2010 SIO - Solid start for leaders

Unlike the Doeberl Cup, the top seeds for the Sydney International open have navigated the first day without too many problems. The 11 highest rated players all got to 2/2, and it was only on board 12 in round 1 (Ansell v Johansen) that the form guide went out the window. However this was bizarre in itself, as White played an illegal move that went unnoticed by both players and was only discovered after the game had been completed (and score sheets signed, results recorded and a post-mortem was well underway).
Of course plenty of lower rated players tried for an upset, faltering at crucial moments. In this round 1 game Hilton Bennett went close to either winning or drawing against GM Dibyendu Barua, but didn't trust himself to play the right sacrifice.

Barua,Dibyendu (2479) - Bennett,Hilton Petrie (2001) [B06]
Sydney International Open Parramatta, NSW (1.9), 07.04.2010

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 5.e5 dxe5 6.fxe5 Nd5 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Bc4 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 e6 11.0-0 c5 12.Rd1 Nc6 13.Qe4 Rc8 14.Na3 cxd4 15.cxd4 a6 16.Bb3 b5 17.Nc2 Na5 18.Ne3 Nc4 19.Ng4 h5 20.Nf2 Na5 21.Bc2 Nb4 22.Bb1 Qc7 23.Bd2 Nd5 24.Nd3 Nc4 25.Bg5 Qa7 26.Rc1 (D)
26. ... Nd6 27.exd6 Bxd4+ 28.Kh1 Rxc1+ 29.Bxc1 Nf6 30.Qf3 Kg7 31.Bg5 Ng4 32.Be7 Rc8 33.hxg4 hxg4 34.Qxg4 Rh8+ 35.Bh4 Bf2 36.g3 Qb7+ 37.Kh2 f5 38.Qf4 Bd4 1-0