Originally Posted by Inyo
It's the final of the 2023 Speed Chess Championship everybody wanted to see: world #1 chess player Magnus Carlsen (Norway)--numerous chess historians consider Magnus the chess GOAT, of course, he who enjoys the highest rating of all time, surpassing even the likes of such chessic luminaries as former World Champions Bobby Fischer and Gary Kasparov (often called the second and third greatest chess players of all time)--versus the inimitable speed chess demon himself, Hikaru Nakamura (US--at last check, I believe he's still currently world #2), a veritable force of nature who after emerging victorious five times in a row has indubitably established a Speed Chess Championship hegemony (thank you commentator Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky for the use of that word hegemony in this context; grin).
This is the eighth Speed Chess Championship, by the way; Magnus won the first two (2016 and 2017), but since then it's been the full-on Hikaru show, albeit one must dutifully observe that since his initial consecutive championships, Magnus has played in the event only two additional times, losing to Hikaru just last year (2022), in actual fact.
Ah, yes. The time controls. Here it goes. First--90 minutes of five minute blitz games, with a one second increment per move; next--an hour of three minute blitz games, with a one second increment per move; and finally, a half hour of one minute bullet games (same one second increment, of course).
Agadmator Chess (the usual go-to here for chess games) has yet to analyze the sublimely scintillating final game of the match, so I'll provide here, first, a link to the entire match, with wonderful commentary by Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Aman Hambleton, whose expert analysis on the fly, in the violent heat of the moment, when chaotic carnage is occurring on the board, is superbly instructional, and greatly entertaining, to boot--and, second, an excellent discussion of the final game of the match from Epic Chess, who runs through the numerous intricacies of the deciding final game with sharp illuminating detail.
Here's the entire match, with commentary by Grandmasters Daniel Naroditsky and Aman Hambleton. Be sure to stick around to the end for interviews with the participants, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. The match coverage begins at the 12:20 mark of the video:
Here's the video from Epic Chess regarding the final and decisive game of the 2023 Speed Chess Championship. It is one of the most entertaining chess games I have ever seen, featuring near the conclusion a brilliant double rook sacrifice to secure the tournament victory. Unreal. It has to be seen to believed:
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