When You Go For The Bong Cloud

Hikaru Nakamura participated in this week's Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz Tournament, featuring some of the strongest chess players in the world. This includes Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, Alireza Firouzja, Jeffery Xiong, and Hikaru himself. In the last round of the blitz section of the tournament, Hikaru's performance did not matter; no matter what happened, he would be in 3rd place, behind Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So. Thus, under the impression of his fans, he decided to go for the dubious(Anna Rudolph) opening of the Bong Cloud.

The Bong Cloud is designated by the move 2. Ke2!!, an opening popularized by Hikaru Nakamura due to it almost disregarding all opening concepts. However, it's become popular due to the fact that it's "dubious" and that Hikaru's gotten decent results out of this. Don't get me wrong, Hikaru doesn't normally go for this opening against 2700s, merely his subs or viewers on twitch. This is probably the first time we've seen this in such an elite tournament.

After a few missed wins from Jeffrey, he makes a fatal mistake on move 25, where he decides to sacrifice for an attack. However, he must have missed Qe3, allowing for Hikaru to equalize in a lost position. Hikaru defends perfectly and converts his material advantage, leading to Jeffery Xiong timing out with 7 seconds on the clock.

After the game, the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen gives out a few variations similar to the Bong Cloud (see the board above). He shows the Fred Opening, a King's Gambit variation, and an improved version of the Bong Cloud he invented. Maurice Ashley and Yasser Seirawan, some of the greatest chess commentators watch in disbelief as they watch the world champion work his magic. Anyways, at the end of the tournament, Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So share first place, while Hikaru got third. Unfortunately, some of our players didn't do so well such as child genius Alireza Firouzja. Here are the standings below along with their prize money.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to give me a follow for more great content! I post very frequently. I hope you found this funny and you got something out of it. Bye!