World Rapid 2025 Day 1: Great start for Goutham Krishna, Arjun shows true grit against Carlsen
27/12/2025 - IM Goutham Krishna H made a great start at FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2025 Open. He scored an unbeaten 4/5 against all-star opponents. World no.1, Magnus Carlsen (NOR), Arjun Erigaisi and World Champion, D Gukesh are in a five-way lead 4.5/5 with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Vladislav Artemiev. Arjun showed incredible resilience against Carlsen in the fifth round. GM Sandipan Chanda and GM Nihal Sarin are at 4/5 each. Sandipan played some wild games to score a hat-trick of wins including victories against Levon Aronian (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa in consecutive battles. In the Women's section, GM Harika Dronavalli is trailing the leader by a half point at 3.5/5. Four rounds of Rapid games will be played today in each section. Round 5 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed