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A more than convincing victory
After showing his superiority in classic chess in the world championship match, Magnus Carlsen will look for the triple crown at the quick and blitz world championships which are expected to begin in less than a week in Warsaw. Norwegian will be the favorite in both categories, and will have Hikaru Nakamura as his closest pursuer in terms of ranking.
Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into today’s world elite practice, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the topic for ChessBase: none other than the Grandmaster. Wesley So!
Most likely, Nakamura will arrive in Warsaw in a good mood, as he recently got a wild card at the FIDE Grand Prix next year and yesterday won his fourth consecutive title at the Speed Chess Championship hosted by chess.com.
Runner-up Wesley So was clearly beaten by the blitz and bullet specialist, as Naka won the event with a more than convincing 23-8 victory. It was the third time the champion had beaten So in a Speed Chess Championship final, while last year – when Naka beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final – So was eliminated by his compatriot in the semi. -final.
The prizes for online events hosted by chess.com are split based on the winner of the match and the number of points each player gets. Considering the huge score in Nakamura’s favor, there was a big disparity in the prizes received by the two players, with the champion receiving $ 16,364 ($ 10,000 for winning the match and the rest based on his score) and the grandmaster of Filipino origin receiving $ 3,637.
Naka’s journey to the championship
On his way to a fourth consecutive title, Nakamura knocked out three players before reaching the final. His first two wins were almost as convincing as his triumph in the final, as the five-time United States champion beat Peter Svidler by a score of 22-10 and beat Anish Giri by a score of 18½-10½.
Practical chess strategy: the bishop
When it comes to strategy, one of the key things chess professionals understand much better than amateur players is the role of the bishop which is the key theme of this video course.
The champion’s biggest obstacle was Ding Liren, whom he knocked out in the semifinals after drawing both “in regulation” and in the blitz tiebreakers. Naka confessed that the match was the toughest game he had ever played in the league – including his showdowns against the world champion.
Naka’s focus on online chess and streaming has done wonders for him financially and in terms of competition – he won too season 8 of the ‘Arena Kings’ tournaments played on chess.com. We can only hope that he turns out to be a strong opponent for Carlsen in quick and quick games!
