LAHORE, May 23: All leading players including defending champion Mehmood Ahmad Lodhi won their first round competitions on the opening day of the 24th national chess championship at a local hotel on Sunday.

International Master Shahzad Mirza, Tanvir Gilani (Wapda), Punjab champion Aamir Karim, National Master Mohammad Waqar (Sindh) and Zohaib Gilani (Punjab) were prominent who won their first round ties.

Others who won were Mir Malik, Yousaf Balouch, Faheem Anwar (Balochsitan), Tayyab Ahmed, Aziz Farooqi, Anwar Qureshi, Asadullah, Mohammad Sabir, Rahat Ali, Jehangir Ahmad, Raees Ahmad, Azhar Javed, Imtiaz Ahmad and Akmal Hussain (Sindh).

Asif-ur-Rehman (PIA), Amjad Hafeez Bajwa, Ali Hyder Chatha, Muhammad Sadiq (Punjab) and Raja Nadeem Ameer (Wapda) also cruised into the second round. The second round was in progress till filing this report.