India's Venkatesh Pranav loses in Asian Continental Chess C'ship opener

World junior champion Venkatesh Pranav of India lost to seasoned Grandmaster Jan Emmanuel Garcia of the Philippines in the first round of the Asian Continental Chess Championship here on Wednesday. On a day when top-seeded Grandmaster Nihal Sarin was seen struggling before playing out a draw with another Filipino, Paulo Bersamina, fourth-seeded Murali Karthikeyan had it easy and scored his first victory at the expense of Cao Qingfen of China.

It was a rather mixed day for the huge Indian contingent here, with 18 Grandmasters and many others wanting to make an impression in the Asian event. While former winner Surya Shekhar Ganguly and GM P Iniyan won their games against Aradhya Garg and Omonov Asrorjan of Uzbekistan, respectively, Leon Luke Mendonca and S L Narayanan played out draws against their opponents.

Important and Indian results round 1 (Indians unless specified): Paulo Bersamina (Phi) drew with Nihal Sarin; Amin Tabatabaei (Iri) beat Khuong Duy (Vie); Nikita Matinian (Fid) drew with Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb); Murali Karthikeyan beat Cao Qingfeng (Chn); Atakhan Abtin (Iri) drew with Leon Luke Mendonca; Jan Emmanuel Garcia (Phi) beat V Pranav; Arfan Aditya Bagus (Ina) drew with S L Narayanan; Bai Adelard (Tpe) drew with Abhijeet Gupta; M Pranesh beat Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan (Sri); Omonov, Asrorjon (Uzb) lost to P Iniyan; Aradhya Garg lost to Surya Shekhar Ganguly; Sankalp Gupta drew with Isanzhulov Arystan (Kaz); Setyaki Azarya Jodi (Ina) lost to Pranav Anand; S P Sethuramanbeat Ritviz Parab; S Aswath beat Aziz Husain (Qat).