MVL Beats Sarin in Speed Chess Championship, Match 1
One first-round match down, seven to go. The first one proved a good battle, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave taking on super-prodigy Nihal Sarin. It was a very competitive match, and Sarin remained in contention until around midway through the bullet stage. For now, MVL remains a player near the absolute summit of the chess world while Sarin's base camp is a few thousands feet further down the mountain. (For now!) Vachier-Lagrave won, 16.5-11.5, and tomorrow (Monday) Parham Maghsoodloo will try to oust the king of the hill, Magnus Carlsen.
More on the event here, and here (with my light notes) is a game from today's match. Lots of errors, as one might expect from a wild game played at a 3'+1" time control, but very entertaining.