India started the FIDE World Team Championship in fine form by beating Sweden comprehensively in the first round at Astana, Kazakhstan.
Sweden, who had replaced Poland in the competition, were shown no mercy by a powerful Indian team. GM B Adhiban [ELO 2683] beat the higher-rated Swedish GM Grandelius [ELO 2694] to give his team a huge boost. GM K Sasikiran, on the second board, was held to a draw by the lower-rated Erik Blomqvist but GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly and GM SP Sethuramam also won their games to give India an easy 3.5-0.5 win.
In the next round, India will face Iran, who lost to Russia in their first round today.
The FIDE World Team Championship is a biennial 10-team round-robin tournament. Matches take place on four boards, with 2 match points for a win and 1 for a draw.
Players receive 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one. No draw offers are allowed until after move 30.