Hikaru Survives Scare against Wesley @ Speed Chess Championship
Two matches have been played in chess.com’s 2025 Speed Chess Championship quarterfinals. The first saw Magnus Carlsen play “atrociously” against Fabiano Caruana en route to a 14.5-7.5 win, and second was Hikaru Nakamura surviving a charge by Wesley So to win 11-10.
Nakamura rushed out to a 6.5-2.5 lead, but So responded by winning three straight games twice, on a 7-3 run of his own. Nakamura took the lead again in the second-last bullet game, leaving So with one chance to equalize. And he did have a chance, with an objectively winning rook/bishop vs. rook/bishop endgame, but he failed to take advantage and Nakamura forced a dead drawn opposite bishop endgame, to win the match by a point.
The two remaining quarterfinals are Alireza Firouzja vs. Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Denis Lazavik vs. Hans Niemann, scheduled for November 20th & 21st.
