India’s campaign at the World Youth Chess Olympiad was off to a positive start as the India Green team defeated Bangladesh 3.5-0.5 to secure two match points on the opening day of the event.
The tie began with Grandmaster Aryan Chopra being held to a draw by Bangladesh’s Mohammad Fahad Rahman. Rahman, who was playing the white side held Chopra to split points.
After the game, Fahad said, “I think I had a very good position with my pieces being better placed than his. I had this timely knight sacrifice that ensures an advantage in my opinion. But I do not like to take risks when I am in time-pressure and hence I just kept making moves. In the end, he offered me a draw. I think I had a good position even then, but the time left on my clock didn’t make me happy. Therefore, I chose to accept it.”
Notwithstanding this minor upset, Bangladesh was no match for rest of the India Green as the remaining players came away with wins.
Second seeded Iran, and defending champions, picked up two match points against Indonesia. Third seed Russia, too, walked to an easy victory over Iraq, securing two match-points.
The other Indian teams in the fray — India Green and India Red — also defeated Australia and Thailand respectively, both with scores of 3.5-0.5. Both the teams picked up 2 match points each.