World No. 4 Arjun Erigaisi of India started off with a draw against Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the first game of the quarterfinals of Freestyle chess tournament in Paris on Wednesday.
Qualifying as the fourth-place finisher in the rapid section, Arjun had to choose Nakamura as his opponent as he was the only player left in the last eight spots.
Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who had opted for Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan as his first game opponent, got off to a flier, outplaying his younger rival in the heavy pieces endgame.
Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi drew with German Vincent Keymer. The other game of the quarterfinals between American Fabiano Caruana and local star Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was also drawn.
World champion D Gukesh's fortunes did not see any reversal in the 9-12 place play-off as he suffered a defeat at the hands of Richard Rapport of Hungary.
In an all-Indian contest, Vidit Gujrathi missed out on his chances and went down to R Praggnanandhaa in a game of fluctuating fortunes.
With another game set to be played under classical time control, Arjun will have the black pieces after his confident start.
The freestyle' is the new name given to Fischer Random or Chess 960 wherein the pieces are rapidly shuffled at the start and originality takes precedence over preparation.
Carlsen is one of the main protagonists of this version as he seldom plays in usual classical chess events these days.
The five-time world champion Carlsen displayed sublime form in his match against Abdusattorov and squeezed out the victory in the queen and pawns endgame with a handful of extra pawns.
For Arjun, the drawn result was probably satisfactory but he was the one defending in a drawn rook and pawns endgame.
Gujrathi almost outplayed Praggnanandhaa but made some huge errors when it was time to take full control. Praggananandhaa finished the game in style.
Gukesh did not get many chances against Rapport after losing a pawn. The ensuing endgame had some drawing chances but it was probably easier for a machine to find the best possible defense.
Gukesh eventually lost after Rapport gave up his rook for a Bishop to clean up the pawns.
Result of Game 1 Quarterfinals:
Arjun Erigaisi (Ind) drew with Hikaru Nakamura (Usa); Fabiano Caruana (Usa) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra); Magnus Carlsen (Nor) beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger).
9-12 place: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) beat Vidit Gujrathi (Ind); Richard Rapport (Hun) beat D Gukesh (Ind).
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