Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan), June 23: Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly got off to a flying start in the World Juniors Chess Championship beating Monroy Charles of France in the inaugural round here. Most of the Indians in the fray also fared quite well in the first round yesterday 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 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 Pentyala Hari Krishna also suffered some disappointment when he was hold 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 the 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. Bureau Report