Hikaru Nakamura commented on how he advanced to the Playoffs of the Esports World Cup 2026. Nakamura explains how he avoided a trap in his game against Alexey Sarana, and notes a loss in one of his games against Denis Lazavik.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

World's No. 3, streamer

“Anyone who has watched chess content online is 100% familiar with this trick.

Eric Rosen, the International Master from the United States, has done this on a million different occasions. I kind of sensed this was going to happen.

So, when Alexey moved his king into a position with no legal moves, I did not have a pre-move plan. I very calmly moved my queen back. And now his king has plenty of squares to move to, so I can my pawn, no stalemate, and I win the game.

Then came the game against Denis Lazavik, where I lost a rook endgame. This is a game that I deserved to win, as I completely outplayed Denis from the opening right through to the beginning stage of the endgame.

It would have been very tilting for me to not get the match win, considering how well I played… But ultimately, I did win this match”

The Esports World Cup 2026 takes place from August 11 to 15, at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in France. Nakamura defeated all opponents in the Group Stage B Upper Bracket. He secured 1 of the 8 slots in the Playoffs, and will play on August 14.

Credit: Esports World Cup YouTube