The 2023 Grand Chess Tour kicked off today with Round 1 of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, a 10 player elite round-robin taking place in Bucharest, Romania, featuring newly crowned World Champion Ding Liren as well as challenger Ian Nepomniactchi. After the first round of action Wesley So jumped into the sole lead as he managed to score the only decisive result of the day, defeating Alireza Firouzja with the Black pieces.
Check out the full replay of live coverage from the day here. The time control for the event is 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes, with a 30 second increment starting from move 1.
Good technique earned Wesley So the early lead. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes
The 2023 Superbet Chess Classic continues Sunday, May 7, with tournament action live starting at 6:50 AM CT with Grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Var Akobian, Cristian Chirila and International Master Nazi Paikidze on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels.