<div>Highest ranked Indian in the fray Abhijeet Gupta got off to a flier, defeating Osman Abdelgadir of Sudan, while Grandmaster M R Lalith Babu was held to a draw by Elena Partac of Moldova in the first round of the 16th Dubai International open chess that got underway here today.<br /><br /><div>It turned out to be a good day in the office for Gupta as he had to exert little for a maximum result against Abdelgadir. <br /></div><div> </div><div>Playing the white side of an English opening, Gupta got an early advantage and then spotted a simple tactic to earn a knight for just a pawn. <br /><br />The rest was easy.<br /><br /></div><div>Lalith Babu faced an early wake up call by Partac who matched the Indian move for move despite a hige desparity in ratings. <br /><br />It was a Caro Kann defense by Babu wherein Partac played a less played system and the game was always close to equal. <br /></div><div> </div><div>Babu fancied his chances in the rook and pawns endgame but Partac was equal to the task as she gave nothing away. <br /><br />After 87 moves the draw was agreed to leaving both players on a half point after the first round.<br /><br /></div><div>The opening day was not devoid of upsets usual for a strong tournament like the Dubai open. </div></div>
<div>Highest ranked Indian in the fray Abhijeet Gupta got off to a flier, defeating Osman Abdelgadir of Sudan, while Grandmaster M R Lalith Babu was held to a draw by Elena Partac of Moldova in the first round of the 16th Dubai International open chess that got underway here today.<br /><br /><div>It turned out to be a good day in the office for Gupta as he had to exert little for a maximum result against Abdelgadir. <br /></div><div> </div><div>Playing the white side of an English opening, Gupta got an early advantage and then spotted a simple tactic to earn a knight for just a pawn. <br /><br />The rest was easy.<br /><br /></div><div>Lalith Babu faced an early wake up call by Partac who matched the Indian move for move despite a hige desparity in ratings. <br /><br />It was a Caro Kann defense by Babu wherein Partac played a less played system and the game was always close to equal. <br /></div><div> </div><div>Babu fancied his chances in the rook and pawns endgame but Partac was equal to the task as she gave nothing away. <br /><br />After 87 moves the draw was agreed to leaving both players on a half point after the first round.<br /><br /></div><div>The opening day was not devoid of upsets usual for a strong tournament like the Dubai open. </div></div>