Budapest, Nov 13:
Grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave seized outright leads in Groups C and D respectively after the opening day of the Fast Classic stage at the Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot in Budapest on Wednesday.
In a format featuring two rapid-paced encounters with alternating colours per round—awarding three points for a win and one for a draw—Nepomniachtchi collected four points in Group C by defeating Indian-American Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra in their first game before settling for a draw in the return fixture. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri drew both their Group C clashes to finish on two points each, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Haik Martirosyan split victories with the black pieces for three points apiece.
In Group D, Vachier-Lagrave defeated India’s R. Vaishali with the black pieces in the opening encounter before Vaishali fought back to hold the French Grandmaster in the second game, leaving Vachier-Lagrave atop the standings on four points as all other group games ended in draws. Meanwhile, Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda shared the lead in Group A on four points each, while Fabiano Caruana and Liem Le topped Group B with four points apiece, as Indian Grandmasters R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi drew both of their respective matches against Vincent Keymer and Hans Niemann.