Hikaru Nakamura commented on his victory over Magnus Carlsen at 3 0 Thursday. Nakamura calls Carlsen’s incorrect move an epic fail. Hikaru notes that Magnus was let down by his instincts.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

World's No. 2

“Magnus decided to play the wrong King move (68. Kg8). And this is the epic fail by Magnus. He spends three seconds to play this move. And this move leads to an immediate loss for Magnus Carlsen…

Magnus played the King move relatively quickly. His instincts failed him completely here, because I was able to Check him with my Rook (69. Re8+). And if he goes up, it’s a Checkmate in one. If he blocks the Rook, I Check and win the Rook and it’s game over.

And when he goes back with his King (70. Kh7), now I move my Queen (71. Qa8). And now I’m the one who’s Checkmating with the Queen and Rook on the back rank here. Magnus’ King was simply cooked.

It’s completely hopeless for Magnus. And that is why after his Pawn move (72. g5) and my Check (73. Qe4+), he decided to resign this game.”

The weekly online tournament 3 0 Thursday took place on November 5 on Chess.com. Hikaru Nakamura won the first part of the tournament scoring 10/11 points. Nakamura did not lose a single game during the event.

Magnus Carlsen scored 8 points and took 10th place. Carlsen skipped the first game of the tournament and lost to Hikaru and Haik Martirosyan.

Credit: Niki Riga / FIDE