India's Candidate International Master Parimarjan Negi stole day one honours in the World Juniors Chess Championship after holding second seeded Grandmaster Evgeny Alekseev of Russia to a creditable draw in the first round in Istanbul.
Many of the Indians were off to a flier in both the open and girls' section on the opening day, which also saw top seed and former champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan cruising past Marko Krivokapic of Serbia.
Among the Indians, GM norm holder Deep Sengupta played a fine game to outclass Cil Hasan Kivanc of Turkey while G Rohit and S Poobesh Anand accounted for Faut Uzun of Turkey and Emil Agdestein of Norway respectively.
On the flip side, Akshat Khamparia and National junior champion G N Gopal were among those who tasted defeats.
Khamparia was on the receiving end of Mateusz Bartel of Poland while Finnish Grandmaster Tomi Nyback outdid Gopal.
In the girls' event, being organised simultaneously, the country's latest Woman Grandmaster Eesha Karavade took off with a fine victory over compatriot N Raghavi.
Eesha, the lone seeded player from India, was in her element in the first game. Raghavi, in fact, was the only one to lose among five Indian girls in the tournament.
D Harika, the country's best bet, also failed to make most of her opportunities and drew with Viktoria Bashkite of Estonia.
Former Asian Junior girls' champion Tania Sachdev started off by crushing Sandra Djukic of Serbia.
Playing black, Tania showcased her positional knowledge to come out trumps.
Also ending on the winning side was Kruttika Nadig, who accounted for Denmark's Marie Frank-Nielsen.
Negi had played with Alekseev twice in the past and the Russian was a known opponent for the IM-in-waiting. Playing the white side of a king pawn game, Negi had little trouble in maintaining the balance despite the huge difference in Elo ratings and Alekseev had little choice other than to split the point.
Negi is the only Indian here who has come with a personal coach -- GM Evgeny Vladimirov of Kazakhstan -- while for the remaining team members IM Sekhar Sahu and K Kannareddy are designated coaches.
Important and Indian results - Round 1 (Indians unless specified):
Boys: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze) beat Marko Krivokapic (Scg); Parimarjan Negi (Ind) drew with Evgeny Alekseev (Rus); Vugar Gashimov (Aze) beat Jacob Glud Vang (Den); Tikkanen Hans (Swe) lost to Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Pol); Ferenc Berkes (Hun) drew with El Debs Felipe De Cresce (Bra); Xie George Wendi (Aus) drew with Wang Yue (Chn); Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus) beat Davit Jojua (Geo); Ildar Khairullin (Rus) lostto Li Chao (Chn); Stephen Jessel (Irl) beat Andrey Zhigalko (Blr); Jan Smeets (Ned) beat Andrey Kvon (Uzb); Wang Hao (Chn) beat Oliver Kurmann (Sui); GN Gopal lost to Tomi Nyback (Fin); GM Daniel Stellwagen (Ned); beat Faik Aleskerov (Aze); Stefan Macak (Svk) lost to Borki Predojevic (Bih); Akshat Khamparia lost to Mateusz Bartel (Pol); G Rohit beat Fuat Uzun (Tur); Cil Hasan Kivanc (Tur) lost to Sengupta Deep; IM S Poobesh Anand beat Emil Agdestein (Nor).
Girls: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) beat Karolina Ortiz Nadya (Col); Elista Raeva (Bul) lost to Anna Ushenina (Ukr); Mongontuul Bathuyag (Mgl) beat Marlies Bensdorp (Ned); Evgenia Meshcheriakova (Rus) drew with Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger); Natalija Pogonina (Rus) drew with Zuzana Gregorova (Svk); Viktoria Bashkite (Est) drew with D Harika (Ind); Maka Purtseladze (Geo) drew with Nargiz Umudova (Aze); Irina Gevorgyan (Uzb) drew with Zhang Jilin (Chn); Natalia Zdebskaja (Ukr) beat Zhang Xiaowen (Chn); Jessie Gilbert (Eng) lost to Irina Vasilevich (Rus); Jolanta Zawadzka (Pol) drew with Sarah Hoolt (Ger); Sandra Djukic (Scg) lost to Tania Sachdev; N Raghavi lost to Eesha Karavade; Marie Frank-Nielsen (Den) lost to Kruttika Nadig.