GM Nihal Sarin edged out GM Anish Giri in a tiebreak playoff within the 2022 Speed Chess Championship on Wednesday. The two tenacious grandmasters created one brilliancy after one other as they grappled for a spot within the quarterfinals.
GMs Wesley So and Nodirbek Abdusattorov face off within the subsequent spherical of 16 match on December 8 at 6 a.m. PT / 17:00 CET.
How to look at?
You can watch the 2022 Speed Chess Championship on Chess.com/TV. You also can benefit from the present on our Twitch channel and catch all our reside broadcasts on YouTube.com/ChesscomLive. The video games may also be adopted from our Events Page. Live broadcast of the match, hosted by GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Jeffery Xiong.
Blitz 5|1: Nihal-Giri 5.5-3.5
Giri took the early lead, profitable two video games in a row, together with a vicious attacking sport the place he shocked the commentators twice with sudden sacrifices. First, Naroditsky calls Giri “Anish Tal” after the speculative 14.g4!?
Later, Giri’s 25.Bf6!! tore Nihal’s kingside to shreds.Â
In sport 4, Giri leaped previous Nihal’s defenses with back-to-back intermezzo techniques. Can you discover them?
Nihal quickly turned the tables, nonetheless, steadily countering along with his patented distinctive resourcefulness in time scrambles.Â
Nihal retaliates with a superb mating mixture of his personal!
An hour in, there have been zero attracts. 🤩#speedchess pic.twitter.com/ck129qQ0y4
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) December 7, 2022
Nihal went on to win 4 out of the final 5 video games to grab the lead, together with a wonderful attacking victory in sport six. This is our Game of the Day, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao.Â
Blitz 3|1:Â Nihal-Giri 4.5-3.5
After a draw within the first sport, Nihal additional elevated his lead with a easy endgame win in sport two.
In sport 5, Giri struck again with energetic play within the middle and a clear time scramble end.
Still, Nihal continued to stretch his lead. The final sport of the three+1 was a heartbreaking draw for Giri, who gained a chunk within the middlegame, fastidiously ready a kingside assault supported by a queenside decoy, after which neglected the profitable end within the time scramble.
Despite unimaginable play by Giri in lots of video games, Nihal’s tactical consciousness and ability within the last seconds of the sport gave him a three-point lead heading into the bullet section―the a part of the match the place the Indian prodigy is most favored.Â
Could the previous world quantity three launch a comeback within the quickest time management?
Bullet 1|1: Nihal-Giri 2.5-5.5
In the bullet section, Giri confirmed us to by no means underestimate a prime participant’s skill to bounce again―regardless of the circumstances. A model new Giri emerged, profitable 4 video games straight to take over the lead. Leaving the sooner video games behind, Giri confidently transformed his benefits at the same time as his clock raced away, together with a cruel king assault in sport three.
In sport 5, Nihal lastly halted Giri’s profitable streak with a rook sacrifice to drive a perpetual test within the nick of time.Â
With Nihal down some extent, the match clock ticked zero, leaving him in a must-win place within the endgame of the ultimate sport. He got here by way of, discovering readability within the difficult rook and pawn ending.
This spurred a playoff between two gamers completely decided to prevail. Giri gained the primary of the 4 tiebreaker bullet video games in dynamic model.Â
🤫 Giri takes the primary sport with just a little “shush” gesture on the finish!
An excellent sport the place he sacrificed two pawns with Black out of the opening.#speedchess pic.twitter.com/YUq7CQaSZO
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) December 7, 2022
Nihal countered by profitable the following two. This reversed the roles and now positioned Giri within the must-win place, resulting in an electrifying finale.Â
Nihal gained $3,034.48 whereas Giri earned $965.52 for his efforts. Nihal will face world championship challenger, GM Ding Liren, within the quarterfinals.
Final Score
| Player | Flag | 5+1 | 3+1 | 1+1 | Tiebreak | Total |
| Nihal Sarin | 5.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 15 | |
| Anish Giri | 3.5 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 14 |
All Games – Round of 16
Speed Chess Championship 2022 Bracket
The 2022 Speed Chess Championships Main Event began on November 23 and can conclude on December 16. Top speed-chess gamers are competing at three completely different time controls in a 16-player knockout as they vie for a share of the $100,000 prize fund together with essentially the most prestigious title in on-line chess.
The likes of GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and lots of extra will battle it out to find out the 2022 velocity chess champion.
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