The rapid world title fight started on Thursday in St. Petersburg with the first of three days of rapid chess. The Blitz Championship will follow on Saturday and Sunday. The format is a 15-round Swiss open with a prize fund of USD $350,000, and $60,000 for 1st place.

The first day of the World Rapid Championship saw a shocking start for Magnus Carlsen, who lost his first two games before recovering with 3/3.

Armenia’s grandmaster Levon Aronian also started with a defeat, losing to another Armenian player Robert Hovhannistyan. In the following games of the first day the Armenian grandmaster celebrated three victories and one draw.

After five rounds, the Open Section is led by Ian Nepomniachtchi, Dmitry Andreikin (both Russia), and the 15-year-old Alireza Firouzja (Iran) with 4.5 points each. 15 players scored 4 points.