The world's first fully in-person chess e-sports event, the Oslo Esports Cup, got under way on Friday with World Champion Magnus Carlsen in imperious form.
Carlsen, who is going for a hat-trick of wins in the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, rounded off the challenge of Polish No.1 Jan-Krzysztof Duda with a thumping 2.5-0.5 victory. The Norwegian even managed to survive a second-game experiment on move 1 as he opened with the highly-dubious 1.f3 - not a standard move at the elite level. That game ended in a draw.
The $210,000 all-play-all event is being played over seven days at chess24.com's e-sports arena in Oslo and is the first online chess tournament of its kind.
Carlsen, who went into the tournament topping the overall Tour standings, said of his Round 1 result: "It's pretty good. Three games, that's the best you can do."
On playing the experimental 1.f3, Carlsen added: "I planned to play that regardless, I've been trying to experiment to see what first moves you can make playable.
"But I cannot say that experience was too successful because I didn't remember what to do and had to improvise.
"I've definitely been trying to play creatively in many of these events so I intend to continue that. Not as a rule, but once in a while and I think it's been working pretty well getting my opponents a little out of book and keeping them on their toes."
In the other matches, the fast-improving Indian teen Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa also dispatched his opponent, the Dutchman Jorden van Foreest, in only three games.
Liem Quang Le, the Airthings Master finalist, had a tough start to the tournament going down 2.5-1.5 to Shakrhiyar Mamedyarov.
The final match to finish saw tournament underdog, popular streamer Eric Hansen who is ranked 237 in the world, suffer a first-round loss to Dutch No.1 Anish Giri.
Round 2 starts at 18:00 CEST on Saturday with Carlsen taking on Liem in a repeat of the Airthings Masters final. Full coverage with commentary from the Oslo arena is available on chess24's Twitch and YouTube channels.
For further comments contact:
Leon Watson leon@championschesstour.com
About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour
The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide determining the world's best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information visit www.championschesstour.com.
About Play Magnus Group
Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group's mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG. www.pmg.me
