The Superbet super-tournament didn’t get off to a super start, except for the guy making predictions before round 1. (N.B.: If those predictions go south, he might suffer amnesia about it when the time comes.) Four of the five games were drawn, and except for one brief moment in Caruana-Deac (34.Bxc5 Rxc5 35.g4 Bg6 [these move pairs could also be played the other way around] 36.Bd5 would have been awful for Black, but Deac would have been fine after several other 33rd moves, and after Caruana missed his one fleeting opportunity he was fine again) all four games were always pretty even.
In the fifth game, Alireza Firouzja lost to Wesley So. That game too was equal until just before the time control (at move 40), and even when the time control had been made Firouzja’s position was unpleasant but still tenable. He needed to play 41.Kg1, so that the f-pawn would be protected in case Black played as he did in the game: 41…Qxd4 42.Qg5+ Rg7, as in the case with 41.Kg1 White can now play 43.Qh5, with equality, as there’s no (safe) 43…Qxf2+ in reply. Black should instead meet 41.Kg1 with 41…Nxd4, with a meaningful but not decisive advantage after 42.Rd1 Ne2+ 43.Kh2 Re5. After the move in the game So’s advantage was enough to win. He endangered it with his 51st move (avoiding the trade, e.g. with 51…Qc6, would have kept a clearly winning plus), but White returned the favor on move 55, after which So gave him no further chances to survive.
End the tournament here, and So is already the winner. Rumor has it that there are eight more rounds, however, so let’s see what pairings round 2 has in store for us:
Vachier-Lagrave (.5) - So (1)
Giri (.5) - Firouzja (0)
Rapport (.5) - Duda (.5)
Deac (.5) - Nepomniachtchi (.5)
Ding (.5) - Caruana (.5)