National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly stole the opening day honours as he crashed through the defenses of United States champion Hikaru Nakamura in the Chess World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysky, Russia [Images].
On a day that did not witness any major casualties, Grandmasters P Harikrishna and Krishnan Sasikiran were held to draws by Yu Shaoteng of China and Aleksei Iljushin of Russia respectively.
Top seed Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine started off in emphatic style as the hot favourite accounted for little known Aleksander Sibriaev of Russia in the event being played on a knock-out basis till round three after which only 16 out of 128 participants will remain in the fray.
The top 16 places would be determined with winner's pitted against the winner and the losers against losers.
The first prize is USD 100,000 along with a big incentive to the top 10 qualifiers who will make it to the next World championship match tournament candidate stage.
Ganguly, who was up against the toughest opponent amongst Indians, proved once again why he is hailed as one of the brightest Indian players around.
The rating difference suggested that the Indian started off as an underdog in this high profile contest but the game was a clear sign that Ganguly is equipped to tackle the best in the world.
Playing his pet Classical system against the Nazdorf Sicilian, Ganguly made sure of a small advantage out of the opening and nurtured it well enough to punish a rather ambitious looking Nakamura, who was outplayed in the late stages of the middle game.
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