Aniruddha Deshpande shocks Ivan Popov in Parsvnath opener

New Delhi: Grandmaster and Chennai Open winner Ivan Popov suffered a shock defeat at the hands of unheralded Aniruddha Deshpande in the opening round of the premier section of 13th Parsvnath Delhi International Grandmasters Chess Tournament, here on Sunday.

It turned out to be a tough day for the Russian who could not match the guile of Deshpande, who caused the biggest upset in the first round.

Maharashtra youngster Pratik Patil also started off on a positive note by holding fifth seed Grandmaster Mikhail Mozharov of Russia to a creditable draw.

Meanwhile G B Joshi brought cheers to local enthusiasts as he held Ukrainian Grandmaster Valeriy Neverov inthe opening encounter.

A total number of 179 players from 18 countries, which include 22 Grandmasters, 27 International Masters and 3 Women Grandmasters are taking part in the premier section of this 30 lakh prize money event while in the Category ?B? for the players below 1999 international rating which is underway simultaneously with the premier section attracted a total number of 484 players.

The third category for the players below 1599 ELO rating will start on Tuesday.