Nakamura vs. Carlsen in the Speed Chess Championship Final
Don't read on if you don't want to know who won.
This took place on Sunday, after the World Cup final (it was originally scheduled for Tuesday, if I recall correctly, and that’s when I watched it), and just as the World Cup was the triumph of a 35-year-old superstar (Lionel Messi) whose resume lacked only one thing - a very big thing - so too the final of the Speed Chess Championship was the triumph of another very accomplished 35-year-old (Hikaru Nakamura) whose resume lacked one big thing. In the case of Messi, it was a World Cup victory, and he achieved it; in the case of Nakamura, it was a major match victory over Magnus Carlsen - and he likewise came through. In both cases it came down to the wire, with “M” players coming back more often than the Terminator (or NFL teams facing Matt Ryan [too soon?]). Mbappe seemingly singlehandedly kept France in the final all the way to penalty kicks before his team succumbed to Argentina, and Magnus came back from a four-game deficit to equalize the match before Nakamura squeaked out the victory.
In the first segment of the match, with 90 minutes of a 5’+1” time control, Nakamura played exceptionally well, finishing with an undefeated 6.5-2.5 score that had Carlsen reeling. After the match, Carlsen was very impressed by Nakamura’s play, feeling that Nakamura’s play at this time control was only bettered in his match against Vladimir Fedoseev in 2020. (Nakamura crushed Fedoseev 8-0 in the 5’+1” segment of their match from that year’s Speed Chess Championship.)
In the 3’+1” segment Carlsen opened with a win playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.a3!? - in fact, he went 3-0 with that line - but a few games later an egregious blunder, moving a bishop to a protected square, restored Nakamura’s 4-game lead. Still, Carlsen was playing better (and Nakamura had reverted to the mean), and the segment ended with Carlsen only two points behind.
Nakamura won the first game of the 1’+1” with Black, but then catastrophe struck as he lost three games in a row - especially since he was winning both of the white games while enjoying a big plus on the clock. After leading throughout, the match was suddenly tied. To Nakamura’s great credit, he didn’t fold, and although Carlsen came out of the opening in the next game with an advantage, a tactically alert Nakamura was able to grab a pawn. The position could have been held, but a further error by Carlsen in the rook ending cost him a second pawn, and Nakamura regained the lead.
Nakamura won the next game very quickly to take a two point lead with not too much time left on the match clock. (For those who don’t know the format: the players play 90 minutes at the 5’+1” time control, then 60 minutes at 3’+1” and finally 30 minutes at 1’+1”. Any game that starts during that period counts, even if there is only one second left on the match clock for that segment.) Carlsen was able to grind out a win in the next game to pull within a point of Nakamura, but the game took 90 moves and left just under six minutes on the match clock. Again, Nakamura rose to the occasion with another speedy win, and Carlsen would have to get in two games - and win them both - with less than three and a half minutes on the match clock. The next game was headed for a draw, but after a couple of careless, hasty moves by Nakamura aimed at killing the match clock Carlsen obtained a winning position. Now it was a race against time, and while Carlsen did grind out the win, he was around three seconds too slow, and Nakamura was able to run out of time on his clock and the match clock, taking a 14.5-13.5 victory.
This was Nakamura’s fifth consecutive victory in the Speed Chess Championship, but his first win over Carlsen after a couple of finals losses to him back in the ‘10s. (He also lost an epic match in the Champions Chess Tour to Carlsen in 2020.) It was a great match, and both players clearly enjoyed the match and were complimentary towards each other in their post-game interviews. If you have the time and interest, I recommend watching the live broadcast (at least the interviews at the end), and here are all the games from the match, with my brief comments to all of them.
Great recap. Thanks for your insights.