The opening round of the Chess World Cup is underway in Sochi ©FIDE/Anastasiia Korolkova

Croatian 128th seed Saša Martinović is in front in his opening-round match at the International Chess Federation Chess World Cup against Estonian Kaido Külaots, and now just one victory away from facing world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

In a best-of-three match in Sochi, Martinović defeated Kulaots on day one, with the match suspended in the second game.

Other highlights on day one included American 12-year-old and 159th seed Abhimanyu Mishra taking on Georgia's Baadur Jobava, with the more experienced head taking the early lead.

Mishra is the youngest grandmaster in the history of chess.

Russian 88th seed Vadim Zvjaginsev - a world team chess champion back in 1997 - finds himself down by one game against English 169th seed Ravi Haria.

Russians Boris Savchenko and Nikita Afanasiev are currently at a draw in their opener - with the winner facing Dutch fourth seed Anish Giri in the second round.

Australian Bobby Cheng and Turkey's Vahap Sanal find themselves in a similar position in their match, with the winner due to play Levon Aronian, the third seed from Armenia.

Russia's 51st seed Sanan Sjugirov - the highest-ranked player to compete in the first round - is 1-0 up against Guam's Elmer Prudente in their tie.

Indian Nihal Sarin, who is winning his match against Arthur Ssegwanyi of Uganda, could await in the second round.

First-round matches will continue tomorrow in Russian venue Sochi.