Nakamura grimaced when he saw Carlsen lose the chess

At the end of the first round of the fourth round on August 9, Carlsen fell into a losing position against 19-year-old player Vincent Keymer. Nakamura, who was playing at the next table, got up and went over to Carlsen's table to have a look. Just seconds after looking at the board, the Japanese-American player grimaced. He realized that the number one player in the world was falling into a losing position, and was in danger of being eliminated.

Nakamura's expression was the subject of comments on the chess forum on Reddit, with more than 1,000 likes. User nihilistiq wrote: "Nakamura's expression can change the evaluation bar of chess". And LowLevel responded: "Without sound, the gravitational waves of Nakamura's grimace are enough to distract others."

However, there are also accounts that Nakamura's expression can influence Carlsen or Keymer. Crashovercool commented: "When I was younger I always hated people like Nakamura when I played, because it was annoying. But I'm not Carlsen and maybe Carlsen won't be affected by this problem."

Nakamura was also playing against another young talent, 18-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. At the time of watching Carlsen's game, the world's number two player was also weak against the Indian prodigy. However, Nakamura ended up drawing with Praggnanandhaa, while Carlsen lost to Keymer and was forced to win the second game today, August 10.

This is not the first time Nakamura has made such an expression when a master loses chess to someone who is underrated. At the 2019 Gibraltar tournament, he sat next to Levon Aronian and saw this player fall into a position of losing to David Howell. Nakamura turned to look and frowned repeatedly, then rolled his eyes at Aronian with a puzzled expression. Or at Candidates 2022, Nakamura also opened his mouth and grimaced when Fabiano Caruana lost to Dinh Lap Nhan.

Nakamura is the number two player in the world after Carlsen, but he considers himself a chess streamer. The 36-year-old player has millions of followers on world-famous streaming platforms, thanks in part to his humorous expressions. If Carlsen is eliminated, Nakamura will become the number one champion candidate at the World Cup.