Hikaru Nakamura defeated Levon Aronian 3-1 in the all-American Fide Grand Prix first leg final at Berlin on Thursday as the five-time US champion, who has become a Twitch stremer with more than a million followers, showed his speed skills by winning both 15-minute rapids after two classical games were drawn.
Nakamura needed a wildcard from the Fide president to compete in Berlin, and that decision drew sharp criticism from Arkady Dvorkovich’s Russian compatriots, but his games were full of energy and ideas. The decisive final encounter was level until Aronian, needing a win to stay in the match, advanced his white king too far into the black camp where it was trapped by Nakamura’s rooks.
