Aleksandrov starts campaign on good note

Chennai: Top seed Grandmaster Aleksej Aleksandrov, fresh from his title triumph at the Delhi Open, started his campaign with a bang when he overpowered Anirudh Aiyangar in the first round of the Chennai Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament here on Tuesday.

All the other higher seeded players had a smooth sailing with the exeption of Grandmaster B Adhiban, who was made to sweat it out by V Varshini. As many as thirteen Grandmasters have entered the fray in this edition of the event. The Indian Challenge is led by former National Champion Grandmaster B Adhiban, Grandmaster S P Sethuraman and Grandmaster M R Lalith Babu. There are a host of other IMs who are aiming for the coveted Grandmaster Norms as well as other untitled stars aiming for the IM Norms from the event. GM elect and IM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman, WGM Padmini Rout, WGM Aarthie Ramaswamy are some of the big names leading the Indian challenge in this event on the distaff side. With all the four previous editions producing a lot of norms for the players regularly, this one is also expected to throw open many norms for the aspiring Indian youngsters. The eleven-round Swiss event has a total prize money of Rs 10 lakh. PTI