Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa split points with Czech hero David Navara while compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram escaped with a draw with another local star Nguyen Thai Dai Van in the first round of the Prague Masters.
German Vincent Keymer, who was famously part of team D Gukesh’s team during the World Championships, scored the first big upset of the tournament taking down top seed Wei Yi of China.
American Sam Shankland was the other winner of the day as he defeated Gurel Ediz of Turkey while the game between Quang Leim Le of Vietnam and Anish Giri of Holland ended in a draw.
Keymer and Shankland emerged as early leaders after round one with Shankland stealing the limelight in his first outing against Ediz.
Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh, Giri, Le, Dai Van and Navara share the third spot on a half point each and they are followed by Wei Yi and Ediz who will look forward to opening their account in the next round.
Praggnanandhaa faced the Ragozine out of a Queen’s gambit declined as white and did not get much to have a go in the ensuing middle game.
It was a timely pawn sacrifice by Navara that equalised the position and after the trade of queens the players reached a theoretically drawn rook and pawns endgame.
Despite having an extra pawn, Praggnanandhaa tried on till the last nail but the outcome of the game was never in doubt.
Aravindh also played white and Dai Van showed that his victory at the Tata Steel Challengers earlier this month was no flash in the pan.
The Neo-Grunfeld by the Czech Grandmaster faced no problems by the Indian. A few pieces changed hands and it looked as though the game would end soon.
Dai Van ran lower on time when Aravindh blundered and landed himself in a lost position.
Left with just a few seconds on the 70th move, Dai Van decided to play it safe and steered the game to a draw through perpetual checks.
Meanwhile in the Challengers section Divya Deshmukh, the lone girl and the only Indian, ended on the losing side against Ivan Salgado Lopez of Spain.
Results round 1: Vincent Keymer (Ger) beat Wei Yi (Chn); Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind) drew with Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze); Sam Shankland (Usa) beat Gurel Ediz (Tur); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) drew with David Navara (Cze); Le Quang Leim (Vie) drew with Anish Giri (Ned).
