With the top boards featuring players separated by over 1000 rating points, results came on expected lines in the opening round of the Rs. 46-lakh Delhi International Open chess tournament on Thursday.
S. P. Sethuraman and Aravindh Chithambaram seeded one and two, cruised to expected triumphs over teenaged Tapojit Majumdar and M.Giridharan at the Nehru Stadium.
Tapojit resigned in 25 moves just when Sethuraman was preparing to launch a decisive queenside offensive. Giridharan found himself in a checkmating net and gave up after 26 moves. Georgia’s Levan Pantsulaia, the strongest overseas challenger and seeded three, needed 32 moves to down Aswin Reddy before Russian Mikhail Kobalia emerged as the quickest winner on the top-10 boards by beating Yatee Kothari in just 21 moves.
Teenage Russian Volodar Muruzin checkmated T. V. Subramanian in 32 moves while under-10 Heet Baldawa kept Polish Grandmaster Michal Krasenkow busy for 38 moves before resigning.
Former National champion M. R. Lalit Babu, the third Indian among the top-10 seeds, overpowered Aditya Jain in 31 moves for a winning start.
The first 28 boards produced predictable winners until a walkover from a higher-rated player broke the sequence.
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