Panaji, Nov 1: India made a confident start to their campaign at the FIDE Chess World Cup as newly-crowned junior world champion Pranav V and veteran Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly registered impressive victories on the opening day of Round 1 on Saturday.
Joining them in the winners’ column were Iniyan P and Pranesh M, both of whom capitalised on the advantage of playing with the white pieces. All four will switch colours on Sunday and play their next games with black pieces in the return leg of the round.
Pranav, who in March became the first Indian since Abhijeet Gupta in 2008 to clinch the Under-20 world title, continued his fine form by defeating Algeria’s Boulrens Ala Eddine. Ganguly, a former national champion and a stalwart of Indian chess, outplayed Azerbaijan’s Ahmad Ahmadzada to begin his campaign on a winning note.
Iniyan overcame Cuba’s Berdayes Ason Dylan Isidro, while Pranesh got the better of Kazakhstan’s Satbek Akhmedinov to round off a strong showing for the Indian contingent.
However, it was a difficult start for Divya Deshmukh, the 19-year-old women’s World Cup winner from Nagpur. Playing with the white pieces, she suffered a setback against Greece’s Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis. Divya will need a win with black on Sunday to force a tiebreaker and stay in contention.
Goa’s own Leon Luke Mendonca held China’s Wang Shixu to a draw in his first game, while Lalit Babu M R, Karthik Venkataraman, Diptayan Ghosh, Raja Rithvik R, and Raunak Sadhwani were all held to draws as well.
Among those starting with black pieces, Neelash Saha, Harshvardhan G B, Himal Gusain, and Aronyak Ghosh faced defeats in their respective encounters.
A total of 206 players are competing in the World Cup, with the top 50 seeds — including Indian stars D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, and R Praggnanandhaa — receiving a bye into the second round. Other Indians who advanced directly include Vidit Gujrathi, Arvindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, Pentala Harikrishna, and Karthikeyan Murali.
The FIDE Chess World Cup has a rich Indian legacy. Viswanathan Anand won the first two editions in 2000 and 2002, while Praggnanandhaa became the only Indian to reach the final in the modern knockout era, finishing runner-up to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in 2023.
As the first round continues in Panaji, all eyes will be on whether India’s emerging stars can carry their early momentum into the next stage of the prestigious event.
Discussion about this post