Top seeds dominate opening round of All India Chess Masters in Mumbai

Mumbai, May 10 (IANS) The top ten players got off to a positive start winning their respective first round matches on the first 10 board in the All India Chess Masters FIDE Rating Chess Championship held at the Mumbai Chess Centre, here on Friday.

Dakash Jagesia, playing with the black pieces, defeated Mayan Jha 1-0 on the top board. On the second board, Yash Kapadi, with the white pieces, defeated Sandeep Arth. The 16-year-old Daksh Jagesia from Mumbai has entered the tournament as the top seed and with a commendable FIDE rating of 1882.

The other winners are Darsh Shetty, Om Gada, Jahavi Soneji, Abhishek Patil, Sidharth Kumar, Swaminathan Vageesh, and Mayuresh Parkar.

In other matches, Jahavi Soneji, playing with white pieces, defeated Mahendra Gadoya, Dipak Prabhakar went down to Abhishek Patil, Sidharth Kumar defeated Pranav Swarang, while Agastya Patwa lost to Swaminathan Vageesh.

The tournament is expected to be an exciting and competitive affair, featuring participants ranging from budding prodigies to seasoned veterans. The youngest participant is Hridaan Chhajer, a 4-year-old student of the American School of Bombay, while the oldest is Ganeswar Rao Aiyyagari, aged 68, who brings a wealth of experience to the board as the championship's most senior player.

The tournament is being technically overseen by International Arbiter (IA) Ajinkya Pingale, who has been appointed as Chief Arbiter to ensure smooth conduct and adherence to FIDE regulations. The final round of the 6-day tournament will be held on May 115.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated by Victor Gorelykh, Hon. Director, Russian Cultural House.

Results (Top 10 board):

Mayan Jha 0 lost 1 Dakash Jagesia, Yash Kapadi 1 beat. 0 Sandeep Arth, Advait Mayakar 0 lost 1 Kush Agarwal, Darsh Shetty 1 beat 0 Rohit Gharat, Shlok Bharati 0 lost 1 Om Gada, Jahavi Soneji 1 beat 0 Mahendra Gadoya, Dipak Prabhakar 0 lost 1 Abhishek Patil, Sidharth Kumar 1 beat 0 Pranav Swarang, Agastya Patwa 0 lost 1 Swaminathan Vageesh, Mayuresh Parkar 1 beat 0 Ravi Aarav.

--IANS

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