This is our quick summary report. Check out our full report after Sunday’s knockout tournament.
GM Hikaru Nakamura won week 18 of the Rapid Chess Championship, presented by Coinbase, edging out four other grandmasters by tiebreaks.
Participating in the event were 56 competitors—now open to all GMs as well as the top-10 women, top-10 juniors, as well as 10 wildcards. The knockout takes place on June 12, starting at 9 a.m. PT / 18:00 CEST.
Nakamura won first with 6.5 points, starting the tournament with an early lead and a 4-0 winning streak. GM Alexey Sarana succeeded in a must-win last round by defeating GM Sanan Sjugirov. GMs Dmitry Andreikin, Jeffery Xiong, and Klementy Sychev all tied with 6.5 points for third to fifth. GMs Levon Aronian, Olexandr Bortnyk, and Subramaniyam Bharath also qualified for Sunday’s knockout with six points each.
