Carlsen Wins 4th SCC Title With Greatest Score Margin In SCC Final History

GM Magnus Carlsen won his fourth title at the Speed Chess Championship 2024, defeating GM Alireza Firouzja in front of a live audience in Paris. It was a dominant performance with a final score of 23.5-7.5; he lost just five games in four hours, drawing five and winning 21. 

Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura are still the only players to win the tournament in its almost decade-long history (since 2016). This year, Carlsen put up the greatest score in the Final of any SCC.

Speed Chess Championship 2024 Bracket

• 5+1 Blitz: Carlsen 6-3 Firouzja
• 3+1 Blitz: Carlsen 8-2 Firouzja
• 1+1 Bullet: Carlsen 9.5-2.5 Firouzja
• Interview
• More Photographs

Magnus Carlsen 23.5-7.5 Alireza Firouzja

As IM Levy Rozman pointed out in the match preview, it was in 2020—still not so long ago—that a 16-year-old boy named Firouzja defeated then-world champion Carlsen in Chess24's Banter Blitz Cup. Since then, he became the youngest player in history to break 2800, won a handful of elite tournaments, and has been hailed by some as the greatest talent of the next generation, especially in speed chess.

In the Semifinals, Firouzja was the first player ever to come between Nakamura and the Final. If Carlsen is the king, GM Daniel Naroditsky called Firouzja the prince. On Sunday, Carlsen proved that the crown is still his, and by what a margin.

SmarterChess predicted Carlsen to be a favorite with 65 percent odds, and the former world champion threw that out the window. His victory looked promising after the first segment and seemed just about certain after the second. Since 2016, there have been just two faces on our graphic of past champions, and Carlsen has won four out of the six times he's participated in this event. We'll have to add another photo of him next year.

Neuralink patient Noland Arbaugh made the ceremonial first moves using the chip in his brain, without his hands. The opening he opted for was an audacious one, and one that wasn't employed by either player in the upcoming match.

A bongcloud from @ModdedQuad for the ceremonial first move 🤣🤣 #SpeedChessFinals pic.twitter.com/H7aNs2gpGE

— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 8, 2024

Blitz 5+1: Carlsen 6-3 Firouzja

The first half of the 90-minute segment was the most contentious part of the entire match, but in the second half, Carlsen shifted up another gear to take a three-point lead.

In the first five games, neither player was able to hold onto the lead after gaining it. After a draw in game one, both players traded wins first with the black pieces, then with the white pieces. Though Carlsen was the first to win after Firouzja dropped a pawn in an endgame, the French number-one struck right back.

Naroditsky called the weakening move 26...g5? "a pretty panicky reaction from Magnus," played just seconds after Rozman praised Carlsen's usually "careful" handling of pawn pushes.

But after that loss, down by one point, Carlsen won the next four games and drew the last. It was the first and last time he would trail the match.

The nicest one was the last win, where the players repeated a line of the Nimzo-Indian that Firouzja employed earlier this year (and, curiously, a 2690-rated Carlsen also played the white side against GM Peter Leko in 2007, drawing). After Firouzja's "solidifying" move 13.g3?, Carlsen castled, cracked open the center, and found a nice clearance tactic to open the floodgates.

Firouzja was much better in the final game, but the former world champion slipped out into an opposite-color bishop endgame to draw the game. Carlsen was up by three, but the gap would expand further with every segment.

Blitz 3+1: Carlsen 8-2 Firouzja 

Carlsen lost one game, drew two, and won eight to take a nine-point lead. It was pure domination from the world's best speed chess player.

The segment started with a draw, but it occurred in an endgame we rarely see: two knights vs. one pawn. Carlsen objectively had a checkmate in 20-plus moves, confirmed by tablebases, but in a blitz game, it was impossible to find.

The very first 3+1 game ended with a two knight vs. pawn endgame! Carlsen had an objective win, but winning with around 10 seconds was too difficult.https://t.co/9z1aUY8Jix#SpeedChessFinals pic.twitter.com/Yll6O1jyIk

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 8, 2024

Then Carlsen won four games in a row. Speaking of weird endgames, game three ended with four queens on the board and not a single pawn.

Firouzja was undeniably tilted. Two games later, he allowed a two-move combination that ended the game on the spot.

By the time Carlsen won the Game of the Day, the score was 13-5. It was a firm-handed handling of the initiative, which GM Dejan Bojkov walks us through below.

The last game was the most punishingly one-sided one of the segment, and Carlsen ended it with a checkmate on the board.

Carlsen was up by nine, and he wasn't going to slow down in the bullet.

Bullet 1+1: Carlsen 9.5-2.5 Firouzja 

Firouzja managed to win games three and four, but besides one draw, he lost every single other game. Carlsen accrued an eight-game winning streak to close out the match.

Whatever the objective evaluation of the positions, Carlsen won most of them. He had some fun, though, and one of the games Firouzja won was one where Carlsen opted for a nearly suicidal opening experiment. That game was far from clean.

Magnus, with an amused look, walks into the dangerous Fried Liver Attack.https://t.co/y2uanTBmKJ#SpeedChessFinals pic.twitter.com/usWuzWhPHG

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 8, 2024

Carlsen lost again but then won the remaining eight games of the match. Two of those games, which were played back-to-back, featured a similar checkmating pattern. First, it was on the light squares.

Then it was on the dark squares.

It seemed like every single tactic worked out for Carlsen, and he found the solutions instantly.

By the way, you can listen to Nakamura's video recap below.

Interview

Firouzja took the defeat well, saying afterward that he appreciated the challenge. He will continue to challenge Carlsen in the future, as he suggested in the quote below.

"I'm very happy that there is someone like Magnus that could beat me like this because, it's weird to say, but it could get a bit depressing if at this age I could win all the games... this motivates me a lot to improve more."#SpeedChessFinals pic.twitter.com/H9THoOFqis

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 8, 2024

Carlsen isn't always satisfied with his play, even when he wins. This time, however, he was beaming.

He shared that he played some warmup games in the morning, and he lost almost all of them. An anonymous grandmaster under the username of ALieRaiseAFireOozeUh beat him four times in a row, so he wasn't feeling too optimistic.

But Carlsen shared that once the match got going, he still felt sharp, crisp in his calculations:

What I was most happy about my performance today was that I was thinking a lot clearer with little time.... On a lot of days, I'm just guessing when there's little time, and Alireza's usually a lot better than I am in those situations, but I felt like today I was holding my own.

Magnus Carlsen. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Zdg0jB7r1l

— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 8, 2024

Unlike Nakamura, who on the previous day said he's not sure how much longer he'll be playing, Carlsen said he plans on sticking around: "I think I'll be around for a while still, and they will have to earn it. I'm not going to necessarily give it to them."

I think I'll be around for a while still, and they will have to earn it. I'm not going to necessarily give it to them.

—Magnus Carlsen

Finally, IM Danny Rensch asked Carlsen if he learned anything new about GM Hans Niemann's after playing him on Friday. The answer was no, not really.

"Niemann has become a good player, a very good player, but thinking that our levels were going to be close was not realistic...I don't think we learned anything particularly new about our respective playing strengths this weekend."#SpeedChessFinals pic.twitter.com/sqYMl6njGo

— chess24 (@chess24com) September 8, 2024

Carlsen earns nearly twice as much as Firouzja, but all four players leave Paris with a decent chunk of change. 

Total Earnings

What's next? As far as speed chess goes, the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships will be in New York in the last week of December, and Firouzja's already looking forward to seeing the reigning champion there. 

Congrats @MagnusCarlsen.

See you in New York.

— Alireza Firouzja (@AlirezaFirouzja) September 8, 2024

But as far as classical chess goes, you will not have to wait long. The 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad in Budapest begins on Wednesday, featuring more than 190 teams and the world's strongest players representing their countries.

More Photographs

The Speed Chess Championship is Chess.com's most important speed chess event. Some of the biggest names in chess compete to determine the best speed chess player in the world. The main event started with qualifiers on June 27 and 28 and concluded with the first-ever Final on September 8, live in Paris. The games were played with time controls of 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. The prize fund was $173,000.

Previous reports:

• Nakamura Defeats Niemann By Double Digits In Consolation Match
• Carlsen Takes 10-Point Lead Before Beating Niemann, Firouzja On Fire Vs. Nakamura
• Nakamura Takes Off In Bullet, Sets Up Semifinal Match Vs. Firouzja In Paris
• Carlsen Qualifies For SCC Finals In Paris, Will Play Niemann In Semifinals
• Niemann Advances To SCC Finals In Paris & Potential Match With Carlsen, Blasts 'Chess Establishment'
• Firouzja Scores Nearly Double Caruana, Qualifies For Paris Semifinals
• Niemann, Caruana Advance To Quarterfinals After Superior Bullet Performances
• Firouzja Fireworks Lead To Win Over Grischuk, So Outlasts Lazavik
• Carlsen Keeps It Classy, Nepomniachtchi Does A Houdini
• Arjun Prevails At The Final Turn, Nakamura Dominates
• Lazavik Qualifies For SCC Main Event, Goes Undefeated On Day 2
• Pranesh Tops Swiss Qualifier, 8 Players Move On To Knockout Stage
• Paris To Host Live Final Of 2024 Speed Chess Championship: Nakamura, Carlsen Confirmed