P. Harikrishna drew with Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, following perpetual checks in 27 moves, and made a quiet start in the $200,000 Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament.
In the remaining three rounds of the opening day, Harikrishna was due to play with white pieces against Daniil Dubov (Russia), black against David Anton Guijjar (Spain) and finally, white against Magnus Carlsen (Norway).
Following draws on five boards in the first round, Hikaru Nakamura emerged as the lone winner at the expense of Alexander Grischuk.
The results (first round): P. Harikrishna drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra);
Magnus Carlsen (Nor) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm); Alexander Grischuk (Rus) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (USA);
Anish Giri (Ned) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); David Anton Guijarro (Esp) drew with Wesley So (USA);
Daniil Dubov (Rus) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze) .
