Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals: Nakamura Wins 1st Set
Nakamura Photo Maria Emelianova
GM Hikaru Nakamura won the first set in the best-of-seven final of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals benefiting Kiva. The American grandmaster defeated GM Magnus Carlsen in the second game on Friday, and drew the other three.
The games of the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour Finals can be found here as part of our live events platform. IM Levy Rozman, IM Anna Rudolf, and IM Eric Rosen are providing daily commentary on Nakamura’s Twitch channel at 7:00 a.m. Pacific / 15:00 Central Europe.
Showing superior openings and time management, Nakamura was the better player on the first day of what could well be the biggest chess event of 2020, prize-wise. With $140,000 on the line, the underdog is up 1-0 against the favorite.
Nakamura was up on the clock in all four games. As he briefly joined the show on his own Twitch channel, Naka coined a new term: doing a “semi-Nepo.”
“Play good openings and then moving fast; playing decent moves but not outright bad ones,” Nakamura explained.
