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The Airthings Masters starts with a preliminary round robin tournament, in which the eight best players qualify for the knock-out stage. This may explain why the players were rather careful on day 1 – after all, finishing among the first eight is more important than half a point more or less.
| Name | Elo | Result | Name | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Dubov | 2699 | ½ - ½ | Teimour Radjabov | 2765 |
| David Anton Guijarro | 2681 | ½ - ½ | Wesley So | 2770 |
| Magnus Carlsen | 2863 | ½ - ½ | Levon Aronian | 2767 |
| Anish Giri | 2764 | ½ - ½ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2784 |
| Alexander Grischuk | 2777 | 0 - 1 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2736 |
| Pentala Harikrishna | 2732 | ½ - ½ | Maxime Vachier Lagrave | 2784 |
The only winner in round 1 was Hikaru Nakamura who defeated Alexander Grischuk with Black in a theoretically interesting game.
The rapid games of the world's best players often have an astonishingly high quality, but occasionally they are also marred by grave mistakes. In round 1 Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian both suffered from a mutual and sudden attack of chess blindness (or Amaurosis scachistica, as Dr. Tarrasch, a medical practitioner by profession, called it):
In this position Aronian, who had less than a minute on the clock, played 42...Rd4??, which throws the game away. Immediately after making his move, Aronian realized what he had done but Carlsen missed his chance to win the game and returned the compliment. 43.f4+! wins immediately but Carlsen played 43.Rxd4?? and after Kxd4 44.Rb3 Rh2+ 45.Kb1 Rh3 46.Ka2 Kc4 47.Rc3+ Kb5 48.Kb3 d4 49.Rd3 Kc5 50.Kc2 Rg3 51.a4 Rg2+ 52.Rd2 Rg3 53.Rf2 Kb4 54.b3 g4 55.fxg4 d3+ 56.Kd2 Rxg4 57.Kxd3 Rg3+ 58.Kc2 Rc3+ 59.Kb1 Rxb3+ 60.Rb2 Rxb2+ 61.Kxb2 Kxa4 the game ended in a draw. ½–½
| Name | Elo | Result | Name | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxime Vachier Lagrave | 2784 | ½ - ½ | Hikaru Nakamura | 2736 |
| Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2784 | 0 - 1 | Alexander Grischuk | 2777 |
| Levon Aronian | 2767 | 1 - 0 | Anish Giri | 2764 |
| Wesley So | 2770 | ½ - ½ | Magnus Carlsen | 2863 |
| Teimour Radjabov | 2765 | 1 - 0 | David Anton Guijarro | 2681 |
| Pentala Harikrishna | 2732 | ½ - ½ | Daniil Dubov | 2699 |
His lucky escape in round 1 might have inspired Aronian and in round 2 he won a fine game against Anish Giri. After the opening Aronian was in trouble but in a complicated and double-edged position he then made better use of his chances.
| Name | Elo | Result | Name | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Dubov | 2699 | ½ - ½ | Maxime Vachier Lagrave | 2784 |
| David Anton Guijarro | 2681 | ½ - ½ | Pentala Harikrishna | 2732 |
| Magnus Carlsen | 2863 | ½ - ½ | Teimour Radjabov | 2765 |
| Anish Giri | 2764 | 0 - 1 | Wesley So | 2770 |
| Alexander Grischuk | 2777 | ½ - ½ | Levon Aronian | 2767 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 2736 | ½ - ½ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2784 |
After the defeat against Aronian in round 2 Giri suffered another setback in round 3 when he fell victim to a textbook attack by Wesley So.
| Name | Elo | Result | Name | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maxime Vachier Lagrave | 2784 | 0 - 1 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2784 |
| Levon Aronian | 2767 | ½ - ½ | Hikaru Nakamura | 2736 |
| Wesley So | 2770 | ½ - ½ | Alexander Grischuk | 2777 |
| Teimour Radjabov | 2765 | ½ - ½ | Anish Giri | 2764 |
| Pentala Harikrishna | 2732 | ½ - ½ | Magnus Carlsen | 2863 |
| Daniil Dubov | 2699 | 1 - 0 | David Anton Guijarro | 2681 |
Daniil Dubov started the tournament with three draws but in round 4 he played a typical Dubov-game:
After day 1 of the Airthings Masters five players share the lead but as there are still seven rounds to play, nothing is decided yet, and all twelve players can still qualify for the knock-out stage.
