Viswanathan Anand-led India will take on formidable USA in the opening round of the $180,000 FIDE Chess.com Nations Cup online chess tournament.

As per the draw released late on Monday, India will face Rest of the World in the second round of the opening day late on Tuesday.

Anand,will play on the top board of the four-board competition, spread over 10 rounds, involving six teams. Vidit Gujrathi, P. Harikrishna and K. Humpy are the other members of the team, with B. Adhiban and D. Harika as reserves.

Star-studded USA’s squad includes Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Leinier Dominguez, Irina Krush, with Wesley So and Anna Zatonskih, as reserves.

In terms of the average rapid ratings of the teams, USA is seeded fourth at 2654 as compared to fifth seed India’s 2611.

In the other opening round action, top seed China plays sixth seed Rest of the World and second seed Europe faces third seed Russia.