Hikaru Nakamura Just Broke Chess.com’s Blitz Rating Record

Hikaru Nakamura set the highest blitz rating in Chess.com history, 3503, then lost Titled Tuesday in the final round to a grandmaster rated about 270 points below him. Nakamura reached 3503 in round seven of Titled Tuesday in Sithonia, Greece, beating Alexey Sarana in 54 moves. Sarana had won his first six games, and his perfect run carried a $4,500 bounty. According to ChessBase India, Nakamura had played 253 rated blitz games over eighteen days, winning 231, drawing 12 and losing 10. This is a Chess.com rating, and his FIDE rating is around 2792. In round eleven he faced Vladislav Artemiev, and Grischuk beat Dmitrij Kollars on the next board, so the winner of that game took the tournament. With 27 seconds left, Nakamura recaptured on g4 with his knight, with check, in four-tenths of a second instead of using his h-pawn. Artemiev’s a-pawn ran, Nakamura lost a piece, and he resigned. Artemiev finished on 9.5 out of 11, took his first Titled Tuesday since early 2021 and won $2,500. Grischuk and Sarana matched his score and placed second and third on tiebreaks. Nakamura finished ninth and collected $250. Afterwards he said he could not keep the rating where it is if he keeps playing events like this, and that 3600 is not realistic while he keeps streaming. Next week’s perfect-score bounty rises to $5,000. Sources: Chess.com, ChessBase India. #titledtuesday #hikarunakamura #chessnews To clarify videos are made for educational purposes! Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, commenting, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.