In game two, Nepomniachtchi weakened his own kingside with an inaccurate recapture. The 3+1 portion was peppered with uncharacteristic slips by each player. This halted Carlsen's winning streak and narrowed his lead to two points heading into the three-minute blitz. His queen and knight weaved their way into the enemy kingside to create unstoppable threats. In game eight, Nepomniachtchi finally achieved the kind of attacking position he thrives in. Robert: 'The King has been gambited!' #SpeedChess /qqMUpVb9qf Magnus wins a 3rd game in a row as Ian resigns on move 17:īenjamin: 'The King's Gambit has backfired tremendously' After losing his ability to castle and struggling to develop, the Russian grandmaster resigned after 17 moves. Nepomniachtchi's opening choice succeeded in creating a fierce attacking position―for Carlsen, whose pieces sunk into the many holes on White’s kingside. Does he really believe in the King’s Gambit? Hess: Playing the King’s Gambit was already to me a sign that he was. The commentators pondered his psychological state after two losses in a row to his nemesis. 'Ian looks up at the ceiling, but there is no Beth Harmon solution here!' #SpeedChess /UAXG6az1Ovįollowing this, Nepomniachtchi aimed to switch up the endgame-heavy tone of the match by diving into the wild waters of the King’s Gambit. 'Rc8 would be a big blunder!' says Robert Hess, but Nepo goes for it. This loss seemed to have a major effect on Nepomniachtchi, who blundered the next game. Despite his material deficit, Carlsen took over the offensive. Yet, Carlsen paralyzed his opponent’s seemingly dangerous d-pawn while building up his own play on the kingside. Nepomniachtchi entered the endgame with an extra pawn, which he soon turned into a passed pawn. In game four, the Carlsen we know emerged. With this surprise, Nepomniachtchi took the first match lead.Ĭarlsen continued to struggle to generate winning chances in the next two games. With a crafty reply of his own, Nepomniachtchi escaped into an even endgame with a better pawn structure.Ĭarlsen went about trying to press anyway in his usual style and made some headway, winning a pawn, only to end up blundering in time trouble. In the first segment, Carlsen seemed to be warming up as he pushed through to reach his regular form. After an inaccuracy by Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen discovered a tactical shot to open his opponent’s kingside but didn’t find a decisive continuation. Also, the 16th world champion has an unparalleled 56% win rate in Speed Chess Championship games in particular. Though the clash looked like it would be contentious in the blitz segment, Carlsen's nearly 3400 peak bullet rating highlighted a vast edge in that arena. In addition, he recently returned to Titled Tuesday just this week to win it for the first time in 17 months. However, Nepomniachtchi has a peak of over 3200 himself.

In terms of who has the better chances, Carlsen's over 200-point edge in blitz rating speaks loudly. Nihal 11.5-19.5 Vachier-Lagrave | QuarterfinalsĬonsidering the years of rivalry between these two players, it's a surprise that they've never faced off on. The live broadcast of the second match was hosted by Bok joined by GM Daniel Naroditsky.Ĭarlsen 20.5-9.5 Nepomniachtchi | Quarterfinals The live broadcast of the first match was hosted by GMs Robert Hess and Benjamin Bok. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page. You can also enjoy the show on our Twitch channel and catch all our live broadcasts on /ChesscomLive. You can watch the 2023 Speed Chess Championship Presented by Coinbase on /TV.

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