Call it a revenge match, a titanic clash, or a recurring occurrence: the fact is, year after year, it’s Hikaru Nakamura versus Magnus Carlsen in the grand finals of the Speed Chess Championship, with both of them dominating the competition with eye-popping results on their way to the final.
Last year, it was Hikaru who squeaked past the finish line by one point—but today, Carlsen triumphed by a solitary win after two grueling hours of exciting play.
Just like in seasons past, the match featured three segments of different time controls—5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. Unlike last year, when Hikaru dominated the slowest portion to establish a seemingly unassailable lead, it was Magnus this time who raced into a lead and seemed to have a better start. But Nakamura’s resilience coupled with some uncharacteristic misses meant that the difference was just a single point heading into the 3+1 section.
Historically, Carlsen performs the best in this time control in the SCC by far, which is why it was such a shock to fans and commentators alike that Nakamura was able to storm the castle on multiple occasions with some hyper-aggressive attacks, establishing a massive three-point lead at one point, and while the scores were ultimately tied heading into the bullet portion, the momentum was clearly with the American.
The final segment started with an inadvertent Botez gambit, a mouseslip that cost Carlsen his queen and the first game. However, multiple big wins in a row forced Nakamura into back-to-back must-win situations, and he was on the verge of pushing the series into overtime. What happened next defies comprehension, as both players missed multiple winning chances in the chaotic final game with everything on the line. After failing to finish off Magnus with a devastating attack, the world number one found a stunning double rook sacrifice to clinch the series, and Hikaru, who has won the Speed Chess Championship five times in a row, had to finally bow out of the fight.
“I thought I was lost for sure, then I just gave a check,” was Carlsen’s succinct summary of the decisive game. “I was not going to be anywhere near to the level I was against Wesley [So],” he added, referring to his dominant semifinal result over the world’s number 10 classical player. “My brain just shut off during scrambles,” the world number one added about his performance in a match where he took down arguably the most prodigious online speed chess player. “I still haven’t managed to achieve my goals in the Speed Chess Championship,” he concluded.
“Considering the start, I was pretty happy with the match overall,” said Nakamura in the post-match interview. “I suspect we will have some fun matches coming up in the future, and it will be pretty hype as well,” he added with a smile. Was he referencing the rumored quasi-championship match between the two of them with “fast classical” time controls? It remains to be seen.
This was Carlsen’s third victory in the Speed Chess Championship, a long time after his first two triumphs in the inaugural events of 2016 and 2017. Since then, it’s all been Nakamura, and it’s tough to imagine anyone else getting between them in the near future in this high-stakes and high-speed competition.
