Hikaru Nakamura apologises after blaming Chess.com for EWC chaos

Hikaru Nakamura has apologised for blaming Chess.com after a technical glitch disrupted his third-place match at the Esports World Cup. The American grandmaster had wrongly assumed the platform caused the problem, but later admitted it was an 'EWC issue' that affected several events, not just chess.

Nakamura was leading Alireza Firouzja 3-1 when both screens went blank. After a 20-minute wait, the frustrated Firouzja left the arena. Officials awarded Nakamura the match by forfeit. In interviews, Nakamura criticised Chess.com, but says he 'jumped to conclusions' after not being given full information.

Nakamura finished third, earning $145,000 and Club Championship points for Falcons Esports. He has asked for his retraction to be shared wherever his original comments appeared. Magnus Carlsen won the overall title, defeating Denis Lazavik in the final.