True in a normal Swiss.
With an Accelerated Swiss such as at Cappelle, a lower rated player does not run into the big dogs early. The big dogs were given a starting pairing score of two. Those in the middle started with one.
After the draw Saskiran's pairing score went from 2 to 2.5 so only the better players, those also starting at two pairing points, could be paired with Saskiran in the second round.
If a lower rated player threw game one, he would be paired against a little dog not Saskiran. The main point remains though, you are down a point.
The GM draw is a fairly well known and "accepted" occurrence when players do not want to risk a loss and their chances of placing in the money.
Perhaps lesser known is the misguided and ridiculous idea to lose the first game of a Swiss style tournament. This gets you easier opponents in the middle rounds. But you are already a point behind.
In no way am I casting aspersions and I purposely did not comment here http://www.chess.com/news/capelle-la-grande-open-2011-1664. I do not believe Krishnan Sasikiran would purposely throw away a White win and rating points for a draw.
This is a big Swiss so there are loads of lower rated players. After a draw in the first round Sasikiran (2690) is Black against a 2382 rated player.
http://cappelle-chess.fr/fr2/userpages/Cappelle201102Alpha.htm
In a Swiss would you take a draw, or even a loss, in game one for easier subsequent games?