Paris Rapid and Blitz kicked off the 2016 Grand Chess tour at the Maison De La Chimie. Spectators watched tournament players compete against each other in 9 rounds of rapid chess and 18 rounds of blitz chess for a total prize fund of $150,000.

The final day of Paris started off with high tension as Hikaru Nakamura was only half a point ahead of Magnus Carlsen. The suspense built up until almost the last round, when the two blitz players were supposed to battle it out. It was almost assumed that the very last game would decide the winner, but in reality the dust settled two rounds before. Carlsen, in his own words, had a “good old fashioned meltdown” and wasn’t able to keep up with Nakamura, who showed off his superior blitz skills and stellar nerves throughout the day. After 7 rounds, Carlsen fell 2.5 points behind and could no longer catch Nakamura. The American fans were happy to see their countryman emerge victorious after such a tight race. Nakamura ultimately took first place and earned $37,500 for his efforts and 13 Grand Chess Tour points towards the 2016 tour.