Alireza Firouzja extended his lead in the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz chess tournament after a dominant performance in the first day of the blitz section. The French grandmaster now sits on 17.5 points, 1.5 points ahead of Wesley So, who had a stellar blitz performance with seven wins out of nine. Meanwhile, R. Praggnanandhaa remained in last place despite a couple of wins, including victories against Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura.