2018 Paris GCT

Hikaru Nakamura showed off his nerves of steel today and emerged as the winner of the 2018 Paris Grand Chess Tour. The American is no stranger to the winner’s circle as he has previously won the 2016 edition a full point ahead of Magnus Carlsen. He earned $37,500 and 13 tour points for his efforts.

Finally, the 2018 Grand Chess Tour has a new leader. Wesley So has been dominant in Leuven and in the rapid portion in Paris, but today he handed the reigns over to Sergey Karjakin. The Russian explained his fantastic performance in blitz is due to the fact that he is more relaxed and simply plays chess. Wherein classical chess requires preparation and hours of play, blitz is more fun to play according to him. Going into the last day of Paris, Karjakin is leading by a full point ahead of the field. The tournament is still wide open as Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian are striking distance away.

Wesley So won the rapid portion of Paris Grand Chess Tour after drawing all his games today. However, unlike in Leuven where he had a three-point lead over the field going into the blitz, he only has a one-point lead now, thus putting himself in a more vulnerable position. Sergey Karjakin and Hikaru Nakamura are now tied for second place and are only one win away from catching the leader.

After three more days of rapid, Wesley So emerged as the sole leader of the tournament. He is now a full point ahead of the field, with Levon Aronian and Sergy Karjakin trailing him closely. Both So and Karjakin had an excellent showing today, scoring 2.5/3 points. The Russian grandmaster expressed that his rival is playing brilliant chess and might be unstoppable, but felt much more confident after his second win of the day. ​

After three more days of rapid, Wesley So emerged as the sole leader of the tournament. He is now a full point ahead of the field, with Levon Aronian and Sergy Karjakin trailing him closely. Both So and Karjakin had an excellent showing today, scoring 2.5/3 points. The Russian grandmaster expressed that his rival is playing brilliant chess and might be unstoppable, but felt much more confident after his second win of the day. Levon Aronian came into the day tied with the leader but was not able to keep pace and only won one game. Hikaru Nakamura and Viswanathan Anand are trailing the leader by two points and are still a striking distance away.

Tomorrow the winner of the rapid portion will be decided.

Three days after the conclusion of Your Next move, the players continued on to Paris for the second leg of Grand Chess Tour. The wildcard for this event is former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who was also a wildcard in last year’s edition. After three rounds of rapid, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand are tied for the lead with 4/6. Tomorrow promises to bring even more excitement as the leaders will be facing off against each other.