Naiditsch and Keymer score victories
Arkadij Naiditsch and Vincent Keymer are the only two victors in Round 1 of the Classical event, part of GMT. Thus Keymer jumped into the sole lead with 14 points. Wojtaszek made a draw with Romain Edouard. The Polish GM is currently at the second position, a half point behind the leader at 13.5 points followed by Harikrishna at 11.5 points. Harikrishna fired all his guns against Adams but the seven-time British champion's armor was too strong and he held up his own. Harikrishna is currently at the third place with 11.5 points followed by Adams at 9.5 points. A win in Classical gives you 4 points, while a draw means only 1.5 points will be added to the total.
Harikrishna - Adams 1.5-1.5
The main event of the round was definitely the Harikrishna - Adams encounter. Harikrishna tried his best to stir up trouble but Adams did not budge and thwarted all attempts of Harikrishna in stirring up trouble.
Harikrishna - Adams
Harikrishna went for his typical attack on the flank with 21.g4 but Adams managed to make sure it did not create the storm his opponent had wanted.
Naiditsch - Studer 4-0
Naiditsch in a post-match interview says, "I have been playing chess for maybe now 29 years. For the last 20 years, I have never had such a break of six months. For the first time for six months, I haven't played a game."
Naiditsch - Studer
Find out why 17...Qd5 is a blunder.
Keymer - Anton Guijarro 4-0
The first win of the round was scored by Vincent Keymer against David Anton Guijarro in Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein. Keymer exploited his opponent's positional mistakes and scored a comfortable victory
Keymer - Anton Guijarro
White has an advantage in the above diagram. Find out the correct continuation for white after 25...Ng6.
Wojtaszek - Edouard 1.5-1.5
The first game to finish in Round 1 was between Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Romain Edouard. The game was an uneventful draw but Edouard said, "I had this new idea in store for a long time but I was waiting to play against somebody strong, because I didn't want to spoil the novelty against slightly weaker players who are anyway happy to make draws." Radek shared, "For me it is important that I can actually sit over the board and play. This is what matters for me... Last event I played was in December, so this was a long break."
Replay all games
Standings after Round 1
| 1 | Vincent Keymer | 14 |
| 2 | Radoslaw Wojtaszek | 13.5 |
| 3 | Harikrishna Pentala | 11.5 |
| 4 | Michael Adams | 9.5 |
| 5 | Arkadij Naiditsch | 9 |
| 6 | Romain Edouard | 5.5 |
| 7 | David Anton Guijarro | 4 |
| 8 | Noel Studer | 3 |
Scoring system in Classical event: Win - 4 points, Draw - 1.5 points and Loss - 0 points.
