The chess streamer extraordinaire has defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in the grand finals to secure a world championship title for himself and $150 000 for the effort.
Magnus Carlsen finished in third place after losing to Nepomniachtchi in the semi-finals, but made up for it with a comprehensive victory over Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the decider match.
The second world chess championship event in the format featured eight of the best players in the world, with online qualifiers held on chess.com and Lichess to determine the participants.
Inaugural winner Wesley So was joined by Magnus Carlsen (#1 in the world rapid ratings), Ian Nepomniachtchi (#3), Hikaru Nakamura (#6), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (#31), Vladimir Fedoseev (#51), Matthias Blübaum (#98), and local organizers’ wildcard Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson (#476).
With the exception of So, the favorites advanced to the semi-finals, where Carlsen fell to Nepomniachtchi in a tense affair. The Norwegian was playing far below his normal level, and fellow players and commentators were wondering whether his blunders were due to the recent lawsuit by Hans Niemann, the latest salvo in the ongoing controversy.
Though Abdusattorov was unstoppable in groups, he hit a brick wall in the form of Nakamura in the semis, who bounced back with two convincing victories in games two and three after an initial setback to earn his spot in the final.
The tournament was full of tactical brilliancies and exciting skirmishes, with the live audience expressing joy and disbelief over and over again during proceedings.
Even though fans missed out on the epic Carlsen-Nakamura clash, the final still delivered in spades. Nepo and Naka pushed each other to the limit and the final mini-match went all the way to the Armageddon tiebreaker.
Here, Nakamura took the white pieces and the time odds with the mandatory win requirement, and managed to break Nepomniachtchi’s resistance to clinch the title. With this, the Fischer Random world championship remained in American hands.
Nakamura’s next challenge will be the finals of the Chess.com Global Championships, the inaugural edition of Chess.com’s million-dollar tour starting on November 2 in Toronto.
Wesley So will return as one of his opponents, with Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Dimitry Andreikin, Teimour Radjabov, Anish Giri, Nihal Sarin and Sam Sevian. Sevian is filling in for Levon Aronian after losing to him in the round of 16 qualifiers, as his fellow American is having his first child.
