Nakamura takes Carlsen’s fast chess number one spot

In the fast chess tie-break series at the semi-finals of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin on April 2, Hanoi time, Nakamura won both games against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to enter the final. These two wins helped the Japanese-American player gain an extra 13.6 Elo, to increase the multiplier to 2,851 Elo. He became the current highest Elo player in the world, surpassing Carlsen’s 2,847 Elo.

But Nakamura didn’t think much of this achievement. He said above Twitch: “I know people won’t like what I’m about to say. But really the top players don’t care about lightning fast Elo, and neither do I. And if we lose a standard game and lose Elo, we I would be much more disappointed.”

Nakamura not only topped fast chess, but also blitz chess. My Blitz Elo is currently 2,850, and Carlsen ranked second with a coefficient of 2,832.

But Carlsen still tops the standard chess Elo, a player’s most important coefficient. Carlsen’s standard chess Elo is 2,864, while Nakamura’s is 11th with 2,759.

This is not the first time Nakamura has topped the world of fast and lightning chess. He used to do this in May 2014. But Nakamura’s highest position in standard chess is world number two, October 2015, with Elo 2,816. He once claimed to be “the second strongest blitz chess player in history, at least when playing online”. But the 35-year-old has never won the world fast or blitz chess.

High performance in the Grand Prix helped Nakamura to top and win a place in Candidates 2022 – the tournament to select challengers for the Chess King title of Carlsen. This is Nakamura’s second appearance in Candidates, after 2016.

Xuan Binh