The Top Five Swindles In Speed Chess Championship History

The 2024 Speed Chess Championship is at full steam, with many impressive matches already in the cards. Every year the SCC features 16 top players from around the world competing in three ever-quickening time controls. While top GMs can play amazing games with the clock ticking down, the fast time controls also allow players to survive and even win terrible positions. In preparation for this year's edition, let's take a look at the five greatest swindles in the eight years of the Speed Chess Championship.

5. Carlsen vs. So, 2017
4. Rosen vs. Paehtz, 2020
3. Grischuk vs. Carlsen, 2017
2. Paravyan vs. Nakamura, 2022
1. Artemiev vs. Carlsen, 2020

5. Carlsen vs. So, 2017 

Magnus Carlsen is such a legend in the chess world that many opponents give him the benefit of the doubt when calculating unclear variations over the board. He proved in this clash with GM Wesley So that this respect can go a bit too far. After a well-played game led to the position below, Carlsen played the surprising 22.Qxd5!! 

In light of 22...exd5 23.Re8+ Bf8 24.Bh6, So resigned!

White threatens checkmate on f8, but Black can defend with 24.Qd6 or even 24.Qe7, leading to an even endgame. It turns out that it is possible to treat your opponent with too much respect!

4. Rosen vs. Paehtz, 2020

In the IM Not a GM tournament, also known as the IMSCC, IM Eric Rosen was in a precarious position against soon-to-be GM Elizabeth Paehtz. The commentators, GMs Robert Hess and Vidit Gujrathi, were discussing the benefits of Rosen playing out the game to run the match clock but didn't consider it possible for him to save the game. However, Eric has a special trick for online blitz that's become associated with his name for a reason!

A stunning and sneaky save by Rosen! Here's the game.

3. Grischuk vs. Carlsen, 2017

It's not often that a player of Carlsen's caliber blunders their queen to a short tactic. When that happens, the opponent must take advantage. It must have been frustrating for GM Alexander Grischuk to win Carlsen's queen and then immediately have to give it back!

The drama began with Carlsen's blunder, 37...Qd7??

Grischuk won material, but the white king was still a bit exposed and that was all that Carlsen needed to retake control after just one mistake from his opponent.

2. Paravyan vs. Nakamura, 2022

When you're as good at speed chess as GM Hikaru Nakamura, you sometimes give yourself a handicap just to make things interesting. In his first-round matchup with GM David Paravyan, Hikaru played numerous crazy openings, but none of them allowed him to demonstrate his astounding swindling skills quite like this battle in the unsound Latvian Gambit.

Black's king is forced into the open, and White's attack should soon win with best play. However, you still need to find a knockout, and no one is better at hiding it than Hikaru. His king danced around the board, and when White finally slipped, the game completely flipped.

1. Artemiev vs. Carlsen, 2020

The greatest swindle in SCC history was, unsurprisingly, another Magnus miracle. This time he had the black pieces against GM Vladislav Artemiev. It was a tough game, but White eventually got the upper hand and even won the black queen. Many of us would have resigned faced with this position, but we aren't Carlsen!

Despite the huge material advantage, White still has a bit of work to do to stop the pawns. It's not immediately obvious where Artemiev even went wrong, but Carlsen worked his magic and kept pushing the pawns up the board. When you're the greatest player of all time, how important is a queen?

Which swindle did you find most impressive? Let us know in the comments.