4 Players, 4 Strategies In The Speed Chess Championship Finals

Four players will compete in the Speed Chess Championship Finals on February 7 and 8, 2026, in London, England. GM Magnus Carlsen will aim to defend his title against five-time SCC Champion Hikaru Nakamura, last year's finalist GM Alireza Firouzja, and the up-and-coming GM Denis Lazavik.

The SCC features games of five minutes per side, three minutes per side, and one minute per side, all with a one-second increment added per move. Each player has different strategies for handling these hectic conditions. NM Todd Bryant has collected data on how each of the four finalists has played in the SCC, giving insight into how we expect them to play in their critical matches in London.

The Premover: Hikaru Nakamura

Nakamura has won more SCC championships than anyone else, having captured five in a row between 2018 and 2022. Nakamura has played 998 games, more than anyone in the SCC, and he speeds up as the time controls get faster. As a result, Nakamura is the fastest player in the bullet section, averaging only 1.57 seconds per move. As a result, by move 20 in each game he still has 55 of his original 60 seconds left and an 8.79-second lead on the clock. All of those are faster than the other finalists.

When an opponent keeps up their speed and reaches a time scramble with Nakamura, they need to be ready to step on the gas. Nakamura premoves more than any other finalist, regardless of the time control. In five-minute games, he premoves 6.86% of his moves. That increases to 8.12% in three-minute games, and a spectacular 11.24% in bullet games. No opponent in the field can match that speed.

There's a reason why Nakamura's the only finalist to have defeated Carlsen in an SCC match. That match came down to the clock as Nakamura saved up enough time to run out the match clock and preserve his lead. No one understands the SCC format quite like Nakamura.

The Bullet Wizard: Alireza Firouzja

For the second straight year, Firouzja will meet Nakamura in the SCC Semifinals. Last year, Firouzja became the first player besides Carlsen to defeat Nakamura in an SCC event, with a convincing 16-11 victory. Firouzja has won the Chess.com Bullet Championship three times, so he knows that he can handle time scrambles as well as anyone in the world. 

It's that confidence that allows Firouzja to think in the opening and focus on getting good positions. He's the only finalist that is typically behind his opponents on the clock 20 moves into each game. His careful opening play is most evident in five minute games where he typically trails by 19.35 seconds after 20 moves. In three minute games he continues to trail opponents at move 20 by an average of 6.98 seconds.

That's well behind Nakamura's average lead at that point of 8.79 seconds. However, Firouzja makes up for his early time deficits by getting good positions on the board and then playing very well while low on time. In his previous match against Nakamura, Firouzja was most successful in the blitz sections, entering the bullet with a 12-6 lead. No one can afford a score like that against the bullet world champion!

Calm And Quick: Denis Lazavik

Lazavik is the only player who can keep up with Nakamura's speed. While Nakamura is the fastest bullet player in the competition, Lazavik is the fastest in both blitz time controls. He averages 5.71 seconds per move in five-minute games and 3.67 seconds per move in three-minute games.

As a result of his quick decisions throughout the game Lazavik barely ever premoves. He plays the fewest premoves of any finalist in every time control, only 2.98% of his moves in five minute games, and 3.1% of his moves in three minute games. That increases to 5.31% in bullet, but that's still fewer than his opponents and less than half as often as Nakamura premoves.

His early speed helps him win games like this one, where he has far more time than his opponents in the critical moments.

The GOAT: Magnus Carlsen

Carlsen has the best win-rate in the SCC, scoring 67.8% and winning the whole event in four of six attempts before this year. In contrast to Lazavik and Nakamura, Carlsen plays carefully throughout his games. He is the slowest finalist in both five-minute and one-minute games. However, unlike Firouzja, Carlsen doesn't spend much time trailing on the clock. On average, despite his patient play, he leads his opponents on time by move 20 in average time control. 

How does he manage to stay ahead on the clock despite playing relatively slowly? It's simple. Carlsen plays better moves than everyone else. As a result, his opponents have to spend time surviving on the board. Carlsen's game are slower than those of the other top players because he applies pressure on the board, rather than the clock. As long as he can win without the clock becoming an issue, speed and premove rates just don't matter. Check out how Carlsen smoothly demolishes the opposition in games like this, with notes by GM Dejan Bojkov.

Who you do you think will win the SCC finals? Let us know in the comments.