Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly got off to a flying start in the World Junior chess championship, beating Monroy Charles of France in the inaugural round, in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan.
Most of the Indians in the fray also fared quite well in the first round on Sunday, with three of them -- Deepan Chakravorthy, P Magnesh Chandran and G Rohit -- registering hard-fought wins over their respective opponents.
However, the hero of the day from the Indian perspective was national junior champion Abhijit Gupta who, though failed to manage a win, played superbly to hold second seed Grandmaster Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan to a creditable draw.
The lone Indian on the receiving end was national sub-junior champion S Arun Prasad, who went down to Kadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan after a keenly-contested battle.
Fourth seed Grandmaster Pendyala Harikrishna also suffered some disappointment when he was held to a draw by talented local boy Sarkhan Gashimov.
The boys' championship has just 50 participants this year and there will be 13 rounds in all to determine the winner.
The girls' championship, being organised simultaneously, features 28 players and will have five rounds.
In the boys' section, there are seven Grandmasters in all besides 13 International Masters vying for the coveted crown of the best player in the world {under-20 years of age).
In girls' event there are two Women Grandmasters and five International Women Masters.
Ganguly, a bronze medallist in the previous edition of the championship, held last year in Goa, had said before leaving India that he would try his best to better his record last year and his victory with white pieces over Charles was just another indication of his self confidence.
The Indian girls had an average beginning as two out of five in the fray registered smooth victories while Asian junior girls' champion Tania Sachdev was held to a draw by talented Canadian Anne Charbonneau.
The losers amongst the Indian girls were Saheli Nath, who met her waterloo in country's youngest Woman International Master Dronavalli Harika, and Mahima Rajmohan, who found a very tough customer in top seed Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia.
Top seed Grandmaster Shahriyaz Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan opened his account with an accomplished victory against Andrei Murariu of Romania in the boys' section.
Indian results in round one:
Boys: Abhijit Gupta drew with Vugar Gashimov (Aze); Sarkhan Gashimov (Aze) drew with P Harikrishna; Surya Shekhar Ganguly beat Monroy Charles (Fra); Kadir Guseinov (Aze) beat S Arun Prasad; P Magesh Chandran beat Masse Hugues (Can); Deepan Chakravarthy beat Allajov Ramil; Urfan Sevdimaliev (Aze) lost to G Rohit.
Girls: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) beat Mahima Rajmohan; D Harika beat Saheli Nath; Anne Charbonneau (Can) drew with Tania Sachdev; Eesha Karavade beat Yilmaz Ezgi (Tur).
More from rediff