GM Aleksej, GM Kirill start on winning note

Top-ranked Aleksandrov Aleksej and third ranked Stupak Kirill, both of Belarus, recorded victories in their opening round matches of the EKA IIFWL Investment Mangers 4th Mumbai International GM Chess Tournament 2018 here.

On the top board, Aleksej (ELO 2590) playing with the black pieces outwitted Indian IM Praveen Kumar (2233) while Kirill (2557) also starting with the black pieces tamed India's Bhambure Shantanu (2223) on the third board to pocket the full point.

Meanwhile, the top-ranked Indians in the fray, GM Chanda Sandipan and GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J, ranked 5 and 6 respectively, also enjoyed successful first rounds, a media release said Monday.

Sandipan (2555) defeated his compatriot WIM Mahalakshmi M. (2219), while Chakkravarthy (2550) got the better of Bangladesh's FM Mehdi Hasan Parag (2218).

Russia's second ranked GM Rozum Ivan (2589) found the going tough against Indias Candidate Master Prraneeth Vuppala (2228) and was forced to a draw and split ...