Nakamura beats Ding in Armageddon, will face So in SCC final

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/17/2021 – In the second semifinal of the Speed Chess Championship knockout event, defending champion Hikaru Nakamura had to work extra hard to defeat Ding Liren, as the match was only decided in Armageddon. The Chinese grandmaster drew the online blitz and bullet specialist both ‘in regulation’ and in the 4-game tiebreaker. Nakamura will face Wesley So in Sunday’s final match.

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Going for a fourth title

Hikaru Nakamura no longer appears as an active player in the latest FIDE ratings list. The American, a 5-time United States champion who has won the Tata Steel Masters and played in the Candidates Tournament, has put most of his focus on online chess and streaming. Much can be said about his decision, but there is no doubt he has succeeded in the online world.

In February 2021, Naka’s channel on Twitch reached the incredible milestone of having one million followers. Viewers enjoy watching an elite grandmaster challenging himself and others while playing quick-paced online chess. The American, who often mentioned that playing blitz and bullet was an important part of his chess development, does not disappoint, as he gets excellent results in the online tournaments taking place on chess.com.

The main event of the year organized by the aforementioned online platform is the Speed Chess Championship. After Magnus Carlsen won the first edition back in 2017, Naka has shown his speed and resourcefulness to win the next three events, and is now going for a fourth consecutive title after beating none other than world number 3 Ding Liren.

Speed Chess Championship 2021

Ding stronger in first two sections

Much like regarding Wesley So in the first semifinal, the commentators thought Ding needed to go into the bullet section of the match with an advantage. A more classical player, it seemed unlikely that the Chinese would be able to stop Nakamura in the 1-minute games.

However, despite getting better positions in the late middlegame more than once, the Chinese went down 5-4 in the 5-minute games section. Nakamura showcased his incredible defensive skills to get ahead on the scoreboard in what should be the toughest phase of the match for him. But beating Ding is never easy.

In the 3-minute games, the Chinese bounced back and even got to enter the 1-minute section with an advantage. After getting a 6-4 victory in the second portion of the match, the 29-year-old from Wenzhou had a real chance of beating the tournament favourite. 

The bullet games were filled with tension, naturally, with Nakamura getting a final full point in a must-win situation to take the match to tiebreaks. After drawing again in the 4-game decider, the match went to Armageddon, where Naka had the better nerves and got the all-important victory with the black pieces.

Speed Chess Championship 2021

Nakamura later told commentators Daniel Naroditsky and David Pruess:

I thought this was the hardest match I’d played — and that includes the match I lost to Magnus, by the way. Obviously Ding couldn’t quite convert to the same degree as Magnus did, but after the match today, I’m gonna just try to play good chess and hopefully good things will happen.

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1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.c4 c6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Qb3 a5 8.cxd5 a4 9.Qd1 cxd5 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Bd2 Nc6 12.a3 Rd8 13.e3 Qa6 14.Re1 Bf5 15.Bf1 Qa7 16.Rc1 Ne4 17.Nh4 Be6 18.Nf3 Bf5 19.Nh4 Be6 20.Bd3 Nxc3 21.Bxc3 Bh3 22.f4 e6 23.g4 Nxd4 24.Bxg6 hxg6 25.exd4 Rac8 26.Qf3 Bxd4+ 27.Kh1 Bxc3 28.bxc3 Rc4 29.Qxh3 Rxf4 30.Qg3 Qf2 31.Qxf2 Rxf2 32.Rf1 Rxf1+ 33.Rxf1 Rc8 34.Rf3 Rc4 35.h3 Kg7 36.Rd3 f5 37.Nf3 fxg4 38.Ne5 Re4 39.Nxg4 g5 40.Ne3 Kg6 41.Kg2 Rf4 42.Nc2 Rc4 43.Re3 Kf6 44.Nb4 g4 45.h4 b5 46.Kg3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27881–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27880–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L2788½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28841–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27881–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28840–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L2788½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202141
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L2788½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27880–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27880–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28841–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27881–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L2788½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202142
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28841–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27881–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28841–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27881–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
--
Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28840–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
--
Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27880–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
--
Ding,L2788Nakamura,H2884½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L27881–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
--
Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28840–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
--
Nakamura,H2884Ding,L2788½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
--
Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28841–02021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
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Nakamura,H2884Ding,L2788½–½2021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202143
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Ding,L2788Nakamura,H28840–12021Speed Chess Championship Main Event 202144

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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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