Chess continues to go from strength to strength in the online space, with fan interest in the royal game reaching stratospheric heights during the pandemic and the Queen’s Gambit era.
The sometimes eccentric, often brash, and always brilliant players in the chess elite always produce memorable moments, and 2022 was no exception to this. From triple crowns to anal beads, this year had it all, and in the case of these critical games, one has to wonder what could have been if they had gone the other way.
Here are the biggest chess games from this past year.
Biggest chess games in 2022
Nepomniachtchi parries Caruana’s threat to turn the tide of the Candidates
After the first half of the 2022 Candidates Tournament, the event to determine the next challenger for the world championship title, Nepo and Caruana were the two leaders, winning games left and right. Their titanic clash offered a great opportunity to both players, and at some point, Caruana had a significant advantage in the game but failed to find a way to convert.
Shockingly, Caruana then lost his next two games and went into a complete tailspin, leaving Nepo without any real challenger for the rest of the tournament.
Of course, it wasn’t the only critical game of the Candidates, especially in light of Magnus Carlsen’s later decision to step down.
Nakamura almost makes it to the World Championship match
You can’t help but wonder what could have been had Hikaru Nakamura managed to cap off a super-impressive Candidates performance with a seemingly comfortable draw against Ding Liren. With Magnus Carlsen’s decision to give up his world championship title in the classical format, the tournament that was otherwise all about determining his challenger–and therefore a winner-takes-all affair–suddenly had a very valuable potential prize for the runner-up, a chance to contest for the title only 20 people have ever held in the history of classical chess.
The main intrigue of the tournament has long been settled: Ian Nepomniachtchi was the runaway winner. It was still all to play for when it came to second place. In the final round, Nakamura was in a comfortable position as even a draw would have sufficed to achieve this goal, and he reached a seemingly straightforward ending against his direct rival, Ding Liren, wielding the Black pieces.
Instead of the clear-looking 35. – Rd8 with the intention of getting the rook, Hikaru went with Bd8, and his position and dreams unraveled from there.
Carlsen retains the triple crown after winning the World Rapid and Blitz Championships
The last big chess competition of the year was the double trouble of the World Rapid and Blitz Championship, two separate tournaments held back-to-back across five days.
With the faster time formats, there’s always more volatility and variance than in classical chess, and unlike the classical title, it’s a massive Swiss bracket featuring more than a hundred players, so it’s not like the champion has a guaranteed spot in the decisive games.
In light of his impending abdication as the classical world chess champion, Carlsen was extra motivated to pick up wins here to stay on some sort of a summit. In the end, he secured both titles, with both tournaments coming down to the wire. He won on demand in the final round in the rapid and the blitz event as well, maintaining his superiority over the chess field.
Hikaru Nakamura also wins a world championship title
Though the Fischer Random World Championship is a relatively new event, the familiar faces competing for the title should tell you everything you need to know about the skills and the talent required to succeed in the format. It was a seminal victory for Nakamura, a well-deserved reward after an excellent year of play and many close calls in the biggest events.
Carlsen ignites one of the biggest chess controversies ever after losing to Hans Niemann
It’s the third round of the Sinquefield Cup and no one yet knows that a tornado is about to sweep over the chess world. Young upstart Hans Niemann shockingly ended Carlsen’s mega-streak of wins with White, breaking into the elite club of 2700-rated super-Grandmasters.
Carlsen then shocked everyone by withdrawing from the tournament, posting a cryptically worded tweet by way of explanation:
Now we know a lot more about the controversy. Carlsen clearly suspects Niemann of cheating in over-the-board play and thinks he’s cheated against him in the match. While no proof has emerged with regard to live play, Chess.com’s statistical analysis has made it quite clear that Niemann has cheated in more than 100 different online games.
Niemann, for his part, is not backing down, and he sued Chess.com, Carlsen, and even Hikaru Nakamura for defamation. The impacted parties have all filed motions to dismiss in early December, which are still pending at the time of writing.
The controversy highlighted the lax safety protocols in chess tournaments, the difficulty of identifying sophisticated computer cheating methods, the value and importance of fair play in online chess, and perhaps even the outsized influence of Carlsen on the way the chess world moves. To this date, no proof has emerged of cheating at the highest levels of over-the-board play, but the discussion will not go away anytime soon.
