Karnataka kids start off with victories

All three Karnataka kids - World Under 10 Champion Girish
Kaushik, M. Satvik and Arjun Bharat - started with
victories in the World Youth Chess Championships
which got underway in Antalya, Turkey.

FIDE Master Girish Kaushik (ELO 2086),
who is starting as the 3rd seed in the Under 10
section, defeated unrated Onat Kantarli of Turkey
with the white pieces. He will next be playing Ayan
Akhmetov of Kazhakastan in the second round.

M. Satvik (ELO 1907), a former Asian bronze medallist,
defeated unrated De-Dao Linson Lim of Singapore.
The 17th seeded Satvik will next play Christophe Gelas
of France in the next round. Both Girish and Satvik
will be fancying their chances of winning a medal
now as the top seed Candidate Master Joshua Ruiz (ELO 2048)
of Colombia was held to a draw in the first round.

Arjun Bharat (ELO 1825), starting as the fourth seed in the
Under 8 section, defeated unrated Jordan Kuzmanovic in the
first round and next plays unrated De Li Derek Lim of
Singapore. This opponent has to be taken seriously
as he has beaten Asian Gold Medallist G.V. Revanth
Reddy (ELO 1625) in the earlier round.

In the Boys Under 14 Section, topseeded
IM S.P. Sethuraman (ELO 2427) had no
problems whatsoever in disposing off
Jonathan Tordeur (ELO 1988) of Switzerland
in just 29 moves of an English Attack
in a Sicilian Defence Opening. However, in the
Boys Under 12 section, National Champion
Fenil Shah was (ELO 2124) shocked by unrated
Iskandar Aripov of Uzbekistan in what can be considered
a major blow to the Indian contingent's chances!