GM Hans Niemann demolished former World Champion Ding Liren 18-6 to reach the Speed Chess Championship 2025 Quarterfinals. Ding’s first win came in game 12, when a 10-1 scoreline had already made a comeback all but impossible. Niemann will now face GM Denis Lazavik in the Quarterfinals, with a place in the in-person final tournament in London up for grabs.
The next Round of 16 match, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi vs. GM Anish Giri, will be on Wednesday, October 29 at 1:30 p.m. ET / 18:30 CET / 11 p.m. IST.
2025 Speed Chess Championship Bracket
Only two more spots in the Quarterfinals remain to be decided.
Naroditsky Is Greatly Missed
The chess world is still reeling from the death of GM Daniel Naroditsky at the age of just 29. It hits home particularly when it comes to Speed Chess, which was almost synonymous with Naroditsky as a lightning-fast and always enthusiastic commentator. GM Aman Hambleton noted:
There’s nothing he loved more than seeing two people just go at it in Speed Chess. He would always say the commentary seat was the best seat in the house for something like this.
Hambleton’s co-commentator GM Eric Hansen added, “The word passion is thrown around easily, but he really loved chess and everything about it, teaching, playing, sharing it, and there aren’t too many people like that that you’ll encounter in the chess world.”
Hansen referred to countless games he’d played against Naroditsky and explained, “Any time, all the time, he could talk chess and play chess, and it feels a lot emptier.”
It feels a lot emptier.
—Eric Hansen on the chess world without Danya Naroditsky
Before the latest Speed Chess event began there was a video tribute to Naroditsky, which you can watch below.
In memory of Daniel Naroditsky ❤️ pic.twitter.com/yM1BbFo9VG
— Chess.com (@chesscom) October 27, 2025
Niemann 18-6 Ding
The pre-match prediction based on recent form made Niemann a clear favorite, but with a predicted 14-10 scoreline that could easily be swayed by a few dramatic games.
The 27 percent chance perhaps looked low for a player such as Ding, who in around 2019 could claim to be one of the few real rivals for GM Magnus Carlsen at faster time controls. In the end, however, Niemann would blow past the predicted score to post the most convincing win so far in the 2025 Speed Chess Championship. Niemann was totally dominant, and even clinched the final section convincingly after clearly having taken his foot off the gas.
5+1: Niemann 7-1 Ding
After the five-minute section it’s fair to say the match was already over as a contest, and Niemann himself put much of it down to the very early action. He commented, “I think he just got a bit tilted, and when you’re tilted it’s possible to lose a lot of games against anyone.”
I think he just got a bit tilted, and when you’re tilted it’s possible to lose a lot of games against anyone.
—Hans Niemann
It might all have been different if Ding had spotted a clear-cut chance to win on the spot in game one, in a position where he was up on the clock and paused for six seconds. 40…Rxd3!! is a killer blow.
Ding’s miss led to a loss that typified the match.
Hans Niemann starts with a win vs. Ding Liren in their #SpeedChess Round of 16 match! pic.twitter.com/ThA5wvTcWp
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 27, 2025
Niemann took over and won the next game, while he could have opened up a 3-0 lead if he’d found the correct follow-up of sacrificing a piece on f6.
Ding is on the scoreboard with a draw after Hans here missed the winning 36.Bxf6+! https://t.co/X0AtS0iWvI pic.twitter.com/p4aeKULwFe
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 27, 2025
That first half-point was only a brief respite for Ding, however, as he lost a better position in the next game, then missed what had seemed a certain win. 61…Bg6+! was the finishing touch he needed to find.
That miss owed a lot to Ding’s lack of time, and he would find himself well behind on the clock for most of the rest of the match. Niemann punished Ding’s miss by finding the most brutal win in the next game to take a 5-1 lead.
By this point the wheels had come off for Ding, who in the next game played much too slowly in a crushing position, allowed his bishop to be trapped, and went on to lose again.
Disaster for Ding, who spoils another winning position, drops low on time & allows Niemann to trap his bishop — Hans has a 5-point lead! https://t.co/8vGyZYbVPk pic.twitter.com/etCvUC7hsi
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 27, 2025
That game had a curious start, with Ding mouse-slipping 2…c6?.
Niemann commented:
At that point I just wanted to be a good sportsman, not take the pawn, and my karma went the wrong way, because I was just lost in the opening, and then the karma came all the way back when I swindled him terribly, so I suppose I was rewarded for my moment of grace, but there was a moment of slight regret and thankfully I managed to swindle him. But yeah, that was a picture perfect example of him having no time and losing a position you should never lose.
That was a picture perfect example of him having no time and losing a position you should never lose.
—Hans Niemann
A smooth win for Niemann followed and the five-minute section was over with Niemann leading 7-1.
3+1: Niemann 6.5-2.5 Ding
If Ding was going to hit back he needed to start the three-minute section well, but instead it was Niemann who started off brilliantly, sacrificing on h6, and then g7.
Arguably the best part of that attack, however, was the rook lift from a1 to a4 and swinging it to h4.
Niemann was on a roll and won the next two games as well to make the score 10-1, with six wins in a row. The match was over, but finally Ding did manage to hit back.
12 games in, Ding Liren finally picks up a win! https://t.co/T7ftwXbT1E pic.twitter.com/dox0wLeAtJ
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 27, 2025
For once it had been a smooth and convincing win for the Chinese legend.
Niemann looked set to hit straight back, but in fact lost again, to make it 10-3. If Ding was going to get back into the match it would be now, but instead Niemann scored 3.5/4 in the remaining three-minute games to take a 13.5-3.5 lead into the bullet.
1+1: Niemann 4.5-2.5 Ding
Ding needed a miracle, but instead the 1+1 began just as the 5+1 and 3+1 had, with a win for Niemann.
Hans also starts the 1+1 section with a win, taking an 11-point lead! https://t.co/Kp4A5qfasJ pic.twitter.com/zwBrx5hPgL
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 27, 2025
In fact, the U.S. star began each section with two wins in a row. The former world champion did restore some respectability toward the end with a win and three draws, but even the final draw was painful, since Ding missed a number of endgame wins. Niemann would comment, “There were some games that after I saved them you sort of laugh at yourself!”
So it was a perfect outcome for Niemann, who had dominated the match despite encountering a practical issue in Dubai, where he’d stopped on the way to the FIDE World Cup in Goa, India: “I forgot to pack a mouse, so one hour before the match I realized I had no mouse!”
A last-minute purchase ultimately worked out well, and now Niemann will face Lazavik in the Quarterfinals for a place in the Semifinals in London early next year. He sensed a conspiracy, of sorts:
Obviously you guys want a semifinal matchup so you can sell the most tickets, like you did in Paris, so I think last year you guys, Chess.com, didn’t want me to make it, so they gave me the hardest possible opponents, Maxime and Wesley. And now I think the viewership was so high, and you guys want to sell tickets, as a business would want, so you’ve now made the bracket so I make it into the Semifinals with the same opponent, but a little bit easier this time!
The same opponent would be Carlsen, but first Lazavik is a challenge, with Niemann commenting, “I was honestly really shocked at how he beat Arjun, so that was certainly an impressive performance, and he’s someone to take seriously.”
I was honestly shocked at how he beat Arjun.
—Hans Niemann on Denis Lazavik
Up next, however, is one of the two remaining Round of 16 matches, Nepomniachtchi vs. Giri. Don’t miss it!
The Speed Chess Championship, which starts on October 12 and culminates with Live Finals on February 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 are played with time controls of 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. The prize fund is $250,000.
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