Round 1 - VIDIT OFF TO A FLYING START, 10 YEAR OLD NIHAL SARIN SHOCKS MUCH HIGHER RATED IM JONATHAN WESTERBERG AFTER A MARATHON LASTING 94 MOVES IN A SENSATIONAL RESULT

Vidit Santosh Gujrathi got off to a flying start by quickly winning the first round of the World Junior Chess Championship which commenced at Hotel Hyatt, Pune today. The long 13-round gruelling event sponsored by LIC kicked off with 137 players from 50 countries and 78 participants in the Girls Category. The co-sponsors for this event are Amanora, Everstone, Jain Irrigation, ONGC with a substantial financial assistance from Government of Maharashtra.

Top two seeds Vladimir Fedoseev of Russia and seed Robin Van Kampen also scored effortless victories even as favourites fumbled in the very first round which is very unusual in a Swiss League tournament of this magnitude FM Rakesh Kumar Jena rated 2164 created a flutter when he held higher rated and 10th seed GM Grigoryan of Russia to a draw after 30 moves of a Sicilian Defence. Untitled Sai Vishwesh also rose to the occasion and 14th seed GM Nijat Abasov of Azerbaijan to a draw in a Spanish Opening game which lasted 50 moves. The biggest upset of the day was the loss of 19th seed IM Murali Karthikeyan (2499) losing to his Tamil Nadu state-mate Siva Mahadevan.

However it was 10-year-old Nihal Sarin , freshly crowned World-Under 10 Champion at Durban who stole the limelight with a fantastic 94 move victory over higher ranked IM Jonathan Westerberg of Sweden. The tiny tot also won many a heart when in a candid way he expressed" Obviously today's match was a very tough one as it lasted so many moves but there was no tension and I enjoyed it very much". Interestingly this was the very first time that Nihal played against a titled player though his handling of two pieces for his opponent's rook in a Bogo Indian Defence defied his age and experience.

Collectively it was a good day for Indians with GM Sahej Grover , GM Ankit Rajpara, IM Aravindh Chithabamram, IM Diptayan Ghosh and IM Sayantan Das , IM Shardul Gagare scoring victories over their lesser rated opponents.

Vidit the fourth seed was pitted against compatriot Ritviz Parab rated 71st with the Black pieces and opted for a super sharp –Sicilian defence against the King Pawn Opening. " I had decided to play aggressively and am happy that my gamble played off as I managed to get an advantageous position early on" beamed Vidit after the game.

A tentative and timid pawn push in the centre on the 15th turn by Ritviz had Vidit immediately pushing his pawn more boldly in the centre to get advantage. Another wrong queen move on the next turn had Vidit smelling victory and his queen, rook and knight soon swung into action to decide the game in his favour after 23 moves.

Iranian player FM AmirKousarania (2331) missed his flight and hence was not paired in the first round. He will begin his campaign from the second round.

The Girls section was a sedate affair with most of the higher rated players cruising through with victories. Padmini Rout, the highest rated Indian in fray scored over Karolina Turkova