Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian scored a smashing victory against Russia’s Sergey Karjakin in Sao Paulo-hosted Grand Slam final’s round 1.

Meanwhile, world’s number one Magnus Carlsen suffered a loss against Fabiano Caruana, while Vishy Anand and Paco Vallejo drew their first game.

With 3 points each, Aronian and Caruana share 1st-2nd places. Armenian grandmaster will face off against Anand in round 2, with Caruana and Vallejo to rival Karjakin and Carlsen respectively.

The tournament’s second stage will be held in Bilbao, from October 8-13.