Hikaru Nakamura made sure Wesley So will not be spoiling his own birthday party by capturing the finals berth in the 2020 Speed Chess Championships Wednesday.
Nakumura bested United States teammate So, 13.5-12.5, on his 33rd birthday to move a win away from the title.
It was a revenge of sorts for Nakamura, who lost in the semifinal to So in the Skilling Open of the Champions Chess Tour more than a week ago.
So ruled that tournament at the expense of reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, playing spoiler to the Norwegian’s 30th birthday.
Nakamura edged So in the bullet (one minute, one-second increment) stage from an 8.5-all tie after the first two stages of blitz with 5+1 and 3+1 time controls.
So, though, had some chances with an early 3-1 lead and would have kept at least a one-point lead entering the bullet part if he had not lost the last bullet game.
It allowed Nakamura to knot the count, which was all he needed as he dominated So from there and turned things around in his favor.
Nakamura thus advanced to the finals where he could tackle either Carlsen or Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France.