Chess: Magnus Carlsen makes history

Magnus Carlsen has won the Speed ​​​​Chess Championship for the fourth time. After a convincing victory in the semifinal against Hans Niemann, the Norwegian swept the highly-rated Alireza Firouzja off the board in the final. In doing so, the superstar once again made history.

In recent days, the chess world has been looking with excitement to Paris, where the final round of the Speed ​​​​Chess Championship was being held. Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Alireza Firouzja, the three best rapid chess players at the moment, were there. The field was completed by Hans Niemann, who, however, was shown his limits by Carlsen in the semi-finals.

After a one-sided match, the Norwegian clearly beat the American 17.5:12.5. The result was closer than the balance of power, as the Norwegian had already secured victory and more or less gave away the last four games. In the second semi-final on Friday, Firouzja defeated Nakamura 16:11.

Nakamura dished out a dig at Hans Niemann

In the match for third place, Niemann received the second slap in the face. The 21-year-old had no chance against Nakamura from the start. In the end, Niemann lost 9:21. “The fact is that three of the four players here are at a certain level,” Nakamura said afterwards, taking a dig at Niemann, with whom he has been battling intensely for around two years.

The eagerly awaited final between Carlsen and Firouzja turned out to be an even more clear-cut affair, to everyone’s surprise. The Norwegian effortlessly swept his opponents off his board in all three time controls (five, three and one minute) and celebrated the biggest final victory in the history of the tournament. After 180 one-sided minutes, the clear favorite won 23.5:7.5.

Carlsen: Niemann is not a good player, but …

After the win, Carlsen explained that he didn’t actually feel well before the match, but that he managed to get back on track in time. “I had the feeling that I would play quite well and I think I did.”

The Norwegian said of Hans Niemann, with whom he has been at loggerheads for two years: “Niemann has become a very good player, but to think that our level would be similar was not realistic. He does a lot of things right, but I don’t think we learned anything new about our playing strength this weekend.