Liang scores 6-4 victory over Nakamura in training match

Liang wins rapid section, as remaining two sections end drawn

Hikaru Nakamura faced Awonder Liang in a training match in Saint Louis as part of his preparations for the Candidates Tournament, which is scheduled to begin on 29 March.

Liang, ranked 25^th in the world and 7^th in the United States with an official rating of 2714, arrived as a formidable testing partner. The 22-year-old is a former two-time world youth champion. The match took place from 13 to 15 March and followed a mixed format, with two classical games played on Friday and Saturday and a faster programme of four rapid and four blitz games on Sunday. The following time controls were employed:

• Classical: 120 min / 40 moves + 30 min / game, + 30 sec / move from move 41
• Rapid: 15 + 10
• Blitz: 3 + 2

Both classical encounters ended in draws. Liang obtained the more promising chances in the first game of the match, when he had the black pieces and was able to generate pressure without quite reaching a position of realistic winning chances.

In the second classical game he again stood slightly better, although there were no clear missed opportunities or phases in which a decisive result appeared imminent on the board.

Awonder Liang and Hikaru Nakamura battled in Saint Louis | Photo: Lennart Ootes

After the cautious opening phase of the match, Sunday’s rapid and blitz sessions produced decisive results in all eight games.

The rapid segment, played with the 15+10 time control, proved particularly entertaining. The first three games were won by Black, with Liang twice defeating Nakamura’s 1.e4 e5 2.d3 setup, a choice that reflected Nakamura’s reluctance to reveal his deeper opening preparation ahead of the Candidates Tournament.

Nakamura struck back in the second rapid game, also with the black pieces, but Liang got ahead on the scoreboard by winning game four with white, overcoming Nakamura in a Sicilian Richter–Rauzer, the most frequent opening setup explored in the match.

Nakamura 0-1 Liang

Rapid game #3

Awonder Liang | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In this course, IM Nico Zwirs presents the Reversed Sicilian as a powerful and practical weapon for White
In this course, IM Nico Zwirs presents the Reversed Sicilian as a powerful and practical weapon for White. The core idea is simple: players who already play the Sicilian with Black can leverage their existing knowledge to build a dynamic and effective setup with White.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 2.d3 Sidelines

The blitz section then saw a different pattern emerge, with all four games won by the player handling the white pieces. Despite Nakamura’s attempts to close the gap, Liang maintained his advantage and secured a 6–4 overall victory in a match characterised by uncompromising play from both sides, which produced consistently sharp and entertaining struggles.

Although the match was organised primarily as preparation for the all-important Candidates Tournament in Cyprus, it also marked a return to over-the-board competition for Nakamura. His most recent in-person appearances had come at the Speed Chess Championship Finals at the beginning of February (blitz and bullet played on computers), the Global Chess League in mid-December (rapid) and the Dulles Open in mid-November (classical). The latter was one of the open events in which Nakamura faced much lower-rated opposition in order to meet the activity requirements for Candidates qualification.

The training contest is likely to help Nakamura arrive at the Candidates in better competitive condition, particularly given that several of his future opponents have recently been active in major events. Four members of the Candidates field played in the Tata Steel Masters, while Fabiano Caruana competed in both the Saint Louis Masters and the American Cup, Andrey Esipenko took part in the Aeroflot Open, and Wei Yi featured in the Tata Steel Chess India rapid and blitz tournament.

Getting ready for the Candidates – a victory in Cyprus would grant Hikaru Nakamura the right to face world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in a match for the most prestigious title in chess | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All games