Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura Analyze the Wrong Opening for Minutes
Even chess legends can have a funny slip-up! At the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas, Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura spent almost five minutes studying the wrong opening position before their matches. It wasn’t until they sat down at their boards against Arjun Erigaisi and Fabiano Caruana that they realized something was off.
Instead of the usual starting setup, they’d been analyzing a position where the queen and knight were swapped around — with the queen stuck in the corner and the knight on the b-file. It’s a small but crucial difference that had them scratching their heads.
ChessBase India caught the moment when Nakamura looked over at Magnus Carlsen just before the game and asked, “Did we look at the wrong position?” Carlsen laughed it off, both clearly amused by the mix-up.
Despite the goof, Magnus Carlsen went on to beat Erigaisi, and Nakamura held a draw against Caruana. Both will now face each other for third place, while Arjun and Caruana battle for fifth. Plus, Praggnanandhaa is set to play Wesley So for seventh.
Earlier, Erigaisi and Caruana took their full 10 minutes to analyze the game, even sitting on a communal table and getting really into their prep. Meanwhile, Nakamura started his prep solo until Carlsen showed up in his signature white jacket, slung casually over one shoulder, to join him.
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