Magnus hits 3400 Blitz

Hikaru Nakamura was the first player to achieve a 3400 blitz rating on chess.com, reaching the mark in February 2024. Finally, Magnus Carlsen has joined him, crossing up to 3401 on Friday.

Magnus had left off at 3377 on Thursday, following some games against Daniel Naroditsky. A few warm up games ahead of Freestyle Friday pushed him up to 3397, and following an uncharacteristically bad performance in chess960, he switched back to regular blitz. Two games against IM David Gorodetzky and four rating points later, he had done it: 3401.

White had played Rb6-d6, shielding the king from checks, but resigned in the face of …b1=Q+.

Magnus concluded his day with a short match against Ediz Gürel, oscillating above and below 3400 before calling it quits after losing three out of four games. The challenge for Magnus and Hikaru is that they are so far above the pack that single draws or losses have significant negative effects! The current blitz leaderboard has Carlsen in first at 3370, Hikaru second at 3333, and then a drop to Alireza Firouzja in third at 3257.