Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Paris, Day 1: Carlsen and Abdusattorov in the lead

After the first six rounds of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Paris, world number one Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) share the lead with five points each. Local favorite Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) follows closely with 4.5 points.

Abdusattorov, a late replacement for Hans Niemann, arrived in Paris on short notice but opened the tournament with three straight wins. Carlsen, who had a slower start, gained momentum throughout the day.

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The Norwegian defeated reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju (India) by converting a queen endgame with apparent ease and followed up with a win over world number two Hikaru Nakamura (USA).

Fabiano Caruana (USA) started with three consecutive losses but fought his way back into contention with two wins. His near-perfect comeback was halted in round six by Ian Nepomniachtchi, who saved a difficult endgame to reach four points overall.

Further down the table, the pressure is building. Richard Rapport (Hungary) and Vidit Gujrathi (India) both sit at one point from six games and face an uphill battle to reach the knockout phase. Vincent Keymer (Germany), the Freestyle champion of the inaugural Weissenhaus Grand Prix, has struggled with time management and conversion but remains in the race with two points.

The preliminary stage concludes Tuesday with five more rounds. The top eight players will advance to the quarterfinals.