Hikaru: "I know that I would have won at least one, if not two World Blitz Championships, if not for Magnus..."

Hikaru Nakamura

World's No. 3, streamer

“I don’t regret Magnus winning the Classical World Championship. Or maybe regret is the wrong word. I don’t envy here. I don’t have any jealousy about Magnus winning the World Championship itself.

But the World Blitz Championship… As I’ve said many times in the past, I know that I would have won at least one, if not two Blitz Championships, if not for Magnus. In fact, even in 2019 we tied for first place and I lost the tiebreaker to him.

When people often think these things like: ‘I wish I had this or that…’ I don’t. It’s really only the Blitz ones that I know in my heart I would have won one or two, if not for Magnus. That’s just the reality.

But I would also say that it applies to many players. There are many players whose careers would have been much greater. For example, you can look at Fabiano, obviously. There’s almost no doubt that he would have been world No. 1, probably World Champion, if not for Magnus at a certain moment in time.

Levon is another player who, I think, would have had a far greater career if not for Magnus as well. There are so many players whose accomplishments are so much lesser than they would have been if not for Magnus. That applies to everyone. It really does apply to everybody.

Nepo too. If I look at Nepo at his peak in the 2021-ish period or in 2022, whenever it was, it’s hard to believe that the form he was in when he played Magnus in that match, when he ended up losing, that he would not have ended up winning something as well.

It’s true for everybody. But it’s the World Blitz Championship specifically that I find sad about Magnus quote-unquote existing, for lack of a better way of putting it.”