GM Hikaru Nakamura seized first place in the fifth week of the 2022 Rapid Chess Championship presented by Coinbase, holding his nerve after a series of close matches against a number of the world’s best players.
Nakamura finished second in the Swiss to qualify for the knockout and fought the winner of the Swiss tournament, GM Levon Aronian, in the final after dispatching GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semifinal and quarterfinal respectively.
Joining these players in the knockout tournament were an illustrious group of players, including GM Wesley So, GM Daniil Dubov, GM Anton Demchenko, and GM Gata Kamsky who all played ambitious chess in this week’s edition.
Participating in the event were 37 elite players on the FIDE top 100 list, top 10 women, and top 10 juniors in the world, alongside 10 wildcards. The event will continue next weekend, March 19-20, starting at 9 a.m. Pacific / 17:00 Central European.
The Rapid Chess Championship is a weekly tournament held by Chess.com. It is a nine-round Swiss event with a 10+0 time control held every Saturday, followed by a knockout event on Sunday between the top eight finishers and a 10+2 time control. If players draw, they play another 3+2 game; if drawn, they play a 1+1 game; and if that is drawn, a single armageddon game is played.