Carlsen obtains 23½-7½ victory, wins Speed Chess Championship

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
9/9/2024 – With a crushing 23½-7½ victory over Alireza Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen became the winner of the 2024 Speed Chess Championship. This is Carlsen's fourth SCC title, as only he and Hikaru Nakamura have ever won the tournament organised by chess.com. Carlsen outscored Firouzja in all 3 sections of the final match, which took place on Sunday at Espot in Paris. | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
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A fourth SCC title for Carlsen

Only 2 players have ever won the Speed Chess Championship: Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura. At this year's edition, which had an in-person final stage in Paris, Carlsen grabbed his fourth SCC title - Nakamura has collected 5 so far - by beating Alireza Firouzja in the final match. Nakamura had secured third place on Saturday.

Firouzja came from showing remarkable chess in the previous rounds, but was outplayed by Carlsen from start to finish. As it is well-known, blitz and bullet chess are all about form, and the former world champion simply had a great day on Sunday. The Norwegian has shown once and again that he has the uncanny ability of (very frequently) performing at his best in the deciding rounds of top events - and this was no exception.

Carlsen got a 3-point lead in the 5-minute section, widened the gap to 9 points in the following 3-minute section and saw his opponent collapsing in the bullet. As noted by commentator Daniel Naroditsky, though, Firouzja is certainly capable of taking down his famed opponent in fast-paced events, as he had shocked the chess world by beating Carlsen in chess24's Banter Blitz Cup back in 2020 - when Firouzja was only 16 years old!

Soon after losing the match, Firouzja shared on X, referring to the World Rapid and Blitz Championships that are set to take place in New York at the end of the year:

Carlsen, on his part, shared a post in similar concise style:

It all, indeed, had to do with speed, as an ecstatic Carlsen himself explained in the post-match interview with the chess.com team:

What I was most happy about my performance today was that I was thinking a lot clearer with little time. On a lot of days, I'm just guessing when there's little time, and Alireza is usually a lot better than I am in those situations.

Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja

Alireza Firouzja and Magnus Carlsen | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova

Speed Chess Championship 2024

Previous champions of the Speed Chess Championships

Carlsen 1 - 0 Firouzja

Analysis by André Schulz

Carlsen, Magnus28321–0Firouzja, Alireza2767
SCC Finals 2024
Paris08.09.2024[Schulz,A]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 h6 A fashionable variation - h6 is a useful waiting move. Other popular moves are 7...Nc6 7...exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 or 7...Nbd7 8.Re1 Nbd7 9.Bf1 Re8 10.Rb1
10...a5 In the seventh game there followed: 10...c6 11.d5 cxd5 In some previous games Black chose 11...c5 e.g.: 12.a3 Nh7 13.Qc2 Rf8 14.Bd3 h5 15.Be3 Ndf6 16.h3 Ne8 17.Nh2 f5 18.exf5 gxf5 19.f4 e4 0-1 Sieglen,J (2380)-Kveinys,A (2515) Bonn GSK-2 1995 (1) 20.Nxe4!? fxe4 21.Bxe4 Nhf6 22.Bg6± 12.cxd5 a6 13.a4 Nh5 13...Nh7!? 14.b4 Ndf6 15.a5 Bd7 16.Na4 Bxa4 17.Qxa4 Qc8 18.b5 axb5 19.Qxb5 Nf4 20.Bxf4 Objectively not the best, but White wants to put his opponent under pressure with e5. 20.h3!?± 20...exf4 21.e5 dxe5 22.Nxe5 Qc3? 22...Bf8 23.Nc4 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Qc7 was quite ok for Black. 23.Qxb7 Black can't take on e5 and f7 is now hanging. Kh7 24.a6 Rab8 25.Qc6 Qd4 26.Rxb8 Rxb8 27.Qc4 Qd2 28.Nf3 Qa5 29.d6 The passed pawns decide. g5 30.h3 Rd8 1-0 Carlsen,M (2832)-Firouzja,A (2767) SCC Finals 2024 Paris (2.7) In the eleventh game there followed 10...b6 11.d5 a5 12.a3 Rf8 13.b4 Nh7 14.g3 Ba6 15.Qc2
15...f5? Not a good move, as Carlsen demonstrates. 16.Nh4 Qf6 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Bh3 and f5 can no longer be covered. e4 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.Bxd7 Bc8 21.Bxc8 Raxc8 22.Rxe4 Ng5 23.Bxg5 hxg5 24.Re6 1-0 Carlsen,M (2832)-Firouzja,A (2767) SCC Finals 2024 Paris (2.11) Another precise move. Black resigned. Qf7 25.Ng6 Rfe8 26.Qe4 Rxe6 27.dxe6+- 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qc2 c6 13.Na4 Nh5 14.Be3 Nf4 15.Rbd1 Qe7 16.c5 Nf8 17.Nb6
17...Rb8 17...Bg4!? 18.Nxa8 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Rxa8 with a bit of compensation. 18.Nxc8 Rbxc8 19.Rd6 b6 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.e5 bxc5 22.Bc4 Red8 23.Qd2
23...g5 23...Rxd6 24.exd6 Qf6 25.d7 Rd8 26.Re8+- 24.h3 Ng6 25.Rd1 Rxd6 26.exd6 Qa7 27.Qd3 Threatens Qxg6. Nf8 27...Ne5 28.Nxe5 Bxe5 29.d7 Rd8 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.Rd6 Bxd6 33.Qg6+ Kh8 34.Bxf7 and mate. 28.Re1 Rd8 29.Re7 Rd7 30.Bxf7+ Kh8 31.Rxd7 Qxd7 32.Bb3 Nh7 33.Qc4 Qd8 34.Qe6
Black has too many problems and is lost. 34...Bxb2 35.d7 Nf6 36.Ne5 Bxe5 37.Qxe5 Kg7 38.Be6 c4 39.Qd4 Kf8 40.Qc5+ Kg7 41.Qxc6 g4 42.hxg4 Kf8 43.Qc5+ Kg7 44.Qc8 1–0

All games - Carlsen v. Firouzja

Magnus Carlsen, Alireza Firouzja

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 h6 8.Re1 Nbd7 9.Bf1 Re8 10.Rb1 a5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.a3 Nc5 13.Qc2 Bg4 14.Be3 b6 15.Rbd1 Qc8 16.Be2 a4 17.Bxc5 bxc5 18.h3 Bd7 19.Nd5 Nh7 20.Nh2 h5 21.Qd2 Nf8 22.g4 h4 23.Qg5 Ne6 24.Qxh4 Qd8 25.Qxd8 Rexd8 26.h4 Rab8 27.Rd2 f6 28.Red1 Nd4 29.g5 fxg5 30.hxg5 Be6 31.Kg2 c6 32.Nc3 Ra8 33.Ng4 Kf7 34.Ne3 Bf8 35.Ng4 Bd6 36.Rh1 Kg7 37.Nf6 Rh8 38.Rxh8 Kxh8 39.Bg4 Bxc4 40.Rd1 Kg7 41.Rh1 Bg8 42.Nxa4 Be7 43.Nb6 Rb8 44.Nfd7 Rb7 45.a4 Bxg5 46.a5 Ra7 47.Ra1 Nb3 48.Ra3 Rxa5 49.Rxa5 Nxa5 50.Nxc5 Nc4 51.Nxc4 Bxc4 52.Be6 Be7 53.Bxc4 Bxc5 54.f3 Bd4 55.b3 c5 56.Kg3 Kf6 57.Kg4 Bc3 58.Bd5 Bd4 59.Bc4 Bc3 60.Bd5 Bd4 61.Bc4 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M3226Firouzja,A3212½–½2024Main Event4.1
Firouzja,A3212Carlsen,M32260–12024Main Event4.2
Carlsen,M3234Firouzja,A32040–12024Main Event4.3
Firouzja,A3213Carlsen,M32251–02024Main Event4.4
Carlsen,M3217Firouzja,A32211–02024Main Event4.5
Firouzja,A3213Carlsen,M32250–12024Main Event4.6
Carlsen,M3233Firouzja,A32051–02024Main Event4.7
Firouzja,A3198Carlsen,M32400–12024Main Event4.8
Carlsen,M3247Firouzja,A3191½–½2024Main Event4.9
Firouzja,A3192Carlsen,M3246½–½2024Main Event4.10
Carlsen,M3245Firouzja,A31931–02024Main Event4.11
Firouzja,A3186Carlsen,M32520–12024Main Event4.12
Carlsen,M3259Firouzja,A31791–02024Main Event4.13
Firouzja,A3173Carlsen,M32650–12024Main Event4.14
Carlsen,M3271Firouzja,A3167½–½2024Main Event4.15
Firouzja,A3169Carlsen,M32691–02024Main Event4.16
Carlsen,M3259Firouzja,A31791–02024Main Event4.17
Firouzja,A3173Carlsen,M32650–12024Main Event4.18
Carlsen,M3271Firouzja,A31671–02024Main Event4.19
Firouzja,A3218Carlsen,M31490–12024Main Event4.20
Carlsen,M3159Firouzja,A3208½–½2024Main Event4.21
Firouzja,A3207Carlsen,M31601–02024Main Event4.22
Carlsen,M3153Firouzja,A32140–12024Main Event4.23
Firouzja,A3221Carlsen,M31460–12024Main Event4.24
Carlsen,M3156Firouzja,A32111–02024Main Event4.25
Firouzja,A3202Carlsen,M31650–12024Main Event4.26
Carlsen,M3174Firouzja,A31931–02024Main Event4.27
Firouzja,A3185Carlsen,M31820–12024Main Event4.28
Carlsen,M3190Firouzja,A31771–02024Main Event4.29
Firouzja,A3169Carlsen,M31980–12024Main Event4.30
Carlsen,M3205Firouzja,A31621–02024Main Event4.31

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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