Hyderabad: The 2nd edition of the Hyderabad Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament organised by Cyber Chess Academy under the aegis of Hyderabad District Chess Association and All India Chess Federation began here today.
The premier section for players of 1900 and above rating attracted a total number of 123 players from 14 countries which include 26 Grandmasters, 24 International Masters and 2 Women Internationals, a release from the organisers said.
Grandmaster Ivan Popov of Russia started as top seed in the Rs 10 lakh prize fund premier category out of which Rs 2 lakh is reserved for the winner.
The Indian Challenge in the event is spearheaded by Grandmasters Vidit Santosh Gujarathi of ONGC and M R Lalith Babu of Indian Oil, it said.
In major upsets in the opening round, playing white side of Phildor Defence game, Delhi-based Prince Bajaj stunned seasoned Uzbekistan Grandmaster Marat Dzhumaev in 35 moves.
Andhra Pradesh youngsters Dhulipala Bala Chandra Prasad and Chakravarthi Y V K brought cheers to the home crowd as they shocked Indian Grandmaster Vishnu Prasanna and Russian Grandmaster Igor Yagupov of Russia respectively in keenly fought first round encounters.
Higher rated International Master Jacek Stopa of Poland also suffered first round defeat at the hands of Chennai teenager Kumaran B, the release said.
Meanwhile, top seed Russian Grandmaster Ivan Popov started his campaign in style after defeating Fide Master Debaraj Chatterjee of Bangladesh.
Second seed Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia beat Sameer Kathmale. Third seed Grandmaster Vidit Santosh Gujarathi defeated K Praneeth Surya and fourth seed Lalith Babu M R made short work of Candidate Master Abhimanyu Puranik.Category A Important Results (Round-1) (Indians otherwise specified): GM Ivan Popov of Russia (1) beat FM Debaraj Chatterjee of Bangladesh (0); Sameer Kathmale (0) lost to GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia (1); GM Vidit Santosh Gujarathi (1) beat K Praneeth Surya (0); CM Abhimanyu Puranik (0) lost to GM Lalith Babu M R (1); GM Deep Sengupta (.5) drew with Kunal M (.5); FM Prasenjit Dutta (0) lost to GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia (1); GM Vladislav Borovikov of Ukraine (1) beat Ram S Krishnan (0); CM Prince Bajaj (1) beat GM Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan (0); GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia (1) beat Niranjan Navalgund (0); Vignesh N R (.5) drew with Tornike Sanikidze of Georgia (.5); GM Sethuraman S P (.5) drew with Hemant Sharma (.5); WFM Raghavi N (0) lost to GM Alon Greenfeld of Israel (1); GM Arun Prasad (1) beat CM Gopal K N (0); Akash PC Iyer (0) lost to GM Azer Mirzoev of Azerbaijan (1); GM Levon Babujian of Armeina (1) beat FM Matta Vinay Kumar (0); Gireman Ja (0) lost to Vasily Papin of Russia (1); IM Jacek Stopa of Poland (0) lost to Kumaran B (1); Vikramjit Singh (.5) drew with GM Valeriy Neverov of Ukraine (.5); IM Mikhail Mozharov of Russia (1) beat Safal Bora of USA (0); Dhulipala Bala Chandra Prasad (1) beat GM Vishnu Prasanna (0); IM Ashwin Jayaram (0) lost to FM Ramakrishna J (1); Harsha Bharathakoti (.5) drew with GM Abhijit Kunte (.5); GM Hovik Hayrapetyan of Armenia (.5) drew with FM Raghunandan K S (.5); WIM Ivana Maria Furtado (0) lost to GM Deepan Chakkravarthy (1); GM Sinisa Drazic of Serbia (1) beat Sohan Phadke (0).
