Vijayalakshmi shocked in opener

Rafael Leitao of Brazil scored the first major upset of the first round when he stunned former World junior champion Joel Lautier of France on the opening day of the FIDE World knock-out chess championships in Delhi on Monday.

Leitao, one of the two Brazilians in the fray, is more than 80 ELO points lower than Lautier in the ratings. Lautier is seeded 30th, which is the second highest among the players figuring in the first round.

Lautier needs to win the second game, when he will have black pieces, to survive in the tournament. A total of 28 players have been seeded straight into the second round. The first round matches are being played over two games and in the event of a level score, the tie-breaker will be applied. The second games in the first round will be played on Tuesday.

Lautier, rated 2648,was beaten in a 44-move fight in the Rubinstein variation of the Nimzo Indian. Lautier playing with white looked somewhat unsetteld with his castling, and then proposed a draw. But Leitao sensing his rival's discomfort rejected the offer and went for the kill.

Lautier finally resigned after 44 moves.

The other upset of the day was the stunning defeat of India's top women's player S Vijayalakshmi. She was beaten by Finland's Koskela, who is more than 180 ELO points lower than the Indian.

Viji got a better position in Guy-Co Piano variation employed by her opponent. To execute the winning advantage Viji kept on thinking for long time which gave her the time pressure, and in the process, her flag fell down.

The arbiter declared her the loser as Viji failed to complete the 40 moves.

Grandmasters Abhijit Kunte and Krishnan Sasikiran drew their games.

Kunte adopted the Ruy-Lopez opening against GM Milas. Both followed a long theory. Once the theory was over, Milas sacrificed a pawn for piece play. Kunte accepted the challenge and grabbed the pawn. Milas got the dynamic equality due to double bishops and good piece play. But Abhijit manoeuvred his knight in such a way as to force Milas to make the pepetual attack on his queen, which finally ended in a draw.

According to GM Salav, trainer of the Indian Olympic team, the result was in the spirit of the position.

Another strong Indian contender GM Sasikiran played his favourite Indian defence against his lowly-rated opponent Simutowe. Sasikiran, however, failed to bring his natural form to the fore and both players agreed to a draw.

S Meenakshi, meanwhile, employed Slav defence against WGM Zarac. Meenakshi exchanged all her major pieces in the middlegame. The draw was agreed in the spirit of the position.

Bhagyashree Thipsay was still waging her battle against WGM Peng. Bhagyashree employed her pet Dutch Defence with Black pieces, with Peng enjoying a slight edge in the position.

The Indian camp was shaken by the news of Viji's loss and Sasi's draw, both unexpected results. Both of them will play with white pieces on Tuesday.

Agencies