Isle of Man: Five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand and Indian Grand Master Harika Dronavalli made positive starts to their campaign at the Isle of Man International Chess Tournament here, Sunday.
Anand who had a mixed season this year notched up an emphatic win over American Marc Esserman, while Harika beat Oyama Akito in the first round here late last night.
Playing with white pieces, Anand showed much better accuracy than his opponent to eventually complete the proceedings in 46 moves and will face Germany’s Lampert Jonas in the second round.
The World No.10 Harika, also playing with white pieces, started off the game on an aggressive note against her male opponent Oyama and made regular breakthroughs from the initial phases of the game. However, the young Englishman had to bow down to the Indian’s attack and gave away an easy win to her opponent. She will now face German FIDE Master Babar Michael in second round.
“I found myself in a good position from the start of the game and didn’t let the pressure down on my opponent who eventually gave me an easy win,” Harika said after her win.
The other Indians in fray include SP Sethuraman, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Adhiban B and Vaishali R.
press trust of India