Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, and Hikaru Nakamura, the five-time US champion and speed specialist, are the two big beasts of major online chess tournaments, and they demonstrated their subtle skills this week at the $235,000 Airthings Masters, the opening event of the year-long online Champions Tour. Their controlled and impressive approach in the matchplay rounds enabled them to see off challenges from the Indian teenagers Arjun Erigaisi and Dommaraju Gukesh.
In contrast, the world No 4 and anticipated future champion, Alireza Firouzja, qualified for the quarter-finals but then collapsed, losing five games in a row to exit the tournament. Firouzja has been absent from competition for several months for unknown reasons, and his tactical brilliance shone only fitfully in an error-strewn episode.
