Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So lead Jeffery Xiong and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after Day 1 of the Clutch Chess International, but both could regret not having bigger leads. Magnus raced to 3:0 and was winning Game 4, but he was held to a draw and then lost the first clutch game (worth double the points) and almost lost the second, to lead only by 4.5:3.5. Wesley missed a couple of great chances but still opened up a 5.5:2.5 lead over an out-of-sorts MVL who admitted he’d been dominated in the match.
Magnus Carlsen 4.5:3.5 Jeffery Xiong
The first game of this match lit up when Jeffery offered a pawn sacrifice on b5 on move 9. Magnus correctly resisted, but two moves later decided the time had come to call the bluff with 12.Nxb5?
