Canty Conquers Trash-Talking Trent

FM James Canty III conquered IM Lawrence Trent in the semifinals of the 2022 IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship presented by Landover.io on Friday. It was a clash of two giants of competitive spirit over the board and beyond where Canty's tactical abilities and speed chess confidence eventually shut down Trent's bold banter and continuous comeback attempts.

The next IMSCC match is the final between Canty and IM Eric Rosen, date and time TBD.

• Blitz 5|1
• Blitz 3|1
• Bullet 1|1

Blitz 5|1: Trent 2.5-5.5 Canty

For Trent vs. Canty, the mind games began long before the players made any chess moves. Hours before the match, Trent posted on Twitter, saying: "I've got to hand it to you, James. You've done really well to get this far. Great performance... But your journey stops here.

 Great performance... But your journey stops here.

-Trent's pre-match banter to Canty

A few thoughts before my match with @gmcanty in the #imnotagm semis. Make sure you check out all the action we kick off at 6pm CET ! @ChesscomLive @chesscom pic.twitter.com/D2sDm7o078

— Lawrence Trent (@LawrenceTrentIM) June 24, 2022

Trent's bold words set the tone for the fierce duel ahead, and game one gave us a preview of the explosive clashes to come between these two creative, fighting styles.

Canty gained an early advantage, crashing through on Trent's kingside. Trent responded practically, keeping his king in the center, allowing Canty to win pawns on the kingside, and building up his own counterattack on the queenside, creating an immensely double-edged position with both kings surrounded by enemy pieces.

When the game suddenly traded into an endgame and ended in a draw, commentator IM Levy Rozman exclaimed: "What just happened?"

In game two, Trent scored the first victory of the match by discovering a unique way of trapping Canty's rook, a stunning shot that used Black's own side of the board against him.

Canty struck back with a shocking first win the next game, coming back from being down a queen after Trent promoted first but overlooked checkmate.

Canty turned this into a three-game winning streak, capping it off with a victory in his signature tactical style.

Canty reached the 3+1 segment with a three-point lead. 

Blitz 3|1: Trent 5-3 Canty

Trent won a fairly convincing first game, hunting down several of Canty's queenside pawns and promoting in the middlegame.

Canty responded the next game by slicing through Trent's kingside.

In game four, a couple of unfortunate moves greatly turned the tables against Trent. He overlooked a double attack and then mouse slipped when trying to recapture a bishop, immediately turning an equal position into a losing one.

Likely tilted from the game before, Trent blundered in the next. Despite this, Trent continued to fight, narrowing Canty's lead with a three-game winning streak, including a tactical victory in the last game of the segment. 

With this, Trent came back from an earlier four-point deficit to enter the 1+1 bullet segment only down one point.

Bullet 1|1: Trent 4-6 Canty

Trent's comeback continued as the bullet games started, capped off with a victory in game two, which commentator GM Jeffery Xiong described as "too chaotic, even for bullet."

With this win, Trent tied the score for the first time since the 5+1 portion! As Rozman declared: “It’s a new match with 17 minutes on the clock!"

It’s a new match with 17 minutes on the clock!

-Levy Rozman

The next game was the most fascinating of the segment. Canty promoted an extra queen but Trent nearly survived by hiding his centralized king around his pawns and knight.

When Trent dropped a knight in a winning position in game six, he had three must-win games ahead to stay in contention. 

Trent won one game, but in the next, Canty sealed the match victory with a clean win in a triple minor piece ending. 

The key to Canty's victory was his creative and astute tactical abilities in fast time controls. 

In the players' interview, Canty shared his reaction to his opponent's pre-match tweet as Trent laughed in amusement: “He posted it while I’m at the gym in the middle of doing some leg extensions—mid-leg extensions! I see it, and I’m like, ‘Wow, oh that’s how it is.’ So I had to hurry and get out of the gym. He cut my gym time short, so I was already mad. I couldn’t get him out of my head, honestly.”

He cut my gym time short, so I was already mad.

-James Canty III

Note to self: do not disrupt @gmcanty's workout before a match. 📝 ✅#IMSCC #speedchess pic.twitter.com/AttmYlS3i3

— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) June 24, 2022

Canty earned $778.85 in prize money for his victory while Trent took home $221.15 for his efforts.

Canty also shared his thoughts on his upcoming finals match against IM Eric Rosen: "He's going to be all nice and cute. That's how he gets you. You think he's all nice and 'oh no, my queen,' and then he destroys you... I see past it. It's not happening."

I see past it. It's not happening.

-Canty on the antics of his upcoming opponent, Rosen

All Games - Quarterfinal

The IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship (IMSCC) is an online tournament where some of the world's strongest IMs and other invited players compete in a series of speed chess matches. Each match consists of a 5+1 blitz segment, a 3+1 blitz section, and a 1+1 bullet portion, and the player who scores the most points wins the match. In the event of a tie, players play a four-game 1+1 match to decide the winner. If the tie persists, an armageddon game with a bidding system decides the winner.

Previous reports:

• Canty Upsets Shuvalova: 'She's An Absolute Beast'
• Rosen Runs Away In Bullet, Advances To Final
• IMSCC: 'Local CrossFit Dad Beats Youngest World Blitz Champ'
• Assaubayeva's Bullet Clarity Prevails Over Sukandar
• Trent Overcomes Kashlinskaya
• Rosen Takes Revenge Vs Rozman: 2022 IMSCC, Quarterfinal
• Shuvalova Eliminates Pruess: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• Rosen Beats Sachdev With 11-Game Streak: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• Rensch Triumphant In Armageddon Tiebreak: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• Kashlinskaya Blitzes Yip: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• Canty Conquers Kavutskiy: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• Trent Upsets Shahade: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• Rozman Defeats Nemo: 2022 IMSCC, Round Of 16
• I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship 2022: All The Information