The opening round of the Asian Nations Cup was a tough start for Hong Kong against Iran.

Hysan on board 4 could not stop grand master Golizadeh from winning material and creating havoc deep behind the black defense lines.

David tried against international master Porya his Sokolsky 1.b4 club-level favorite but in the exchange line, move 10. Qc1 probably can be improved (1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bb4: 3. Be5: Nf6 4. c4 Nc6 5. Bb2 010 6. a3 Be7 7. Nf3 d5 8. cd5: Nd5: 9. e3 Bf6) because after 10 Qc1 Re8 11. Be2 Bg4 12. 0-0 Nf4 remained cramped for white. Or maybe instead of 6. a3 first focus on short castling as with 4. …Nc6 the move a3 becomes less urgent.

Cyrus on board 1 played a kind of modern defense against grand master Ghaem Maghani, the number 1 of Iran, who nurtured a small positional advantage all the way to a win.

Sunny on board 2 led his Dutch opening against international master Seyedjavad to a drawish end position until the end of the time, when he forgot to press the clock and his time was up…

Tomorrow another day. Hong Kong is paired against Indonesia who lost 3-1 against Kazakhstan in round 1.

Here is a movie about the opening and round 1.