Most favourites prevail
If you go through the boards of the first round in order, you find a favourite who was unable to win his game for the first time on board 8: Russian GM Andrey Esipenko had to settle for a draw against Azerbaijani FM Vugar Manafov.
Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.
Dmitrij Kollars, one of the four German grandmasters participating in the tournament, met the same fate. On board 35, Kollars drew against an IM from Armenia. Alexander Donchenko, Rasmus Svane and Frederik Svane won their games.

Among the prominent grandmasters who dropped half a point against an underdog in round 1 was Ukraine’s Vasyl Ivanchuk

Gabriel Sargissian, on the other hand, got the expected win on top board
The game of the day was played on board 36, where Hungarian FM Matyas Palczert (born 2007) managed to give a rapid mate attack against Polish GM Bartosz Socko.
Results - Round 1
...242 boards
All available games - Round 1
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