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Shivika Rohilla came up with an inspired effort to shock Grandmaster RR Laxman in the first round of the 19th Delhi International Grandmasters Chess tournament in New Delhi on Tuesday.
14-year-old Shivika was on song in, probably, the best performance of her career as she matched the Grandmaster's move for a long time. Laxman enjoyed the advantage throughout the game with his white pieces but Shivika was quick to pounce on an opportunity that netted her a fine game. The result was never in doubt thereafter.
Grandmaster Cristhian Camilo Rios of Colombia was held to a draw by FIDE Master Muhammed Shuaau of the Maldives.
Seeded players move up smoothly on Day 1 of chess tournament
The first day witnessed most of the top seeds sailing through in the opener over their lesser-known rivals. Rios found the going tough in the early phase itself and Shuaau was able to pull off a half point without much ado.
National champion Arjun Erigaisi started the tournament campaign in style, beating Manigandan SS. A five-time Commonwealth champion and champion of this event in 2020, Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta made a winning start at the expense of Women's International Master Angela Franco Valencia of Colombia.
Fresh from his title triumph at the Guwahati Open, second seed Pavel Ponkratov started the event on a winning note against Bala Kannamma.
Earlier in the day, the event was formally inaugurated by Dr Sanjay Kapoor, President of the All India Chess Federation. Bharat Singh Chauhan, Honorary Secretary of AICF and President of Delhi Chess Association, meanwhile, announced that the next event will be held for ₹1.25 crore as a prize fund.
Important Results (Round 1) (Indians unless otherwise stated)
Manigandan SS (0) lost to GM Arjun Erigaisi (1)
GM Pavel Ponkartov of Russia (1) beat Bala Kannamma (0)
WIM Angela Franco Valencia of Colombia (0) lost to GM Abhijeet Gupta (1)
GM Neuris Delgado Ramirez of Paraguay (1) beat Soham Datar (0)
FM Joydeep Dutta (0) lost to GM Sethuraman SP (1)
GM Gukesh D (1) beat Sudarshan Bhat (0)
CM Dhruv Khosla (0) lost to GM Lalith Babu MR (1)
GM Visakh NR (1) beat CM Akila Kavinda of Sri Lanka (0)
Santu Mondal (0) lost to GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (1)
GM Iniyan P (1) beat Indrajeet Mahindrakar (0)
Sri Sai Baswanth P (0) lost to GM Masoud Modadeghpour of Iran (1)
GM Mitrabha Guha (1) beat FM Purushothaman T (0)
Hemanth Raam (0) lost to GM Arjun Kalyan (1)
GM Harsha Bharathakoti (1) beat Shiva Pavan Teja Sharma (0)
FM Sidhant Gaikwad (0) lost to GM Adham Fawzy of Egypt
GM Karthik Venkatraman (1) beat Vedant Nagarkatte (1)
IM Romesh Weerawardane of Sri Lanka (0) lost to IM Raahul VS (1)
GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan (1) beat Soham Bhattacharya (0)
Joel Paul Ganta (0) lost to IM Arash Tahbaz of Iran (1).
