New Delhi: Polish Grandmaster (GM) Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Georgian Baadur Jobava share the 4.5/5 point lead with Magnus Carlsen of Norway after five rounds on Day 1 of the FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2021 at the PGE Narodowy Stadium, Warsaw, on Monday.
World Champion Magnus Carlsen began the event against Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvili, who committed a blunder while equalising the 104-move game. The second game against Samvel Ter-Sahakyan came to a draw with only 2 Kings remaining on the board.
Unfazed by the second game, Carlsen went on to win three consecutive games against Aleksey Dreev, Indian Harsha Bharathakoti, and Latvian Alexei Shirov.
Polish player Jan-Krzysztof Duda had a home-turf advantage as he won the first 4 matches on Monday. The 23-year-old sacrificed a pawn to blow up the center and earned points in the first game. Duda tried to damage the White’s center and activated his minor pieces by sacrificing an exchange to Jakhongir Vakhidov in round 2, defeated Kirill Alekseenko in round 3, and won the next round.
On the other hand, Baadur Jobava also demonstrated four consecutive wins after defeating Marcin Dziuba in round 4. Jobava made a seemingly innocent yet tactical move that led to Dziuba committing a blunder in round 4.
The final round saw a duel between Duda and Jobava. Both players had earned 4 points each. However, the game closed at a draw, with 0.5 points split among the players. Duda and Jobava joined Carlsen in the lead.
(Avya Mathur)
