Nakamura unexpectedly surrenders in a winning position against chess champion Magnus Carlsen

In the Champions Chess Tour winners bracket final on the evening of May 21, an unbelievable moment occurred when Hikaru Nakamura suddenly lost to Magnus Carlsen despite having a chance to win.

Defeat to Carlsen forced Hikaru Nakamura to go down to the loser's bracket to compete for a place in the grand final - Photo: Screenshot

The final game was a tense affair, with Carlsen needing only a draw to win the match. However, the chess king unexpectedly made a risky sacrifice to attack Nakamura's castle - a move that the computer judged to be a fatal mistake. Nakamura quickly accepted the sacrifice and appeared extremely confident.

"Carlsen did not need to make such a risky move," commented international grandmaster Levy Rozman.

Both players continued to make their moves quickly, as this was almost the only option. However, the turning point of the game came on move 32.

After Carlsen moved his bishop to g4, Nakamura suddenly grimaced, slapped his forehead and shook his head repeatedly. His shocked expression surprised Rozman and grandmaster Aman Hambleton because both realized that the “Lightning God” had missed a beautiful queen sacrifice to checkmate his opponent by playing Rfg3!

Even though Carlsen still has defenses like Rg5, he will definitely lose quality and the computer still rates White as having the advantage.

Nakamura missed the move Rfg3 to gain the advantage over Carlsen - Photo: chess.com

But instead of making the Rfg3 move, Nakamura conceded with more than three minutes left on the clock. Carlsen was startled, frowned, and raised his hands in utter surprise.

"Oh my God, Nakamura lost. What a crazy decision," Rozman exclaimed.

After the game, a computer-assisted review of the moves appeared on the screen. Both Carlsen and Nakamura immediately realized their mistakes. The chess king smiled, perhaps not wanting to celebrate too much after a lucky victory. As for Nakamura, he screamed and covered his face, then burst into bitter laughter.

With two wins and two draws against Nakamura, Carlsen advanced to the grand final of the Chesscom Classic, a tournament on the Champions Chess Tour 2025.

Nakamura will go down to the losers bracket to compete for a place in the grand final with other strong players such as Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vladimir Fedoseev, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

The rapid chess tournament takes place from May 20 to 24, not only competing for the title but also accumulating points for a place at the 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nakamura-bat-ngo-dau-hang-trong-the-thang-truoc-vua-co-magnus-carlsen-20250522132011365.htm