Few surprises in round 1

As usual in Swiss tournaments, there is a relatively large difference in playing strength between the opponents in the first round. Most of the higher ranked players also won according to plan, although a few got away with a mere scare. However, David Nesse from Norway managed to catch a draw against Gustav Törngren and a draw was the result also between one of the favorites Platon Galperin from Ukraine and Benedikt Briem from Iceland. The only real clash came in the game between Victor Muntean and IM Jakob Leon Pajeken from Germany. Muntean played an opening inspired by Awonder Liang’s victory against Levon Aronian in the recently concluded USA Championship.