 "Hikaru Nakamura made a big mistake against Wei Yi in Round 10 tiebreak. Image: NorwayChess")
American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura looked heartbroken after losing his Armageddon game against China’s Wei Yi in round 10 of Norway Chess 2025. A video from the match went viral, showing Nakamura sitting with a disappointed expression and a broken-heart emoji added by the official social media handle of the tournament.
What’s the reason behind Nakamura’s expression?
The classical game between the two ended in a draw, but it was the Armageddon tiebreak where Nakamura made a big mistake. Nakamura captured the pawn on a4 with his knight, which pulled the knight away from the centre and weakened his defense. He couldn’t recover from the mistake and it ended his campaign at Norway Chess.
According to Stockfish, the correct move should have been knight to e5. It would have kept his position stronger by keeping his knight closer to his king. This wrong move gave Wei Yi the upper hand and he took full advantage to win the game. Watch Nakamura’s viral reaction below.
However, Nakamura had no regrets after the match and his statement to the media suggested that he is now focused on the Candidates Tournament and a potential qualification for the World Chess Championship.
“I started having the delusions of grandeur, thinking that I was about to win this game! This means I end the classical portion with a +1 score, I gain a couple of rating points, and I further cement my status as the world number-two player.”
Carlsen wins Norway Chess 2025
The Norway Chess 2025 came to a conclusion on Friday, 6 May. Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen secured his record-extending seventh title in dramatic fashion. Carlsen, who was held to a draw in his classical game against Indian grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, went on to lose the Armageddon tiebreak.
Despite the setback, he picked up 1.5 points from the round, finishing the tournament with a total of 16 points. Fabiano Caruana and D Gukesh, who were both in contention going into the final round, finished second and third, respectively. Caruana ended just 0.5 points behind Carlsen.
World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju fell short after losing his classical game to Caruana in the final round. Despite the heartbreak, there was one positive for Gukesh as he defeated Carlsen in an earlier round. Gukesh went on to describe it as his best moment from the tournament.