Krishnan Sasikiran split point in the first game of his second round match against Russia [Images]n GM Vadim Zvjaginsev to continue moving ahead in the Chess World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia).

Sasikiran, the only Indian to have advanced to the second round, was playing with black pieces in the first game of the two-game match and equalised easily in the Alapin variation against the Sicilian defence.

The position was of a closed nature and the players agreed to a draw on the 21st move in a dynamically balanced middlegame. 

Third seed Teimour Radjabov's loss to Polish GM Bartlomiej Macieja was the big surprise of the day. Top seed Vassily Ivanchuk played solidly with the black pieces and drew his game against Russian Grandmaster Alexander Galkin.

Second seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan played brilliantly to score over Croatian GM Zdenko Kozul. Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian, who is the fourth seed in the World cup, outplayed GM J Gustaffson to win in 37 moves. 

Peter Svidler(Russia), Gata Kamsky (USA) and Etiennie Bacrot were other prominent winners in their respective first games of the second round. Chinese Grandmaster Wang Hao created a flutter by beating former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov.