Kunte, Bhagyashree crash out

National champion Abhijit Kunte and International Woman Master Bhagyashree Thipsay on Wednesday crashed out of the FIDE World Chess Championships, leaving favourite Vishwanathan Anand and Krishnan Sasikiran as the only Indian hopes at the prestigious event.

Bhagyashree fought valiantly before she was subdued in the sudden death of the tie-breaker in a tension-filled match that left both the players exhausted.

Young Grandmaster Sasikiran made history on Tuesday by making it to the second round when he defeated Zambia's Amon Simutowe in the second game of the first round for 1.5-0.5 result.

The other Indians - GM Dibyendu Barua, WGM S Vijayalakshmi and S Meenakshi - all perished in the first round on Tuesday, after succumbing to their opponents meekly.

Kunte opened his campaign in the tie-break against GM Gilberto Milos of Brazil with a slight edge but mishandled the positions with Black to let pass the advantage and lose 0.5-1.5.

In the first game Abhijit Played Ruy Lopez opening and also got slight edge in the position but could not materialise the advantage and the game was drawn as he had difficult task of beating the Brazilian with Black.

The second game started with Kunte's pet Nimzo Indian defence, but he mishandled the position and got into minus.

Kunte's 23rd move g6 allowed terrific attack on his king side and Milos did not miss the golden opportunity to strike. He shattered Kunte's kingside and the Indian resigned when he faced an unavoidable mate on the board.

Bhagyashree on the other hand gave astonishing fight to Peng Zhaoqin of the Netherlands despite losing the first game of the 25-minute time control.

The Indian bounced back in the second to level scores as the two players moved into the two-game 15-minute rapid games.

Former national champion brightened her hopes winning the first with Black and only a draw in the second would have earned her the place in the next round.

In severe time pessure, Bhagyashree blundered the full rook in the rook versus rook and bishop ending and lost on 66th move.

In the sudden death blitz, Bhagyashree lost the first game after Peng put her in tremendous pressure.

In the top board games, GM Barlomiej Macieja of Poland sprang a surprise by defeating highly regarded GM Jonathan Speelman of England 1.5-0.5 in the first round tie-break.

Playing white in the first tiebreak game, Speelman opened with the Queen pawn against Macieja and could not establish much advantage in his favourite set up. The pieces were traded at regular intervals and the game was subsequently drawn after 30 moves.

Their second game took decisive turn as Macieja came up with a home prepared novelty in the French defence that netted him a lasting advantage with a superior pawn structure.

The pressure became increasingly difficult to handle with the 25-minute time control, and Macieja penetrated the queenside to romp home.

France's GM Etienne Bacrot made it to the second round by outclassing Grandmaster Mikhail Rytshagov of Estonia with a 2-0 margin.

The English opening has served Bacrot well in the past few years and it was a natural choice in the first game where the Frenchman had white pieces.

Rytshagov fell into a prepared variation and was a pawn down before the 20th move. The rest was a theoritical finish.

In the second game, Bacrot got on top in a tactical battle arising out of a Ruy Lopez. It became evident in the middle game that Bacrot had done his homework well in the closed set up as Rtyshagov fell short of time in the middle game. By the 30th move Bacrot was cruising, bruising and squeezing Rytshagov and the battle lasted 34 moves.

Mexican Grandmaster Gilberto Hernandez lost to GM Jeroen Piket of the Netherlands by a 0.5-1.5 margin.

In the first game, the Dutch Grandmaster did not get the desired position in the King Indian classical variation of the Kings Indian defense. The systematic deployments of forces by Hernandez ensured a level position as the pieces got traded in a tandem.

The players decided to sign a peace treaty and take chances in the next game that witnessed the Italian game in action. Piket got an unclear position after advancing his king side pawns early in the opening. Hernandez countered in the center but missed a tactical shot that cost him a pawn.

On move 39, Hernandez signed his exit from the World Championship.