Sadhwani held for a draw by Barrish; Rojas holds Naryanan

Panjim, Nov 1 (PTI) Grandmasters Raunak Sadhwani and S L Narayanan, India’s two best hopes, were held to draws by Daniel Barrish of South Africa and Steven Salas Rojas of Peru in the first game of the opening round of World Chess cup here on Saturday.

While most of the games in the 156 players contest selected for the first round went according to rankings, there were a few surprises that is typical of the knockout format of the world cup.

Four players, in fact, did not turn up to play and their opponents got walk overs. However those who ended up getting a free point were all higher ranked players and this would give them a free passage in to the next round of this USD 2 million prize money tournament that in addition has three places reserved for the next candidates tournament.

The Indian elite, comprising World Champion D Gukesh, Arjun Erigaisi, R Praggnanandhaa, P Harikrishna, Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin, have all received direct entry into the second round, which will feature 128 players. Each round will follow a knockout format, with two classical games, and in case of a tie, games of shorter duration will decide the winner.

Important and Indian results round 1 game 1 (Indians unless stated): Nagi Abugenda (Lba) vs lost to Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur); Jeffery Xiong (Usa) beat Li Yiheng (Hkg); Qin Oscar Shu Xuan (Nzl) lost to Maxim Rodshtein (Isr); Vladislav Artemiev (Rus) beat Ndahangwapo Heskiel (Nam); Alrehaili Ahmed Abdullah (Ksa) lost to Michael Adams (Eng); Nils Grandelius (Swe) vs Allam Mohamed (Ple); Huh Isaak (Kor) lost to Martinez Alcantara Jose Eduardo (Mex); Benjamin Gledura (Hun) beat Amdouni Zoubaier (Tun); Salih Akar Ali Salih (Irq) vs Dmitrij Kollars (Ger); V Pranav beat Boulrens Ala Eddine (Alg); Kigigha Bomo Lovet (Ngr) lost to Alexsander Donchenko (Ger); Raunak Sadhwani drew with Daniel Barrish (Rsa); Ilkhomi Jaloliddin (Tjk) lost to Vokhidov Shamsiddin (Uzb); Frederic Svane (Ger) w/o against Husbands Orlando (Bar); Igor Efimov (Mnc) vs Ediz Gurel (Tur); Maksim Chigaev (Esp) Elbilia Jacques (Mar); Kavin Mohan (Mas) drew with Robert Hovhannisyan (Arm); Anton Guijarro David (Esp) beat David Silva (Ang); Manon Reja Neer (Ban) vs Aryan Tari (Nor); M Pranesh vs Akhmedinov Satbek (Kaz); Farai Mandizha (Zim) w/o to Amin Bassem (Egy); Velimir Ivic (Srb) vs Orozbaev Eldiyar (Kgz); Mwali Chitumbo (Zam) w/o to Etienne Bacrot (Fra); Ivan Cheparinov (Bul) beat Cordoba Roa Angel Gabriel (Col); Cahaya Satria Duta (Ina) vs Haik Martirosyan (Arm); Gabriel Sargissian (Arm) vs Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan (Sri); Shiyam Thavandiran (Can) drew with Daniil Yuffa (Esp); Leon Luke Mendonca drew with Wang Shixu (Chn); Tran Thanh Tu (Jpn) lost to A R Saleh Salem (Uae); Aleksander Indjic (Srb) beat Ilan Schnaider (Arg); Rojas Salas Steven (Per) drew with S L Narayanan; Maxime Lagarde (Fra) vs Amartuvshin Ganzorig (Mgl); Mohammad Fahad Rahman (Ban) vs Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukr); Aydin Suleymanli Aze) vs Prin Laohawirapap (Tha); Divya Deshmukh vs Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis (Gre); Vazquez Facundo (Uru vs Svane Rasmus (Ger); Aleksey Grebnev (Fid) vs Quizon Daniel (Phi); Rakotomaharo Fy Antenaina (Mad) vs Evgeniy Najer (Fid); Daniel Dardha (Bel) vs Banh Gia Huy (Vie); Agibileg Uurtsaikh (Mgl) vs Henriquez Villagra Cristobal (Chi); Daneshvar Bardiya (Iri) vs Salinas Herrera Pablo (Chi); Pa Iniyan vs Berdayes Ason Dylan Isidro (Cub); Meier Georg (Uru) vs Neelash Saha; G B Harshavardhan Yilmaz Yilmaz Mustafa (Tur); Andy Woodward (Usa) beat Himal Gusain; Max Warmerdam (Ned) vs M R Lalit Babu; Garcia Pantoja Roberto (Col) drew with V Karthik; Mateusz Bartel (Pol) vs Aronyak Ghosh; Peng Xiongjian (Chn) vs Diptayan Ghosh; Surya Shekhar Ganguly vs Ahmadzada Ahmad (Aze); Nogerbek Kazybek (Kaz) vs Raja Rithvik. PTI Cor ATK