One masters chess

One Masters Chess: Upset wins were the trend in the opening round of the Rs 35 lakh prize money 360 One Masters Chess tournament, organised by Indian Chess School, in Mumbai, proving that routine results need not be the norm in the first round of a Swiss League event.

Second seed GM Sankalp Gupta was shocked by Sri Lankan IM L M S T De Silva in a short game. In another major upset, third seed GM Abhijeet Gupta, a former World junior Champion, lost to 17-year-old IM Akshay Borgaonkar from Pune. IM Kauvstuv Kundu defeated Andrey Gorovetz of Belarus.

The higher-rated overseas Grandmasters also found the going tough and had to settle for draws. Fifth seed GM Luka Paichadze of Georgia was held to a draw by FM Adak Bivor, while 9th seed GM Boris Savchenko too had to settle for a draw against Daeevik Wadhawan. FM Vivaan Shah could also earn half a point against GM Aleksandrov Aleksej. FM Kush Bhagat also earned a creditable draw against eighth seed IM Nitin Belurkar.