Zafra (Spain): Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran settled for a draw with GM Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru in the opening round of the Magistral Ruy Lopez International chess tournament here.

Former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine outwitted Dutchman Ivan Sokolov, Manuel Perez Candelario of Spain had it easy against former women’s world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, while Hou Yifan of China found the going tough against Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia.

Ponomariov, Candelario and Sargissian emerged joint leaders on 1 point each, while Sasikiran and Zuniga are on a half point with six rounds still to come.