Nakamura beat Carlsen in the Finals of Speed Chess Championship
The match started just half an hour after the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France, with quite similar developments. European representative Carlsen also started slowly like France, when he was four points behind 2.5-6.5 after the content of 5+1 blitz (five minutes for each side, one second after each move).
Magnus Carlsen showed the bravery of the five-time world champion, when he won 6-4 in the 3+1 blitz content, to reduce the gap to only two points. At the end of the 1 + 1 super flash, the Norwegian player sometimes equalized the score but lost the next two games in a row. At that time, Nakamura led 14.5-12.5 with a match time of only three minutes and 25 seconds.
The two players started the next game when Carlsen took the white piece, entering the balance of the game. However, he took advantage of the advantage to gain the advantage of winning when the match was almost over. Carlsen won up to two queens and reached the throne after only one move.
If Nakamura asks to lose before the time runs out, the two players will have to play one more game and Carlsen still has a chance to equalize. But, the number one chess player in the world decided to let his time run out, a second after the match ended. That means the two players won't play any more games, and Nakamura won the match 14.5-13.5.
Stretching time is a common tactic at the Speed Chess Championship, mainly when the players are leading by a large margin. "That's why every second matters," world number seven Anish Giri commented on Nakamura's tactics. "Perhaps chess should have the same rules as football."
The match attracted more than 20,000 simultaneous views on Chess' Youtube account, not to mention other platforms or accounts. Carlsen is the number one player in the world of standard and fast chess, while Nakamura is at the top of blitz chess, according to Elo FIDE December 2022.
And Nakamura still praised Carlsen. "I'm very excited to play Carlsen," the 35-year-old said. "If anyone isn't excited to see Carlsen, what's the point of playing chess? Carlsen is the best chess player, and a world champion."
Experts also appreciate the quality of the match. Grandmaster Benjamin Bok said: "The match was crazy. I want to see Carlsen fight Nakamura more." And reporter Tarjei Svensen said: "In the past 10 years, there has been no match as exciting as Carlsen and Nakamura. This match is as exciting as the World Cup final."
Nakamura and Carlsen are two of the most famous chess players today. Carlsen 11 years topped the world in standard chess, considered the King of Chess. Nakamura is the number one chess streamer in the world with millions of followers on Youtube or Twitch. The game of these two players at the 2017 Norwegian Super Cup was simulated in the famous Louis Vuitton photo on November 19, when two football superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi played chess together. At that time, Ronaldo played the role of Carlsen, and Messi was in the position of Nakamura.
Speed Chess Championship (SCC) is an annual online chess tournament organized by the Chess platform since 2016. In the first two years, Carlsen won by a significant margin against Nakamura in the final. In the period 2018-2021, Carlsen was a major shareholder of another chess platform, so he did not attend SCC. Without the Chess King, Nakamura "stormed" with four consecutive championships. In 2022, Chess acquired Carlsen's foundation, so he returned to SCC but was unable to overthrow Nakamura.
