Winning start for Bangladesh

The Bangladesh men's and women's chess teams made winning starts in the 42nd World Chess Olympiad which got underway in Baku, Azerbaijan on Friday.

The men's team beat lowly San Marino 4-0 while the women's team followed in the men's footsteps, beating minnows Sudan by the same margin.

Grandmaster Enamul Hossain Razib, Grandmaster Abdullah Al Rakib, Grandmaster Niaz Morshed and International Master Minhaz Uddin Ahmed Sagor won their respective boards while Ziaur Rahman, the country's highest-ranked Grandmaster, sat out the opening round.

In the women's first round, WIM Shamima Akter Liza, WFM Sharmin Sultana Shirin, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva and WIM Rani Hamid beat their respective Sudanese counterparts to collect maximum points.

But after the easy opening round, both the teams were set to face a much stiffer challenge in the second round, which was scheduled for Saturday. The men's team were set to face Norway -- which features the world's leading chess player Magnus Carlsen -- while the women's team were to face a strong Vietnam side which features three Grandmasters.

A total of 180 teams from 175 countries and three organisations are taking part in the open (men's) section while 140 teams from 136 countries and two organisations are participating in women's section.