Hikaru, The Bullet Dodger!

[@pauldeck4500]

"Just because it's not your opponent's day doesn't mean it's your day." Antonio Radic, 10 Feb 2022.

[@shantoreywilkins651]

🎯

[@haskomeyer4924]

#suggestion to the quote collection

[@justinbrock800]

excellent

[@Sid1699]

@@haskomeyer4924 👍👍

[@panda4247]

Very nice quote. Sun Tzu would be proud

[@CaptnCondor]

Two minutes into the video: “The game is lost for black.” That’s how you know this is going to be a wild defensive hold

[@Striker-xx5cu]

Except its not about the defense rather its about how a 2700+ gm can miss so many winning opportunities.

[@Mikesco10]

@@Striker-xx5cu the wins were never easy. i saw the game with benjamin bok comentating even when position was lost he didnt see a clear win for esipenko (this is guy 2600+ btw). plus time pressure played a role

[@jere3604]

@@Striker-xx5cu mad :D

[@Viewer13128]

@@Striker-xx5cu the post commentating on youtube are all engine moves. most human players wont see them. not even magnus can beat engine. it is about mind games and pressure, otherwise u should just go watch engine competitions. white played some 2nd best moves. even the commentators looking at engine said humans shouldnt see those moves. if u watch world chess commentators not using engine, they also did not see the engine winning moves. some even said there were no clear moves for white.

[@vercot7000]

@@Striker-xx5cu it is about defence lol did you not look at the endgame? Naka held remarkably well

[@gokulsiriah7941]

Esipenko dodged winning moves better than Neo dodging the bullets

[@CitoyenDuMondeSocrates]

Lmao

[@abhishekjain6452]

I found a couple of them. But he would be under intense pressure.

[@tatsuyasigh1906]

Most of his moves feel pretty reasonable though. It's not like +2 on move 14 after sacrificing the exchange is not double-edged at all. He kept the pressure on the queenside and forced Hikaru to weaken his kingside just to get some counterplay. The 1 critical mistake he made was probably rushing with Rf8 instead of Qxc4, but he literally had no time there

[@eruptic6503]

Says the 900 that sees 0.7 in the eval and 1 winning line in Stockfish and thinks he's a GM.

[@smilingdog6707]

@@eruptic6503 can't take a joke can you

[@marklondon9004]

Hikaru: 'For the memes! Can I recover a dead lost position?'

[@carnivalism1042]

when magnus carlsen said hikaru nakamura was an annoying player, this was it

[@ProfJigsaw]

This! People who look down on Hik don't seem to get it. Mans crazy. The 2021 SCC match against Ding says a lot about his defence skills.

[@PT84]

I think that is a compliment from Magnus considering Magnus is a defensive wizard that will complicate positions to a draw.

[@samratmaharjan9512]

Decent*

[@pankajakshanramavallabhan4162]

@biowa goddowell biowa oh lol that's a crazy game! That too from that position he saw that he get 3 pieces for a queen. Absolute madness. I was watching it on stream when it happened

[@PT84]

@@coldspine3697 Dubov vs Carlsen MCI 2021

[@SamuelPearlman]

For this game I'd have chosen as the quote: _“The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.” - Savielly Tartakower_

[@ninehills42]

Unless you make all the mistakes like I do

[@blackoutgenez]

taking it literally, there was no winner of the game but the "game" could mean their group since a draw is a win for hikaru

[@enormousmaggot]

​@@blackoutgenez agreed, a draw amounted to a win for GM Nakamura in this scenario anyway

[@AnonymousCortex]

This game is a classic. Winner take all, high stakes, both players miss wins, 4 queens at the end. This game had it all!

[@hauntinghaze5161]

Well Hikaru didn't miss a win

[@AnonymousCortex]

@@jrn913 computer accurate* moves. The moves were still strong, but were the 2nd or 3rd best engine-approved choices in situations where the top engine choice would decide the game.

[@nenhumnome4149]

@@AnonymousCortex dude I play like shit and even I spotted some winning ideas before Agad mentioned them

[@aronmendoza297]

@@nenhumnome4149 give yourself a pat in the back then

[@OmniscientDreamer]

@@nenhumnome4149 you should have played at that tourney instead then lmao😂

[@-Osiris-]

'Unfortunately not going for the Evan's gambit but it is still a good game' I love this channel

[@panda4247]

Btw it's Evans gambit, not Evan's. Named after Captain Evans.

[@exbricadlo]

thats *evans* not evan' s

[@ndnd7614]

The game had so many missed wins and defences, almost felt like a blitz game

[@volty3454]

Tbf most of them were very computer style wins unlike hikarus previous win for example which was far more human, though I agree that esipenko and hikaurs performance wasn't as per usual

[@earthwormsim8068]

@@volty3454 the psychology of the day and get to someone

[@gutih7565]

Hikaru: "Everyone thinks I dodged a bullet, but I think I shot the gun"

[@lopezmt5]

The best comment ever!!! Blacklist - Greg Laswell I'm not gonna try and make it even You're way ahead by now I'm not gonna try and make it all even Even though I know how

[@jonoxes8662]

Russian roulette baaaby

[@gutih7565]

@@lopezmt5 been waiting for the day I get to use that line as a comment. 😎😎

[@lopezmt5]

@@gutih7565 - Nice! And your timing was perfect! 😎 I just don’t know how many know where it’s from.

[@preachergallow394]

Grandmasters playing like me, is what I wanted to see in life

[@joshuawood362]

i said them same, but then realized i still dont play this good...and you prolly dont either lol

[@kimiaiesadat6872]

Don't be so happy. They missed some moves and still have only around 30 centipawn loss.

[@elg7365]

Yes they played the second best. What a dumpling

[@blabla-hb4fe]

Haha true. Doesn't matter how strong they are. Humans are never consistent.

[@MadaxeMunkeee]

Hikaru shows how to swindle in classical time

[@haskomeyer4924]

This is basically a blitz game in classical time format 😂

[@BiggyJimbo]

Hikaru is in great shape this tournament! Thanks for the video.

[@BiggyJimbo]

@Wanda Vision Well, true. He was able to bounce back and put up a good defense afterwards though!

[@Mikesco10]

well there's a reason why ding said the most annoying player to play against for him is Hikaru.

[@coldtruth4u]

Wow Hikaru forced his opponent to agree to a draw with -9 points on the board, impressive

[@ProfJigsaw]

... in a classical game... against a super GM ... full of life... arguably in his prime!

[@ravciozo2137]

1:23 "Black doesn't really care". Really good inside joke, as it's Hikaru himself playing black xD

[@DJFernandezF]

Thrilling game!! Regardless of what the engine says, they both played awesome!

[@mihuuuu]

these italian endgames are so painfully hard to calculate it's comforting to see even super GMs make so many inaccuracies

[@australiumlover9822]

True lol, I struggle against the italian só much. I was checking my win rate against the giocco piano and it was only 17% wins.

[@Nicks721]

@@australiumlover9822 that's because you are noob, not because of the Italian

[@brawnstein]

Oldest opening is the best opening, haha

[@australiumlover9822]

@@Nicks721somewhat true, I haven't really studied it well.

[@pedrorengel9603]

Hikaru out there proving that humans play human chess, and you beat them playing human chess.

[@akmd114379]

Hats off to both players, both had winning chances and missed. Thank you Antonio for showing us the beautiful lines.

[@reyesflores9086]

Wow!! What a game! So many winning opportunities for Esipenko and Hikaru with excellent defense

[@GeraltinWoW]

rooting for Hikaru to qualify

[@VR36030]

Esipenko making the moves I was thinking of and they're all inaccuracies wow.

[@blabla-hb4fe]

🤣🤣🤣

[@guiart4728]

Brutal to be a pro and hear how you had the game won 5 times but fluffed it.

[@travisandsports]

Hikaru showing that his near misses in bullet and blitz weren't flukes lol.

[@davidissel7980]

I love how agadmator reads the donor's names without reaction.

[@AEmc2]

"I'd like to thank" *god for making me an atheist* --No reaction.

[@Nicks721]

In fact your comment would be a great donor's name!!!

[@andrewhoffman3135]

The Phil Hellmuth of Chess. “I can dodge bullets baby”

[@adaminfaisal5642]

Phil is overatted in Poker baby..

[@gpet-dr2bs]

I dont think he's too overrated or underrated. He's definitely the best tournament player hands down all time. But the other events are questionable. Ivey the best overall player ever

[@tacker112]

@@gpet-dr2bs That's like saying Morphy is the best chess player of all time. They played a differend game back then, knowing very little about game theory. Helmuth is still great in some rare variants, no one studys but against someone who has studied game theory for 1000s of hours he is dead lost.

[@johnbrennan8611]

@UC9IFbbfoPNqCfrqUiOASqfQ 100%. Never his fault lol.

[@GroovingPict]

I dont think even Hikaru can reach Phil's level of obnoxiousness

[@Koshak87]

Funny thing is Esipenko wanted to win this so badly, that he let victory slip through his fingers on numerous occasions. He is young and his coach (the great Yuriy Dohoyan) sadly passed away last year. I hope, Andrey will find a way to continue to improve, win and climb the ranks.

[@Shikharchaudhary007]

I am really happy for hikaru

[@TheNateDawg20]

"Why do they call him the bullet dodger?" "Because he dodges bullets Avi"

[@dimitridimitri6994]

nice reference

[@WorldofWar]

Your “HELLO EVERYONE AND WELC…..”’ woke my child. You are most forgiven.

[@chrisgroves4097]

- Why is he called Hikaru the Bullet Dodger? - Because he dodges bullets, Avi. 🤣

[@kirkmason7079]

An excellent example on the importance of connected rooks.

[@evilrslade]

Esipenko will be crushed when he analyses this game. More a game of whack-a-hikaru

[@silvionSalsa]

whack-a-naka sounds more like it.

[@mno7pro323]

@@silvionSalsa my favorite Shakira song

[@gardenmenuuu]

1:23 agad-"black really doesn't care" hikaru-"ofc i literally don't care "

[@kaspertrollberg1051]

“Black doesn’t really care” 🤣🤣🤣

[@lubbockleft]

My friends at the bar and the library are going to love this game

[@MysticMian1]

I see what you did there with 'Black really doesn't care' at 1:26.. Good one hehe 😂

[@shauryaverma292]

wdym chat? he said he literally doesnt care

[@afollowerofchrist5789]

What happens if Bxa6 at 1:58 instead of at 3:05? Because from what I see, Be6 to harass the white queen would be met with Bishop back to c4.

[@pauldeck4500]

I'm proud of Hikaru. He's doing better than some people thought he would.

[@Trassik]

Bullet dodger, good double entendre there sir. The closer the game came to bullet chess, the better Hikaru performed.

[@SamuelPearlman]

0:40 Agadmator: "Not going for the Evans Gambit unfortunately, but don't worry, it's still a great game!" Me: "I don't believe you." Me: "Ok, I believe you!"

[@Ulascancicekli]

The way Andrey Esipenko looks like he is both 35 and 16 at the same time.

[@kenbrohere]

Props to Hikaru. I hope he watered his plants.

[@SophSophSoph298]

They said hikaru was the trickiest man, the most annoying

[@ParanoidAandroid]

Yes, Magnus said that

[@thomasjermy4816]

Forgot how exciting a classical player Hikura is.

[@Duke_de_Plata]

LOL interesting take blaming Hikaru for Esipenko missing that line.

[@tech_to_know]

Esipenko mistakes in this game is more than the Corona variant in the world😂

[@rileyvonbevern4652]

Hikaru's submission for guess the elo!!!

[@thecurs3dcreator589]

"Hikaru, the bullet dodger" So that's why he plays bullet chess🎯

[@ultrainstinctshaggy669]

Hikaru in this form is in top 5 currently

[@tatsuyasigh1906]

I feel like 14.Bxa6 Bxh3 is quite double-edged. Esipenko made a reasonable choice to just keep the pressure. The 1 mistake we coukd be critical of is probably Rg3 and Rf8 instead of Qxc4. Also, he spent all of his time (down to 20s) on lifting his rook up Rf3, which left him little time to make those critical decisions later on

[@timglenn9357]

How does Hikaru get out of all these messes? This guy seems to be a magician. I love watching his games.

[@graphixkillzzz]

"why do they call him the Bullet Dodger?" "because, he...dodges...bullets...😐🤷🏼‍♂️"

[@mariochavez3834]

I was looking for this coment xD

[@sankethb.k642]

The names in contributions are another interesting part of the video

[@dravey9128]

after this game hikaru never playing a game where his rooks are disconnected 😂😂😂😂

[@blabla-hb4fe]

Worst game I have ever seen😹😹

[@mikeerdosiii6010]

"Play all the bad moves in your head so you can play the right move in real life." was definitely not followed in this one LMAO!!!

[@colinstewart1432]

That's a proper brawl. Great stuff. GM's are human it seems

[@shawncarter7188]

14:52 "Who wouldn't play this?" ... Probably Magnus :)

[@jhat2014]

My "good stuff" counter is 0/5. Ever since I started keeping track, I have solved none of the pause-the-video-moments that end in the good stuff

[@johnbrennan8611]

Antonio I would really like you to do some analysis with Danya. I think could make some really cool content together.

[@mikeerdosiii6010]

I absolutely second this idea. Excellent suggestion.

[@khalidcloud4342]

2 super GMs playing. Stockfish: *I lost all hope in humanity*

[@blabla-hb4fe]

😹🤣

[@andrewschroeder9502]

I knew the second pause the video because I watched Hikaru's interview before I watched this. His reaction to the move is priceless! "Computers man, what can I tell you, computers!"

[@sais8681]

Unbelievable play from Esipenko! How could he not capitalise so many opportunities? It happens I guess, chess is such a game like Antonio said.

[@diegomorett142]

Love the Snatch reference in the title :)

[@MrCronopio1988]

Great game, thank you? Could be possible that your voice has an echo sound fx?

[@crieliocriel]

what happened to Ding Lerin? I never heard of him anymore..

[@pallad.]

"just because it's not your opponents day, doesn't mean it's your day" -Sun Tzu

[@howdyman5961]

Biggest Choke of 2022 I’m calling it now. Congrats Hikaru!!

[@TheHawk007]

ikr

[@rockmyworldmusic]

I feel good I actually saw it. The Bishop capturing the pawn is available one move earlier as well.

[@videopetanque7436]

why is it not anymore available later ? after the knight move ?

[@rockmyworldmusic]

@video pétanque He goes over it in the video, but I think it has to do with the fact that the Rooks become connected. Plus, Black is able to reply to your Bishop pawn grab with a Bishop pawn grab of his own by attacking White's Kingside.

[@坂本-q8j]

This is the great game to learn why connecting rock is important.

[@youtubewatcher8982]

Hikaru hasn’t lost a single OTB game in ages.

[@yashjhunjhunwala6381]

Depends on your definition of ages

[@jonoxes8662]

"So congratulations to you who were able to do it" Yea, congratulations to all of the maybe 1 super gm that was watching this video and was able to see it. No seriously, that move is so hard to spot.

[@elegomeskin]

Hikaru battles on no matter what happens. Credit Esipenko for determination. These players don't have super computers suggesting moves. It's a human battle Mano a mano with no help. The best man won. Congratulations , Naka.

[@Jaylooker]

Nice idea of Esipenko to push his pawn to a5 to prevent Nakamura from playing with his bishop on b6. Nakamura seems more familiar playing with his bishop on b6 from previous games.

[@davidcormier8164]

"Why do they call him the bullet dodger?" *agad looking incredulous* "Because he dodges bullets, Avi?"

[@praveenrawat6574]

I've never seen a top guy losing an advantage of +7 to 0 in a classical game

[@tatsuyasigh1906]

#suggestion Fedoseev vs Rapport. Huge comeback by Rapport to get to the tiebreak (or maybe Fedoseev choked the game away, whichever way you see it)

[@Chodestick]

07:07 that’s the good stuff

[@HaroonAmin]

Sir I have a question , why black knight c6 didn't capture pawn a5?

[@playfulpottery6399]

The title and thumbnail line up perfectly.

[@keithmatthews1673]

I think that is what is happening is that players are using computer analysis to find opening lines that give winning chances but this can only take you so far as your opponent also determines the position after a certain point. It is clear that the top players are better able to continue from strong computer derived positions through long experience and/ or sheer analytical superiority which is why the Carlsons and Nakamuras to name but two are usually able to get the better of the new kids on the block. Many of the younger GMs are playing great openings then losing their way to the top players. Hikaru deserves his stake tonight for salvaging this on from the jaws of defeat!

[@giovannicorno1247]

Unbelievable, wonderful game. Esipenko missed the victory sometimes playing natural moves that were apparently the best, sometimes, on the contrary, not playing the obvious. He didn't make a single, big mistake but a series of inaccuracies, due mostly to lack of time. Hikaru as well missed some of the best moves but was able to create complications and resisted heroically till he drew. It is easy to criticise the two player using engines , but they gave birth to a dramatic artwork that will remain in the history of chess.

[@ResonNL]

Agadmator can u do a speedrun for us with the evans gambit?

[@Bolecanin]

Will you come to Belgrade, Antonio?

[@superalkadias]

#suggestion Karpov vs Timman 1988 world cup a fantastic game featuring an amazing queen sacrifice.

[@eugenedenamarca9117]

This is the difference between them and the current world chess champion i think. Magnus will never miss so many opportunities, if not miss any of them, in my opinion.

[@blabla-hb4fe]

He drew against an IM in classical chess. Lost 4.1 rating points.

[@eugenedenamarca9117]

@@blabla-hb4fe magnus drawing against an IM and him never missing so many opportunities are 2 different arguments.

[@antoniobacic5674]

Magnus said that Hikaru is the most resilient player. We saw lots of that resilience in this game.

[@slipnova951]

There is only one person on this planet that can save such positions consistently

[@anthonysellers6455]

Does Bxa6 not work since the white bishop is pinned?

[@paulbobian6563]

Hikaru is finding sleazy ways ta win

[@sardornabiev9788]

The best cover of the best mistakes

[@davidbarnett8617]

Sasha said he believes Nakamura thinking himself an amateur is 1%.

[@ruadd4592]

What do you mean?

[@davidbarnett8617]

@@ruadd4592 In the interview afterwards Sasha was asked about Nakamura's amateur status. Despite Nakamura insisting he is retired or no longer a professional, it is very clear that Hikaru is playing near the top of his form. Despite his protestations, I (and Sasha) believe he still has a burning desire to compete at the highest levels.

[@MB-nl2uo]

Because he dodges bullets Avi

[@zirve2510]

Not watched yet , but liked for that quick upload

[@balazsfejes9060]

I think he starts to care a bit........ (beast Hikaru coming)

[@mycolaos]

I don't understand what is the difference of Hikaru playing Ne7 and then pawn captures on C4, vs C4 then Ne7 that Agad shows before? Isn't it exactly the same position?

[@blackoutgenez]

transposes to the same position but if hikaru plays nd7 first then white can capture on d5 first and he retains his advantage

[@lucasarts123]

How esipenko draw this????? What a game dude!!

[@sl__p.d_priv_d]

Esipenko tried to throw harder than I try to win lmao