Indian men beat El Salvador, women blank New Zealand

Tania Sachdev was a late winner on the second board in the ladies section, where India won 4-0.

Sasikiran settled for a draw with Carlos Burgos Figueroa after 52 moves.

As expected, fifth seed India made a winning start to its campaign in the Chess Olympiad , by beating El Salvador 3.5-0.5 with Viswanathan Anand being rested and K. Sasikiran dropping half-a-point here on Monday.

On a day when all the leading teams were triumphant, P. Hari Krishna and B. Adhiban won from the white side while Vidit Gujarati looked dominating with black pieces to set up the winning margin. Sasikiran, rated 2672, battled against Carlos Burgos Figueroa, with a modest rating of 2222, for 52 moves before settling for a draw.

Among the ladies, where India blanked New Zealand 4-0, Tania Sachdev was a late winner on the second board after the troika of K. Humpy, Eesha Karavade and Padmini Rout won with ease. D. Harika was rested.

The results (first round): Open: India beat El Salvador 3.5-0.5 (P. Hari Krishna bt Jorge Ernesto Giron; Vidit Gujarati bt Ricardo Ernesto Chavez; B. Adhiban bt Daniel Arias; K. Sasikiran drew with Carlos Burgos Figueroa). Women: New Zealand lost to India 0-4 (Helen Milligan lost to K. Humpy; Vyanla Punsalan lost to Tania Sachdev; Jasmir Haomo Zhang lost to Eesha Karavade; Qin Nicole Shu Yu lost to Padmini Rout).