NAGPUR: A total of 12 Indian juniors of the participating 16 masters registered victories in contrasting fashion to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Fide Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid Chess Championships being played from home in five age categories in both the Open and Girls’ group.
On the opening day of the four-day global meet, four players failed to qualify for the last eight stage of the International Chess Federation (Fide) organized tourney. As many as six Indian players each of the open and girls’ group advanced to the third round.
In the Open section, young Indian Grandmasters (GM) Nihal Sarin and D Gukesh won both the rounds they played to garner full points in the U-18 and U-14 age group respectively. Both Nihal and Gukesh got the better of their respective South African opponents Schnabel Johann Emil and Simpson Michael in the round-robin opening game.