Carlsen, MVL, Nakamura, So In Speed Chess Semis

GM Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen), Hikaru Nakamura (@Hikaru), Wesley So (@GMWSO), and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (@Lyonbeast) are the players who qualified for the Speed Chess Championship semifinals, to be played Dec. 11-13. A full news report on Nakamura-Fedoseev will be posted soon. Here's our preview of this week's three matches:

It's Speed Chess Championship week, with the remaining quarterfinals to be played on Wednesday, December 2 and Thursday, December 3. Don't miss it!

The first quarterfinal was played on November 19 and won by Wesley So (@GMWSO) 16-10 vs. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (@Polish_fighter3000). After a small break, we can enjoy the other three quarterfinals this week:

• December 2, 2020 at 9 a.m. Pacific/ 18:00 Central Europe: GM Levon Aronian vs. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won by MVL 14.5-12.5.
• December 3, 2020 at 5 a.m. Pacific / 14:00 Central Europe: GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Vladislav Artemiev won by Carlsen 13.5-9.5.
• December 3, 2020 at 9 a.m. Pacific / 18:00 Central Europe: GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Vladimir Fedoseev won by Nakamura 21.5-5.5.

All matches can be watched on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/chess with expert commentary.

Aronian vs. Vachier-Lagrave

The match between Aronian (@LevonAronian) and Vachier-Lagrave (@Lyonbeast) is one between two good friends. However, only one can advance and so they'll have to be enemies for a few hours.

In classical chess, MVL has a slight plus score. The Frenchman beat Aronian five to four with 29 draws. In rapid and blitz chess games the difference is bigger: MVL beat Aronian 20 to nine, with 21 draws.

Vachier-Lagrave defeated GM Nihal Sarin (@NihalSarin) 16.5-11.5 in the Round of 16. Aronian won 14-11 against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (@lachesisQ). The winner of MVL-Aronian will play the winner of Carlsen-Artemiev.

Carlsen vs. Artemiev

The match between Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) and Artemiev (@Sibelephant) comes just three days after Carlsen lost to So in the Skilling Open final. The world champion needs to be careful against one of the dark horses in this tournament!

The players have only faced each other once in classical chess. Their game at the 2020 Tata Steel Chess tournament ended in a draw. In faster time controls, Carlsen beat Artemiev two to zero, with four draws in over-the-board chess. The players drew twice in the 2020 Chessable Masters.

Artemiev reached the quarterfinals by beating GM Anish Giri (@AnishGiri) 15.5-11.5. Carlsen was too strong for GM Parham Maghsoodloo (@Parhamov): 24-5.

Nakamura vs. Fedoseev

The match between Nakamura (@Hikaru) and Fedoseev (@Bigfish1995) is another one with a big favorite and an underdog that shouldn't be underestimated. The winner will play against Wesley So in the semifinals.

If we look at classical chess, there are two games: Fedoseev eliminated Nakamura from the 2017 FIDE World Cup scoring 1.5-0.5. Over the board, they also faced each other in one rapid and one blitz game and both ended in draws. 

In Titled Tuesdays, Nakamura scored 5-3 between May and September of this year. They also played the final of the Super Swiss on October 5, where Nakamura won 7.5-5.5.

Nakamura defeated GM Haik Martirosyan (@Micki-taryan) 21-5 while Fedoseev won a thriller against GM Alireza Firouzja (@Firouzja2003) 15-14.

With three matches packed in just two days, a lot of exciting, top-level chess is on the menu. As always, all matches can be watched on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/chess with expert commentary.