Wesley So: "We would have won gold easily if Nakamura decided to play!"

3-time US Chess Champion Wesley So talks to Mike Klein after beating Praggnanandhaa in Round 10 of the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest. Replay the game: www.chess.com/...
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#chess #chessolympiad #welseyso

[@deepak0874]

Wesley So :- Nakamura Vidit :- Who?

[@vignesh6654]

@@deepak0874 🥶

[@vaibhavshreyas4615]

boom

[@pratikkumar8409]

That a cook

[@sunnyy6295]

😂😂

[@omkbhogata2046]

Hikaru kryptonite

[@jitulsarma1388]

"Would've won gold easily" is a bit of an overstatement I guess

[@ankitanand5858]

yeah definitely. Indian team already defeated Caruana and Dominguez. So, its definitely an overstatement. I feel he is just very emotional and the loss is hard on him.

[@sunway1374]

Ya. Typical American attitude. Always think they are the best. At least Wesley So is humble in another way because he is willing to give up his own spot.

[@tusharagrawal7734]

Typical american?? Out of 5 players only 1 is actual American 😭😭😭​@@sunway1374

[@ehsanyakoobi1880]

I don't think its an overstatement! Having the 2nd and 3rd rated player in the team would have def the momentum to get gold! They had a higher chance rathar than this team!

[@nonoodleno]

"A bit of an overstatement" is a bit of an understatement. If I'm explaining myself well 😉

[@okmayur7423]

I mean, india is literally winning 21/22 points and hikaru would have stopped that??

[@lucifertheend]

@@okmayur7423 nah...when you have vd the kryptonite it's of no use

[@peacemaker-pc]

i think he meant USA would have been very close to india , possibly silver and now they have to fight for bronze

[@darmate]

@@peacemaker-pc I agree with you

[@reubenstewart7995]

I mean it's possible, but I agree, it's a bit dramatic to say that the US would easily win with Hikaru. Ofc he would have given the US a better chance though

[@unknown-unknown69]

​@@peacemaker-pc Usa is much higher rated than India If fabi, Hikaru, wesly so, levon aronian and domingez Theusa average is 2789 So far better than india, What are you talking about...

[@keshavsaraogi3615]

If my grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike

[@bestofkidsinternet7880]

Wtf bruh😂

[@stan5936]

The town bike😂

[@terribleteacher]

Very sincere take from Wesley.

[@Nice_person_]

😂

[@mugiwara839]

Very copium take by Wesley.

[@cagnusmarlsen]

Hikaru: bro I have a job to pay the bills

[@WaffleKnight1]

If not streaming for 2 weeks means he can't pay the bills, he's not managing his finances very well

[@vedangarekar1390]

Atleast make a better excuse on his part.

[@myanimationstory2649]

😂😂😂

[@bitanmandal977]

If chess pieces were all circles, it'll be called checkers

[@SahilRawal-fe7qc]

Well you are not wrong though 😂😂🤣

[@unknown-unknown69]

Relax Indian fans, don't take it seriously, i know you support your team, but at this level

[@Chutankabaapdivyanshu18]

​@@unknown-unknown69 it's a joke, take it sportingly bro

[@bitanmandal977]

​@@unknown-unknown69I'm relaxed already , no one gonna get that team🥇in open from us 😉

[@redox_3363]

Bro we had VD krptonite of hikaru 😂😂

[@Youtubechnl1]

🔥

[@chiragaparadh1417]

Vidit would have played King Sacrifice😂

[@redox_3363]

@@chiragaparadh1417 Bro talk about latest thing VD in candidates

[@ShivamSharma2op]

😂😂

[@alexrodriguez3853]

Yeah but they wouldn’t have played each other. I doubt Hikaru would be put on board 4

[@sandipanroy3106]

Damn Wesley is really hit hard by the US performance. He's underestimating himself way too much I think.

[@omagarwal2688]

@@sandipanroy3106 🤣🤣🤣lmao

[@traceler]

Hikaru does not want Indian Players to milk on his rating points. Better to play safe making $ online.

[@choudhary5037]

Lol

[@Cpp_For_Life]

Yeah fr he doesn’t wanna lose his elo,I ain't indian but yeah he played safe

[@prakhyatsingh263]

@@Cpp_For_Life well I would say good for him magnus overall lost elo in this tournament because of all those draws

[@boros123]

@@traceler ✌️😂😂

[@tanaykolaskar]

@@prakhyatsingh263 Magnus lost yesterday

[@B-fq7ff]

Naka literally doesn’t care

[@Alone-h6o]

yeahh play the "if" game now 😂😂

[@MegaSodom]

If my aunt had a mustache, she would be my uncle.

[@liljackypaper]

Not necessarily

[@soulphenix8245]

Thoko tali

[@MrMD13]

Hahaha

[@intercalz]

She would still be missing an important piece nor related to chess😂

[@devashishsonowal1505]

​@@liljackypaper Explain

[@vedparikh26]

Meanwhile hikaru : Today I play the impossible doctor wumpus

[@Aniruddh-_]

"If my mom had balls, she would be my dad" - idk some dude called Verstappen

[@АпоорваР]

Crossover I did not expect !

[@praveenpandey2155]

One of the most awkward supporting line ever said on live tv 🤣🤣(3 time world champion f1)

[@Silenceisnotgolden]

USA would’ve finished outside the top 10 if they had played with actual USA players.

[@deepaklachman9340]

Just top 10? You are being very generous

[@Chutankabaapdivyanshu18]

Lol true😂

[@divakarkumar2679]

@@Silenceisnotgolden who is actual usa player ?? No one I think all are outsiders...

[@rimurutempest2130]

I'm Indian , What a sweet guy Wesley is . I was sad Pragg lost to him before this interview but certainly lifted my mood with such a gentleman words.

[@sebastianeberle9738]

Wesley is such a good person, he has a heart of gold

[@mrsaurabh7631]

@@sebastianeberle9738 that's gold secure by india... heart is heartless

[@eyeopener13]

@@mrsaurabh7631 😂

[@121nahibataunga]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 Vidit would have been so much happy if Hikaru was his opponent xD

[@hongquannguyen8624]

But hikaru beat gukesh,pragg in classical and hikaru will never face vidit if he play.😂

[@saketrallabhandi3695]

Respect for Wesley 🫡

[@anondodasgupta5275]

No way. Hikaru doesn't consider this event important. He told in bis stream that it doesn't count towards candidates qualification. Playing for the country requires different passion. Immigrants wont understand it

[@ysf-d9i]

"immigrants won't understand it" meanwhile hikaru's mom is a literal american while Wesley, the guy who's so passionate and willing to give up his own spot for a better chance at go, is the actual immigrant.

[@efyuniantic8433]

@@ysf-d9i Hikaru’s mom was a traitor, making Hikaru one as well.

[@Rearmostbean]

@@anondodasgupta5275 not really dude People who know what a different culture is like tend to like the one they’ve chosen to live in more

[@mohansharma651]

I miss Wesley of 2800 lvl.. like he was in a league of his own at that time.. people making fun of him saying he takes easy draws plays solid nd defensive don't realise what this man was like at the peak of his powers. I hope he finds the motivation again nd rises again to his rightful place

[@sudiptok9267]

Wesley is funny and humble!

[@Chutankabaapdivyanshu18]

He's definitely funny

[@seya_2]

If Russia had played olympiad would've been much more interesting. Nepo, Karjakin, Grichuk, Artemiev, Svidler.

[@javlonyuldashev6020]

+ Daniil Dubov

[@seya_2]

@@javlonyuldashev6020 oh god I genuinely forgot about him. Love Dubov

[@syed9986]

Fedoseev, Esipenko, Sarana

[@VARMOT123]

​Sarana plays for serbia,fedoseev plays for Slovenia @syed9986

[@javlonyuldashev6020]

@@syed9986 Esipenko is good as well. But Sarana is not playing for Russia I think.

[@PankajGautamOriginal]

Feels for So. "One blunder and you have to wait for 2 years for gold". He is so disappointed that he couldn't win against Ivanchuk! ❤

[@jaimeduncan6167]

He is correct, but I understand Nakamura, it's a ton of preparation, a risk of falling below 2800 and it's basically for free. Better He creates videos, something he loves doing and earns money. China would have won easily if HouYinfan played with the women, she would crush everyone and Ju Wenjun would do the same. Even Tan Zhongyi is not playing.

[@Justaplebxd1998]

expect the last time hikaru was offered to play they wanted him as Reserve player he may have a massive ego but no one of his level would accept

[@Sough]

Why would they want that? He hasn't been 5th best or worse his whole career

[@Justaplebxd1998]

@@Sough idk ask fabiano

[@ndnd7614]

What’s your source on this? I never seen this anywhere. Hikaru on his stream said he rather be streaming for money instead

[@Justaplebxd1998]

@@ndnd7614 he talked about many time on his stream hell he talk ablout it when reacting to this clip

[@asadsabir7718]

@@Sough There was a small period a few years ago, where Hikaru dropped in world rankings to being somewhere between 15 and 20th best in the world. Thats still a high level obviously but it was a low point for him and that's when he started streaming and its been huge for his psychological game.

[@sidharthasankarsarma5559]

If we did this. If we did that. If we had him. If if if…take your loss graciously USA

[@Chutankabaapdivyanshu18]

They cany

[@arungupta3838]

I mean you would not have won any medals without immigrant players including you, so there's that

[@kaszaspeter77]

The USA is a country of immigrants, what's your point?

[@preethamv18y79]

@@arungupta3838 😂

[@myvlogs1927]

That's the ultimate truth 😂

[@chiasmata8625]

they have enough of american players to compete for medals including hans , shankland and sevian

[@achyutmehra1297]

There wouldn't be have been a USA if there were no. Immigrants

[@praful4383]

Bro ...just winning one match against 19 year old pragg is not big deal he can kick ur ass if he gets in his form back 😂😂

[@Elfutbol59]

if my grandfather had 3 balls, he would have been a flipper

[@peterparker6377]

Wesly is so cool dude, open hearted, humorous guy and just vibe

[@eyeopener13]

Bot

[@rajatgarg4362]

hikaru from japan wesley from Philippines levon from armenia, represent ur own country and lets see how u win any medal

[@advait2943]

@@rajatgarg4362 fabi Italy or spain

[@rajatgarg4362]

@@advait2943 yeah fabi from italy as well

[@amansadhu6461]

Well Hikaru and Fabi were Basically raised in US ,so they are Americans. Wesley and Levon immigrated much later so might have point there.

[@atultiwari3789]

Everyone in current USA team is outsider.

[@tarunyadav3567]

@@rajatgarg4362 fabi is literally born in the US he is as american as it gets

[@santhoshkn8057]

So is right, If Hikaru is there, then the USA will definitely have a medal

[@FEARLESS01234]

Hikaru doesn't care about it

[@cosmos1487]

Well vidit would have taken care of hikaru 😂😂

[@unknown-unknown69]

What's the score?? Yes. Hikaru has the upper hand against all indian players... So relax...

[@playermartin286]

That’s an idiotic statement and he knows it

[@vercot7000]

You do not follow chess regularly then

[@nonoodleno]

@@vercot7000 You mean he doesn't know it? Just wondering 🤔

[@Zwellop]

Alireza and Nakamura chilling 😎😎

[@User3_1.2_Na]

Your team USA is world number 1 seed in this olympiad and still you are giving excuses 😂

[@hellnohavean9874]

VD be like : let me switch to naka board 💀

[@renishisrael9520]

India is the strongest chess team. But U.S. would have done really really well if Naka played. His classical form has been amazing the past 2-3 years.

[@praful4383]

It's not about USA ...no one could reach to Gold if pragg was playing in this tournament seriously ..he has defeated hikaru ,fabiano and even abdusattrao many times 😂😂

[@danielfrancisco-uu6ye]

Who the fvck is Abdusattrao?

[@syed9986]

So: we got Hikaru India: we got VD

[@badrinarayanb3140]

In the same way if Vishy had played for India, they would have been much stronger!!

[@jrishab]

Not really....our current team is already the strongest

[@seya_2]

If Vishy had played India had a higher chance of not getting the Gold. Everyone in the current lineup is better than present Vishy

[@mephy420]

​@@seya_2 you do know that magnus is the only one who has beaten vishy regularly and everyone else gets clapped by vishy, so do tell me how are these players going to defeat vishy

[@Truthfully12312]

Vishy international ranking surpassed last year only ..plus this is now absurd question while he is mentoring

[@seya_2]

@@mephy420 To simply put it Vishy isn't as sharp as before. It's not only Magnus who has great score against Vishy, Nakamura also has a great classical score against him. Nakamura defeated Vishy 8 times and lost only 2 times with 22 draws (classical). You can see where I'm going with this. The younger players are simply just better in almost every way than Vishy. Get your facts straight

[@moaek3966]

Hikaru instead of Dominguez , their chances would've gone way up

[@varunbhaaskar3338]

absolute gem of a person and player!! Hoping to see him in top tournaments

[@mennasdrawings429]

Tbh India is undefeatable now , Hikaru wouldn't change anything

[@colegieseking5136]

Nakamura: I literally don’t care.

[@incTG]

Much easier to make money streaming slots unfortunately

[@abeernimonkar5471]

IF u haven't lost any game. U would have won gold easily...

[@abhigyandatta2008]

This is really bizarre. Didn't expect someone as level-headed as Wesley to throw Ray under the bus when the tournament isn't over yet. Really unnecessary

[@deepaklachman9340]

Absolutely 😂. Throwing your own team mate under the bus. Huge L for Wesley here.

[@elonif4125]

It's realistic, I would say. I certainly appreciate the honesty of Wesley

[@aritrabiswas4236]

Caruana saw concern in Wesley's form but he is the one taking out a win in such crucial situation

[@praful4383]

Bro USA already have more average rating than india ...and still he wants one more guy to win gold😂😂😂

[@maheshkotapalli1710]

To everyone saying “India would still beat USA even with hikaru “ , yes may be India will but Olympiad is points based tournament not championship based … so USA doesn’t need to beat India to win gold … like India didn’t beat Uzbekistan they drew … also caruna hikaru Wesley and aronian would be equally good like up as India

[@amalpurandare7283]

And dear Wesely - India would not have allowed you to win the gold had Vishy Anand decided to play. So Nakamura or no Nakamura - India would have still won the gold. USA in any case depends on players from different countries - not of their own. Does that count in true sense ???

[@ysf-d9i]

nah, Vishy is too old now. No matter how amazing you are, you won't have the energy to play intense games like this at that age. Magnus Carlsen won't be relevant in 20 years either.

[@random906]

well Hikaru's one of the great players in Chess but stopping India ?? NO WAY USA!!

[@souvikghosh5768]

If Nakamura plays Then India will place Vidit in Board 2 facing Hikaru😂

[@rajeevchourasiya3143]

Such an unfiltered man❤️

[@Chessjghfg]

Wesley's attitude is too worse you loose accept it why he is bringing hikaru now 😂

[@yermiaandri9882]

Representing your country should be your proudest moment since the historic record will be there after our life span for the coming generations too see and continue.

[@Nevilrai8109]

He is from Philippine 😂

[@Cpp_For_Life]

​@@Nevilrai8109but he represents Usa

[@myvlogs1927]

​@@Cpp_For_Lifeyeah but that isn't his country so it's not a proud moment for him 😂

[@vercot7000]

@@myvlogs1927 Nonsense. The US is built on immigrants

[@proxima713]

@@Cpp_For_Lifebut they aren’t patriotic towards USA …even levon said that the best team in this tournament (his opinion) is Armenia because he is Armenian …..

[@divyanshuchadha8210]

I see the arrogance is still there. "Would've won gold easily" This is not 2008. A lot of teams in the olympiad have made it hyper competitive.

[@PeaceFORever-]

Hikaru is 2800. He doesn’t want to paired with Low rated and super dangerous Indians on the other spectrum . If he loses he loses points . He want to enjoy 2800 level . India would when paired vidit to Hikaru . There was no way US can win for sure gold : They have chance that’s it .

[@SanjayKumar-n8h3s]

The Indians would've adopted Naka too

[@shubhsrivatava777]

Bruh get some knowledge

[@shvm.]

give mike a raise

[@thebiglebrowski3695]

Maybe he could have taken Wesley's place so they didn't have a board 2 with a performance rating of 2688 despite being 2750 😂 Edit: Oh lmao, that is his point. Fair enough I guess.

[@shardulkedar6689]

It's ok wesley!! Know issues...It happens...

[@red32_12]

I do agree with Wesley., team USA would be really hard to beat with Hikaru in the lineup.. it would be a very big upset if they would lose a match.. it's just water under the bridge now cause Hikaru doesn't like playing in the Olympiad..

[@user-topforu]

There is no if or but in games ,if ju wenjun and tan playing than no one match china women team

[@cosmos1487]

Vidit

[@vercot7000]

@@cosmos1487 Vidit beat Nakamura in one tournament. In general, he's not better than him

[@ShivamSharma2op]

​@@vercot7000 in a tournament, seriously???it was Candidates 🤡not once but twice

[@nonoodleno]

I see that India is very hard to beat. They have one of the best teams ever to compete at the Olympiad. Wesley just made a stupid comment and that's it.

[@maverickjk]

Import Artemiev, Dubov, Karjakin and the US are set for Olympiad Golds for a decade minimum.

[@nonoodleno]

Plus a couple of Indian players 🤠

[@arnabtapadar8928]

But the thing is We have Vidit Gujrati for your Hikaru, 😂😂😂 rest remains the gg 😂😂

[@MemeConnoisseur]

If I was American I would be their president.

[@QuoteBlink]

Here before GMHikaru comment on this video!!

[@rudeus6621]

Wesly looks and speaks truly like an american for sure 😂....

[@AbhishekSharma-qv5ej]

Perfect line up for usa. 1) magnus 2) fabi 3)hikaru 4)nepo 5) alireza

[@enrievekeenearanas5853]

Wes is such a sweetheart

[@DipteshSarkar99]

Hikaru would have stopped India's other results?

[@chetan_naik]

US has 4 imported players. If India had only one imported player, it would have one gold 2 rounds in advance. 😅

[@Vbio-m5q]

Would've, could've, should've....🤷

[@hunterzgaming866]

Wesley so miscalculated fabi's game

[@adrijabhattacharya4709]

Aww poor thing. He is a wonderful player nonetheless.

[@ekarshvats6904]

"Would've won easily if nakamura played" wesley under rating himself ig

[@proxima713]

If I had superpowers then I can be superman

[@ashesds1]

If USA couldn’t win gold with this team then they need to really introspective.India is without vishy who is still sharp as hell. With their team it should have been a close contest for the gold among India china USA and perhaps Uzbekistan.

[@mrmiller74]

If only they'd had another top twenty player they could have called upon...

[@MegaRomili]

Even hikaru also can't give you gold 🪙 sir, Indian team is just the best, don't forget Indian team have GM VD who won twice against Hikaru in the candidates!If you have sports man spirit just accept that Indian team really deserve the gold 🥇 this year.🎉

[@DKarkarov]

This is a rough interview Wesley is kinda hating on himself a lot. The pressure is serious in the olympiad and has had a bad event but he doesn't deserve to dunk on himself this badly. It is a team event it is not all your fault man.

[@darkwarlord3224]

well it is actually his fault

[@Makerbreaker10]

i guess Wesley completely forgot. hikaru got defeated by vidit twice in candidates. so no hard feelings soo.

[@josephmosquera7053]

I also believe that Hikaru has fire to win gold.

[@aintEvanescence]

These 'Memorization / Preparation' merchants trolling Hikaru. 😂 Your players will get smoked in all other formats.

[@nabangshusinha1519]

Lol, love Wesley. I think he'd be a cool dude to have a drink with.

[@amanSingh-vk2kn]

If vishy anand was ..........

[@hongquannguyen8624]

Haha hikaru beat vishy easily😂

[@amanSingh-vk2kn]

@@hongquannguyen8624 vidit beat hikaru twice in candidates. So vidit is going to be a favourite against hikaru every time they play

[@capsubs1687]

Ivanchuk said Jesus hates liars

[@AryanRajSayani]

Bro you've got other country's players, stop saying that you want more. Other countries are excellent having what they have.

[@user-zm8vw4vo7v]

There is a difference between having a chance at gold or winning gold or winning gold easily. Hikaru would have been a good addition but winning gold easily??

[@filipradevic5747]

Next time you recruit more foreigners, like Magnus, Gukesh, Alireza and you will win gold medal for sure. You need Nakamura in this team??? Gtf out here.

[@sreesub]

Hikaru is not motivated unless he plays for WC or for money. If Hikaru is not motivated he would not play well. So I am skeptical just because he plays US would have won.

[@Amiittk]

India beat the US, let's say naka would have played so it would have been a draw.. With a draw, India would still win the gold as we are unbeatable, doesn't matter how well the US would have played.

[@napster2482]

If….if….come out of delusion bro

[@dhruvilkumpavat6037]

Technically yes, it would have been an even matchup or maybe usa better if Hikaru had played, but then again USA was the toughest team on paper from the start and a top team dont lose to Ukraine Men team. So they are to blame for their position on the standing, they still have some positives to make

[@Atom.X]

China women's team joins the chat with SO

[@hmmer3471]

Hikaru lost 2 matches against Vidit in candidates

[@carlleouver8743]

Looking at the way India has been playing, Hilaru is a smart one not to have participated.