GM Magnus Carlsen won the 2025 Speed Chess Championship to earn his fifth title after defeating GM Alireza Firouzja in the Final. A participant in its very first edition in 2016, Carlsen called this year’s Final “probably the most fun Speed Chess Championship match I’ve been a part of.”
Let’s take a look at seven conclusions we can draw from this year’s event.
1. Naroditsky Cup Will ‘Forever Immortalize Danya As A Part Of This Event’
The late GM Daniel Naroditsky, one of the best speed-chess players on Chess.com, was also one of the best commentators. As moves flitted at lightning speed on the chessboard, he was able to narrate the strategies, to establish the stakes and storylines, and to mix in his puns and idiosyncratic humor—all in a matter of seconds.
Naroditsky commented on the SCC in 2024. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
The SCC was one of his favorite events of the year, and to honor his memory, Chess.com introduced the Naroditsky Cup. Retroactively and going forward, every winner will have their name etched on the physical trophy. IM Danny Rensch explained its significance in the announcement a few months ago:
The SCC for us represents the pinnacle not just of online success. It is, in many ways, maybe the event that we will miss Danya the most. Every single year, we will miss Danya because of who he was, what he did for this event. Every year, when we have the SCC, having their name added to the Naroditsky Cup will forever immortalize Danya as a part of this event.
Every single year we will miss Danya because of who he was, what he did for this event.
—Danny Rensch
Carlsen signs with one hand, holding the Naroditsky Cup in the other. Photo: Luc Bouchon/Chess.com.
2. SCC Finals Are Live Again
The SCC rose to new heights in 2024 when, for the first time, the Finals were held live in Paris rather than online. While the first stages of the event were all played online, the final four players flew out to London to meet face-to-face this year. The games were nevertheless played on computers on a stage with a live audience..
Props to this fan! Photo: Nigarhan Gurpinar/Chess.com.
Chess.com’s Events Commissioner Michael Brancato spoke about what it means for the company:
It’s been a dream of ours to redefine the live spectator experience for chess, and there’s no better event to do it with than the Speed Chess Championship. The event’s fast-paced, nail-biting drama really gets brought to life on a live stage, one we will strive to make even bigger in years to come.
3. Carlsen Keeps Next Generation At Bay
Since 2016, the only two players to have won the SCC are Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura, both of them five-time champions. In the post-match interview, John Sargent asked Carlsen about the next generation.
Sargent: “They always say, ‘Oh, they’re knocking on Magnus’ door.’ They’ve been knocking for quite a few years now, but you’re aging like a fine wine! How many years is it going to take before we see another victory?”
Carlsen: “If you look at my results in speed chess, then they haven’t really declined! [Fan from crowd yells out: ‘Faustino!’]. It’s just that there is some kind of combination of age and experience where you sort of peak, and I don’t think I’m too far away from that.
If you look at my results in speed chess, then they haven’t really declined!
—Magnus Carlsen
4. Firouzja Might Be Next In Line?
Firouzja, who has made it to the final match for two consecutive years now, looks to be the most likely candidate from the next generation. Though he has not played so much over the board lately—and did not qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament—he continues to show incredible form in online speed chess.
Carlsen enjoyed a convincing victory, but this year’s was much closer than the one in Paris. There, Carlsen won with a monstrous 23.5-7.5 score, and it was hardly a fight. This year, Carlsen won 15-12, but it was a much greater battle than the score suggests.
Firouzja showed what he’s capable of in his semifinal match against Nakamura, where he looked like he was dead in the water in the last five minutes. In the unlikeliest turn of events, he scored two wins on demand in the last five minutes and then, after having gained the momentum, dominated the three games played in Overtime. You can watch that unforgettable finale here:
5. Lazavik Cements His Name Among Elite In Speed Chess
GM Denis Lazavik burst onto the scene when, as a 15-year-old FIDE Master, he won Titled Tuesday for the first time. By now, he is no newcomer to top-level speed chess, but he’s still just 19 years old. In 2023, he proved naysayers wrong when he qualified for the 2023 Champions Chess Tour Finals.
He scored his most impressive match victory to date against Nakamura in this year’s match for third place. Thanks to a tremendous performance in the 3+1 segment, he won the match by a single point, 13.5-12.5, against one of the two giants in this format.
A fan holds a poster that says, “Denis the MENACE,” a nickname coined by FM James Canty III. Photo: Luc Bouchon/Chess.com.
6. Nakamura Mixes Up The Format
It was a tough year for Nakamura, who for the second time ever—last year was the first—finished outside of the top two. He lost both matches, against Firouzja and Lazavik, although they went down to the wire.
In both matches, Nakamura experienced technical issues with his clock, though Chess.com was able to rectify the situation early in each match and without further interruptions. In his final game against Lazavik, Nakamura was indeed winning on demand, but he explained that a misunderstanding of the tournament rules contributed to his defeat.
With the match clock running out, Nakamura believed he only had two seconds to finish the game, so he made a desperate (and erroneous) move that allowed a forced draw. In reality, the game would have continued even if the match clock ran down to zero (it only meant that there was no more time to start a new game), and a win would have meant he’d reach Overtime. He didn’t have to rush.
To the outside it might look like that, but if you watch it closely or hear the mic you’ll notice that I look at the clock after playing Rdd2 and see he has 11 seconds vs 7 seconds left and so I played h5 to try and mate in 2 seconds before the game auto ends except it doesn’t!!
Nakamura, in a post congratulating his younger opponent, acknowledged that he confused himself after “playing endless arenas and confusing formats from event to event,” calling it “simply unacceptable on my part.” It is possible he mixed up the format in this tournament with Bullet Brawl, an arena he plays every Saturday. In that tournament, when the arena clock runs out, all games are aborted and do not contribute to the final scores.
Streaming is amazing, but playing endless arenas and confusing formats from event to event is simply unacceptable on my part. Nevertheless, congrats to Denis Lazavik for defending many worse positions and playing some remarkable chess this weekend. Also congrats to…
It was an unfortunate mental lapse at the worst possible moment, but Nakamura hardly has anything to prove. He has won the event five times, and as always, he’ll be a favorite to win it next year.
7. How Long Will It Be Before A New Champion?
It’s clear we’re still living in the Carlsen/Nakamura era of the Speed Chess Championship. But it’s only a matter of time until the next champion rises. Let us know in the comments: who do you think will break their reign, and when will it happen?
One last shot of the full house. Photo: Luc Bouchon/Chess.com.
You can now look as sharp as your favorite players’ moves! Enjoy all the action of the Speed Chess Championship in style with our limited-edition SCC t-shirts and hoodies. Celebrate the speed, chaos, and drama of high-speed chess and grab your merch now before the clock runs out!
The Speed Chess Championship, which started on October 12 and culminated with Live Finals on February 7-8, 2026 in London, is Chess.com’s most important speed chess event. Some of the biggest names in chess compete to determine the best speed chess player in the world. The games were played with time controls of 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. The prize fund was $250,000.
