Nihal Sarin loses to Hikaru Nakamura in Speed Chess semifinals

India's Nihal Sarin, on Thursday, lost to American GM Hikaru Nakamura in the semifinal of the ongoing 2022 Speed Chess Championships. The 18-year-old went down 14.5-10.5 in the semifinal.

Nihal started the contest on backfoot and trailed 3-5 at the end of the 5+1 blitz segment. The Kerala lad tried his best in the next 3+1 blitz section, things eventually ended level in terms at 4.5-4.5.

With a two-point lead going into the bullet matches, Hikaru Nakamura why he is the best in the world when it comes to the shortest format of chess as he defeated Nihal 5-3 to make his way into the final.

Nakamura, who has qualified for his seventh straight Speed Chess Championship Final, will now face the winner of the second semifinal between Magnus Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.