WWE released more than a dozen main roster and NXT stars rumours have swirled that former United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura might be among them; images of him listed on the "Alumni" section of WWE.com have even done the rounds on social media still listed as an active Superstar on the company's website and has not been released it's possible WWE isn't planning to renew Nakamura's contract; earlier this year it was reported that WWE management was "moving on" from him suggesting his days in the company might be numbered Nakamura was repackaged with a new heel gimmick not too long ago (which didn't hugely connect with fans) and briefly held the United States Championship and his last major television appearance was on the March 7 episode of SmackDown when he lost the title to LA Knight Nakamura later made a very brief appearance in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the SmackDown before WrestleMania even though he hasn't been released yet it does rather feel like the former NXT Champion's days in WWE are numbered This comes after it was reported that the main reason for Braun Strowman's release was a pricey contract that WWE no longer felt was worth its while "He is the one that the salary was high," Dave Meltzer recently said of the Monster Among Men "One person told me that they felt he was being...he was paid more than how they were using him he expressed a desire to bring more of his Japanese Strong Style to WWE So I've been wrestling over eight years right now So I want to keep wrestling in WWE," he started So also I brought the Japanese style to WWE but chances are Nakamura would either begin wrestling in Japan again or perhaps even consider signing with AEW keep checking back here for updates as we have them Rumors circulated recently suggesting that international wrestling star Shinsuke Nakamura had been released from WWE amidst the company’s significant roster cuts on May 2nd Nakamura remains listed on the active superstar roster page on WWE.com indicating he is still under contract with the company and has not been released speculation regarding Nakamura’s long-term future with WWE has been ongoing for several months This was fueled significantly by his absence from the match card at WrestleMania 41 in April 2025 Wade Keller of PWTorch.com reportedly stated back in February 2025 that WWE management did not intend to renew Nakamura’s contract upon its eventual expiration and was potentially “moving on” from the veteran performer though no official confirmation from WWE followed that report Nakamura’s recent television appearances have been sparse His last high-profile singles match occurred on the March 7 episode of Friday Night SmackDown (corrected date based on reports) where he lost the WWE United States Championship to LA Knight His only televised appearance during WrestleMania week was as a participant in the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the SmackDown episode preceding the main event combined with WWE’s apparent focus on younger talent and elevating stars from NXT has led many observers to believe his time as a full-time performer in the company might be concluding it is important to reiterate that aside from the February report regarding potential non-renewal intentions nothing official about his long-term future has been confirmed by WWE or Nakamura himself Shinsuke Nakamura’s journey to WWE was built on a legendary career in his native Japan he joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2002 and quickly established himself as a top prospect dubbed the “Super Rookie.” His blend of striking Nakamura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan to become the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history This victory cemented his status as a main event player and he would go on to hold NJPW’s top prize a total of three times during his tenure Alongside contemporaries like Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata Nakamura was considered one of the “new Three Musketeers” destined to lead NJPW He further developed his unique “King of Strong Style” persona incorporating his martial arts background and developing an eccentric charisma that captivated audiences worldwide He was also a founding member and the original leader of the popular CHAOS faction While a multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Nakamura arguably achieved his greatest sustained success in NJPW elevating the IWGP Intercontinental Championship with his initial 313-day reign significantly boosting the belt’s prestige to near-equal footing with the Heavyweight Championship He also boasts victories in the prestigious G1 Climax tournament (2011) and the New Japan Cup (2014) After nearly 14 years revolutionizing NJPW making his highly anticipated debut for the NXT brand His first match against Sami Zayn at NXT TakeOver: Dallas in April 2016 is widely regarded as one of the best matches in NXT history and a perfect introduction to the North American audience Nakamura quickly ascended the ranks in NXT defeating Samoa Joe to capture the NXT Championship in August 2016 He would hold the title twice during his impactful run on the developmental brand proving his star power translated effectively to the WWE environment before moving to the main roster Debuting on SmackDown shortly after WrestleMania 33 in 2017 culminating in winning the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble match This earned him a WWE Championship opportunity against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34 Though unsuccessful in capturing the title the match ended with Nakamura executing a shocking heel turn on Styles Nakamura settled into a prominent role in the upper mid-card and tag team divisions He captured the United States Championship twice and the Intercontinental Championship twice becoming only the second wrestler (after Chris Jericho) to hold both the WWE and IWGP Intercontinental titles He also held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship alongside Cesaro as part of “The Artist Collective.” His character evolved over the years often reverting to his “King of Strong Style” roots but sometimes adopting more artistic or antagonistic personas despite the lack of recent high-profile booking and the swirling speculation Shinsuke Nakamura officially remains a contracted WWE superstar While his long-term trajectory within the company is uncertain given his age and recent usage patterns the reports of his release circulating after the May 2nd cuts have proven inaccurate thus far WrestlingNews.co is the top pro wrestling news site in the world with over 1.5 million followers across our social media accounts Contact us: newstips@wrestlingnews.co © Copyright 2024 Ad Interactive Media Shinsuke Nakamura has not been seen on WWE TV for weeks now The star’s last appearance in the company was during the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on SmackDown in which he didn't have a very good outing The star is considered by many as one of the greatest in-ring competitors in the industry’s rich history WWE released a string of stars from the roster recently which also led to questions of Nakamura’s whereabouts surfacing online The WWE Universe wondered if The King of Strong Style was also released by the company quietly because there have not been many worthy storylines for the star on TV for quite some time now Further, earlier this year, rumors of WWE not renewing Nakamura’s contract once it expired had surfaced on the internet as well causing intense speculation about his future in the Stamford-based promotion The King of Strong Style’s contract with the company is seemingly set to expire some time this year in the future Top WWE star punished? More details HERE There have been no updates on Shinsuke Nakamura leaving the company or being released by the company which makes it clear that the star is still a part of the WWE roster waiting for Triple H to give him the opportunity and a strong creative plan to prove himself and his skills once again Nakamura has not been a part of any storylines for months, which has been concerning for his fans for quite some time now. The star was given a brief push back in 2023 with a feud against Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes Considering the questions fans have been raising over Nakamura’s whereabouts The King of Strong Style should get a push to prove his worth Fans will have to wait and see what the company has in store for the former Intercontinental Champion in the future While the company completely dropped the ball on Nakamura this time around time will now tell what the future holds for him in the industry Your perspective matters!Start the conversation There has been an update on a 45-year-old's status with WWE after rumors he had been released. The promotion recently released a bunch of talent One of the most unfortunate things about the professional wrestling business is that sometimes cuts have to be made The promotion released many popular stars recently and rumors began to swirl about Shinsuke Nakamura's status The King of Strong Style was not booked for WrestleMania 41 and has not competed in a televised match since the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the April 18 edition of SmackDown Nakamura is still currently listed on the active roster page on WWE's official website Shinsuke Nakamura captured the United States Championship at WWE Survivor Series 2024 but lost it to LA Knight earlier this year Jacob Fatu defeated LA Knight to become champion at WrestleMania 41 and will defend the title in a Fatal 4-Way match at Backlash 2025 next weekend in St Wrestling legend Vince Russo recently took the company to task for how Shinsuke Nakamura is booked on television Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo show, the legend questioned how the promotion utilized the former champion. He noted that there was no focus on Nakamura while he had the United States Championship and stated that he was being booked similarly to Chad Gable You can check out Russo's comments in the video below: Shinsuke Nakamura won the Men's Royal Rumble match in 2018 but failed to capture the WWE Championship from AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34 It will be interesting to see what the company has planned for Nakamura moving forward Not present at all on the WWE WrestleMania 41 card was Shinsuke Nakamura While the 45-year old star did compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the SmackDown before Mania There has been speculation that Nakamura may be among the group of WWE stars who find themselves departing the company after their current contract expires but there is no confirmation on this as of yet With a long history in professional wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura may find himself in a similar position as AJ Styles in terms of seeking some control over his farewell Whether Nakamura plans to continue wrestling for a long or short time To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link © Trident Digital Media Limited. All rights reserved. Read our Privacy and Data Policy Designed and Developed by Arren Marketing Voters head into Grapevine Public Library before the polls close for the May 3 election Kean Nakamura-Berta withstood race-long pressure from Prema team-mate Sebastian Wheldon to take his second Italian Formula 4 heat win of the weekend at Misano Pole-sitter Nakamura-Berta got the jump at the lights to hold onto the lead into the first corner with Wheldon holding off Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov for second US Racing’s Kabir Anurag made the best start of all leaping into fourth from seventh on the grid with the Prema pair of Newman Chi and Sasha Bondarev also losing out to R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri as the 27-car field funnelled through the chicane Nakamura-Berta and Wheldon immediately began to pull away from the following group the pair running in close company for the full 17-lap race distance with Wheldon never quite in range to attempt a move for the lead setting the fastest lap of the race on the final tour Olivieri was the driver looking to make ground behind them taking advantage of the restart after a brief safety car period caused by Payton Westcott’s sidelined car He sat on Popov’s tail as the two circulated in isolation before managing to take the final podium place five laps from the finish Anurag was clearly holding up the pack behind him US Racing’s Maxim Rehm and R-ace GP’s Alex Powell jostling for position Bondarev had a run on Anurag along the back straight on lap nine but was unable to make the move stick and lost out to Chi in the process The Williams junior was soon able to reclaim his position but was unable to find a way past Anurag Powell finally managed to get ahead of Rehm into turn 8 on lap 15 to take eighth with Jenzer Motorsport’s Bart Harrison completing the top 10 Nakamura-Berta and Wheldon will start the fourth and final race of the weekend from the front row courtesy of their results in the three split heats Established in 2011 and previously found at PaddockScout.com Formula Scout is home to regular news and features from the world of junior single-seater racing tracking the progress of future grand prix stars We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura is launching her own independent music label the artist is making a clear statement: she’s ready to produce fresh talent—starting with rising artist RNBOI Aya Nakamura is already reshaping the music industry and not just pop she’s taking the independent route and leaving Rec It was under Warner Music France’s umbrella that she had released her 2023 album DNK Since the meteoric rise of her 2018 hit Djadja and across four studio albums Aya Nakamura has consistently defied expectations Dismissed by much of the mainstream media but idolized on social platforms especially following her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games she’s doubling down on her drive for creative independence It’s part of a deliberate strategy: reclaim control over her artistry Aya Nakamura now wants to carve out space for those who shine beyond conventional molds The first name to emerge under her new banner: RNBOI. Hailing from Nemours, he was discovered on the DVM Show, a talent-search program launched by Aya Nakamura herself. With a moody blend of autotuned rap and mainstream R’n’B, RNBOI quickly caught her attention. “He’s got something different,” she told Billboard France With over 800,000 monthly listeners on Spotify one that Aya Nakamura is eager to champion through a lens of freedom This could well mark the beginning of a new era in French music one where the most streamed artists become champions of the underground Aya Nakamura shows she’s no longer content being a success story Newsroom 54 rue des Acacias 75017 Paris T+33 1 56 88 98 00   |    Advertising 54 rue des Acacias 75017 Paris T+33 1 56 88 98 37     |    Copyright © 2024 Numéro     |    Legal notices Votre inscription a bien été prise en compte World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju will lead India against GM Hikaru Nakamura and the USA in a new five-board team match, which will also see GM Fabiano Caruana take on GM Arjun Erigaisi The organizers say they expect a sold-out crowd for the stadium that can take 2,500 spectators After days of swirling social media rumors, the organizers officially confirmed Checkmate: USA vs The event will take place on October 4 at the Esports Stadium in Arlington an arena that can draw a live audience of 2,500 spectators The most anticipated matchup will see World Champion Gukesh face Nakamura Another exciting pairing is 2018 World Championship challenger Caruana going up against Arjun 2500 seats!🌍 Global broadcast🎙️ Commentary Only one winner.🔥 Lineup:• Hikaru Nakamura (USA World #2) vs Gukesh Dommaraju (World… who recently extended his medal count for India in youth events to 21 the full slate of five boards include a mix of established stars “This is the kind of event that elevates chess to the next level,” Nakamura "India has become one of the most exciting forces in global chess and I’m thrilled to take them on in front of a live crowd here in the U.S We want to show the world that America is home to some of the best players in the game—and that chess can be as thrilling and competitive as any major sport." We want to show the world that America is home to some of the best players in the game—and that chess can be as thrilling and competitive as any major sport Each round follows this time control structure: Team USA will be white on all boards for home advantage Organizers said a second leg is expected to take part in India soon The event is organized by Checkmate Strategic Ventures and intends to bring together top players and streamers under one roof to reshape the future of chess entertainment "After witnessing the sold-out crowds and millions of viewers at the FIDE Candidates 2024 it became clear: chess is no longer just a game It’s a spectacle waiting for its stage," said Salim Belcadi of Checkmate Strategic Ventures India brings the world’s most iconic players into a battlefield of speed After witnessing the sold-out crowds and millions of viewers at the Candidates It’s a spectacle waiting for its stage The 100,000-square-foot arena in Arlington was originally built as North America’s largest dedicated esports facility and can hold 2,500 seated spectators under the glow of 90-foot LED screens and theatrical lighting Tickets go on sale today May 1.  The organizers say they are expecting a full house for the event They are currently fielding proposals from global streaming and broadcast partners Shinsuke Nakamura is coming off his third reign with the United States Championship the Japanese sensation hasn’t done much since his WWE return he hasn’t picked up a win since the January 3 episode of SmackDown just two days after he wrestled in Japan as part of NOAH’s “The New Year” 2025 event Nakamura’s win over Andrade that day was no surprise since Andrade and Carmelo Hayes were feuding for a crack at the United States Championship Nakamura didn’t need to earn anything; he just showed back up and immediately defeated LA Knight for the championship at Survivor Series 2024 – WarGames Since Knight defeated him to win the US title back on the March 7 edition of SmackDown With Meiko Satomura’s recent retirement Nakamura plans on honoring one of the best Japanese wrestlers of all time She’s certainly one of the most historic and Nakamura plans on keeping her legacy alive A video surfaced recently showing Nakamura training to master her finishing move Seems like Shinsuke Nakamura is going to adopt Meiko Satomura's finisher "Scorpio Rising"…🖤 "It has now become my new sword" – Shinsuke Nakamura on IG pic.twitter.com/Kvt3L1kLrr — Wrestle Knight⭕⏳ (@TheDamagedOne95) May 4, 2025 Nakamura is in need of some sort of change to keep his career alive. He was a mainstay in WWE’s live events, competing for the World Heavyweight or United States Championship the veteran is seen as more of a good hand as he goes out there and doesn’t complain when he comes home every night with a loss Nakamura could still be a valuable asset to WWE’s roster Meiko Satomura’s career goes back to 1995 Satomura has competed in basically every major promotion especially the women’s promotions in Japan Satomura defeated Kay Lee Ray to become the last champion in the company’s history She ended up “losing” the belt to Mandy Rose as part of the 2022 Worlds Collide special but that match was done to unify the two championships Her run as champion lasted 451 days with nine successful championship defenses It marked the longest singles championship run of her career but she spent 512 days with Sonoko Kato as AAAW Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions starting in 1996 there’s no doubt that Satomura is one of the best to ever do it Nakamura plans on honoring her legacy by using the Scorpio Rising a move that Meiko taught Shinsuke in person Prema team-mates Kean Nakamura-Berta and Salim Hanna topped the split qualifying sessions for the opening round of the Italian Formula 4 championship at Misano Courtesy of setting the fastest overall time Nakamura-Berta will start races two and three from pole position while Hanna will start the first race from the front of the grid The 41-car field will be split into three groups – A B and C – with each group contesting two of the three heat races before the best-placed drivers contest Sunday evening’s fourth race allocated according to lots drawn by the drivers on Friday morning to set the grids for the first three races of the weekend The second group appeared significantly stronger on paper with seven drivers beating Hanna’s time from the first group Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov set the initial pace in the first group going top halfway through the 20-minute session Alpine junior Kabir Anurag briefly moved to the top of the times before an improvement from Hanna saw the Colombian go fastest with a lap in 1m36.120s 0.047s quicker than Prema team-mate Newman Chi driver in the group to dip below the 1m36s mark extending his advantage over Popov who had moved up to second position ahead of Chi They were followed by a trio of US Racing entries with Luka Sammalisto ahead of Anurag and Maxim Rehm The R-ace GP pair of Alex Powell and Emanuele Olivieri immediately jumped to the front of the second group before the Prema quartet headed by Nakamura-Berta asserted themselves at the front US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez was the next to improve going fastest with a time of 1m35.833s but his lead was short-lived regained the top three slots with seven minutes remaining The Prema drivers continued to improve their times with Wheldon moving to the front with a 1m35.490s before Nakamura-Berta regained the top spot by 0.065s on the next tour the top four all improved in the first sector on the final laps but only Nakamura-Berta managed to maintain his pace for the full lap taking the flag with a lap of 1m35.326s to pip Wheldon by 0.092s with F4 Middle East champion Olivieri splitting the Prema hegemony at the front beating Bondarev to fourth in the group by just 0.001s Formula Winter Series champion Gomez had to settle for sixth with Mercedes junior Powell relegated to seventh in the group with Sevian finishing fifth early and second late while Bluebaum placed third in both events Congratulations to @GMHikaru on winning the Early #TitledTuesday with 10/11... from Japan! 🇯🇵 🏆 pic.twitter.com/9iSXH4bPnI Nakamura took down GM Fabiano Caruana next in another back-and-forth game ending in a blunder although Caruana's was far subtler than Sarana's Four other players, besides Le, entered the last round with 8.5 points and a chance at second place. GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Bluebaum won, but Nepomniachtchi's tiebreaks were significantly higher, so his game against GM Jose Martinez earned second place just a gradual turn of the tide during moves 30-45 After the Nakamura-Nepomniachtchi-Bluebaum podium, the remaining prizes went to Sarana in fourth, Sevian in fifth, and WGM Qianyun Gong with the women's prize in 61st April 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20) (Full final standings.) Niemann's path through the late field of 364 was a little more cluttered but he too would only need a draw in the final round to win outright the only player who was within half a point of him Congratulations to @HansMokeNiemann who follows Hikaru's win in the early tournament with clear first in the late #TitledTueday! pic.twitter.com/lvhLhC3kD9 Niemann had turned a six-way tie on 7/8 into the outright lead by being the only one of those six players to win in both rounds nine and 10. First, he came out ahead against GM Daniel Naroditsky after grinding out an endgame GMs Pranav V and Shant Sargsyan both also won in the ninth round but they would be stopped in the 10th round by Niemann and Sevian Sevian won in less than half as many moves as Niemann needed and even had 47 seconds left when Sargsyan ran out of time (in a position that was also losing) The relative length of Niemann's game was due in part to a locked center but Niemann was eventually able to maneuver around it and promote his a-pawn Bluebaum once again tied for second but settled for third. Naroditsky and IM Rud Makarian, who both also finished on nine points, rounded out the top five, while GM Karina Ambartsumova took home the women's prize April 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20) (Full final standings.) With just eight tournaments left in the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix, Bluebaum's strong day got him into the top eight, replacing GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Duda, GM Minh Le and Sarana are all within a point of qualification for the 2025 Speed Chess Championship There were no changes to the women's standings this week although a couple of players gained some points and girls (born 2005 or later) do not have SCC places on the line but there will be cash prizes in each of these categories Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov) Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46) Girls: WFM Kalyani Sirin (@rollercoaster29) Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day). Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington Prema’s Kean Nakamura-Berta completed a hat-trick of wins in the opening round of the Italian Formula 4 championship at Misano with a dominant victory in the final race taking the flag 4.28 seconds ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilan Popov to round off a perfect weekend setting the fastest lap of the race in the process “It’s been a dream start,” he told Formula Scout Taking pole overall was really good and then I managed all the races looking after the tyres in the heats and then in the final giving a few pushes towards the end to manage the gap to everyone else “It gives us loads of momentum going into round two and onwards,” he said Nakamura-Berta once again timed his launch to perfection but fellow front-row man Sebastian Wheldon bogged down slightly allowing Salim Hanna and Popov through into the first corner Hanna immediately came under pressure from Van Amersfoort Racing driver Popov who drafted past down the back straight to finish lap one in second with Nakamura-Berta already over a second to the good out front Nakamura-Berta’s pace in the lead was unrelenting posting a series of fastest laps to extend his lead over Popov was over two seconds back in third after five laps with a train of cars in his slipstream headed now by R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri with Kabir Anurag (US Racing) just behind them Prema pair Tomass Stolcermanis and Sasha Bondarev were pushing hard to join the back of the group Turn eight was proving particularly troublesome for track limits with race control reporting multiple violations with the first black-and-white warning flags being shown as early as the sixth lap Nathaniel Berreby and Luka Sammalisto each managed to pick up three separate five-second penalties for repeated infringements extending his lead to over two seconds with another fastest lap on the seventh tour Hanna managed to shake off Olivieri who held off a late charge from Wheldon to take fourth Stolcermanis passed Anurag for sixth on lap 10 with Bondarev running over the kerbs as he looked in vain to follow him through GM Magnus Carlsen sacrificed a pawn on move four and went on to defeat GM Hikaru Nakamura in the first game of the 2025 Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Final It was a brilliant win that puts Carlsen a draw away from the title and $200,000 but Nakamura came agonizingly close to escaping before blundering just when salvation was in sight The final day of the 2025 Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam begins on Monday, April 14, at 7 a.m. ET / 13:00 CEST / 4:30 p.m. IST. The Paris Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Finals began on the same day as the Paris marathon with Nakamura questioning his life choices Feels like a good day to go for a nice long jog...exactly what am I doing playing chess today?! #ParisMarathon pic.twitter.com/6XB3fThAdb saying he felt a lot better after feeling sick for the last couple of days He found some time to interact with fans as he arrived at the venue Carlsen stops for photographs and selfies ahead of today's Final against Nakamura! #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/y4Ii2U3NPZ with Carlsen visiting the confessional three times during the first few moves pointed out some opportunities to play Nxh7# smothered mate and noted he was half-provoking Nakamura to play 3...g5 Instead Nakamura was provoked into playing 3...e5!? Carlsen responded with another pawn sacrifice Magnus: "Hikaru is a great defender so sacrificing a pawn early on doesn’t seem like an obvious stylistic choice... but once I saw b4 it was hard to resist!For the moment it’s looking very exciting!" https://t.co/fHTFcb1YCA especially when backed up with another pawn sac two moves later but what would make the position particularly fascinating was that both players liked what they got with some inventive play required to keep it there—here 13.Bb2 I suspect I was probably much better if not winning at some point early in the game but I had the feeling when this knight was on h6 That perhaps explains why Nakamura seemed puzzled by many of Carlsen's moves which in fact were all working to maintain an advantage—however precarious—for White Nakamura regretted his decision to swap off queens though it's noteworthy that the move he had seen It soon looked like a dream endgame for Carlsen, with GMs Judit Polgar and Peter Leko competing to praise White's position Judit on the pawn-up endgame: "From a practical point of view it's zero chance against Magnus" Leko: "It would not be correct for chess if a position like this was holdable!" #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/Ft48PaMPwH Carlsen combined brilliant concepts and moves with the occasional blunder The world number-one missed a chance to play e4 when it was the one clear winning move and was suddenly right back in the game.        Wowwww Hikaru blunders against Magnus #FreestyleChess https://t.co/3S2W9rgw9F pic.twitter.com/CwNkqoXwB8 and Nakamura raced through the stages of grief before resigning Nakamura resigns and Carlsen is a draw away from winning the $200,000 Paris #FreestyleChess Grand Slam! pic.twitter.com/sG1AaFfAGC GM Rafael Leitao takes us through all the twists and turns of Carlsen's win below That means Nakamura must now win the second classical game to take the final to tiebreaks The battle for third place is big for a couple of reasons a sum that towers over the first prize of almost all non-freestyle chess events over the course of a chess year (the loser takes $60,000) Secondly, there's the prize of automatically qualifying for the next Grand Slam, which will be held in Las Vegas in July. If another reason to watch the match were needed, this is also a repeat of the final in Weissenhaus so that Caruana has a chance to take revenge.  since he neutralized Keymer out of the opening and then gradually took over in a position that felt as though it would liquidate into a draw Caruana got the upper hand in a wild time-trouble stage and then he eventually won an endgame position that may have been a fortress but was extremely hard to play with little time Fabiano Caruana takes the lead against Vincent Keymer in the crucial 3rd place match — the winner gets $100,000 but also an automatic spot in the Las Vegas #FreestyleChess Grand Slam! pic.twitter.com/yvjCNgW70V Keymer must now win with Black on Monday to keep his third-place hopes alive The smoothest win of the day was for Arjun who continued his brilliant form from the day before but he seized the initiative early on against Vachier-Lagrave when he got to push his d-pawn with a later exchange sacrifice not helping the Frenchman's cause.  Arjun is the coolest player around! #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/Hw8TCXalFR but it felt like this was a game between two players who took their frustration at earlier setbacks out on each other in a wild clash The complications were almost unfathomable Nepomniachtchi's all-or-nothing attack ultimately paid off although White was at times completely winning Abdusattorov was a very late replacement for GM Hans Niemann and has acquitted himself well for most of the tournament but he'll be hoping he can hit back on the final day and finish with a flourish!   Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St though a draw still wouldn't have helped him in the match.    After finishing a "mere" third in the first Grand Slam in Weissenhaus He came into the final day of the event after a dramatic win in the first game left him only needing a draw to clinch first place A handshake before the final showdown! #FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/qI13n9aI8g because I was really happy with the way that I judged and played the opening what often happens is that you will get mutual mistakes and I never really gave him any chances.  with the world number-one surprised to see the less-than-obvious 1.b4 on all but one of the boards The key moment of Carlsen-Nakamura arguably came only three moves later interfering with the a5-plan that Carlsen had already realized was strong He noted in the confessional that a5 was "both activating my queen a little bit and making sure it’s not trapped in these situations after Be5 this is what’s so difficult about this but as long as I don’t do anything stupid because it’s solid and relatively easy to play.  Nakamura was informed of the computer verdict by his wife, WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan and called it "pretty comical to hear!" He summed up "If after f4 it’s already kind of nothing it’s really really hard to be unhappy with the result." If after f4 it's already kind of nothing it's really Carlsen admitted he could have been more ambitious and Nakamura noted his opponent was "a little bit sloppy," but ultimately the Norwegian's plan of swapping off pieces and maintaining piece activity worked to perfection Leko "I'm actually a little bit broken from the white perspective! I want Hikaru to be finding ideas but where are those ideas? This Bh3 was such a quiet little killer. The computer probably doesn't highlight it's such an important move, but humanly speaking this kills our soul!" pic.twitter.com/ToKmlURUfb Nakamura had spent the game dodging silent draw offers and the game reached its inevitable conclusion with Carlsen wrapping up victory He'd gone through the tournament without playing a single tiebreak The result was doubly impressive given Carlsen had been unwell for much of the event and he noted "no kind of chess is that much fun when you're not feeling great," before reiterating why he enjoys the Chess960 variant: There’s more of a childish joy of just playing chess rather than being worried about openings and all of those things that are important but don’t necessarily equate joy but you want to be reminded about why you started playing chess early on and I am reminded of that when I sit down for a Freestyle Chess game.  You want to be reminded about why you started playing chess early on and I am reminded of that when I sit down for a Freestyle Chess game "I think I played pretty well and it’s hard to expect to win every event so I’m not that unhappy." Another reason to be glad is that he's now taking two weeks off for a vacation to Japan Keymer has been the revelation of the Freestyle Chess Tour so far and had been unbeaten in classical chess until just a few days ago Then he suffered what Carlsen called "one weak moment against Hikaru" to lose a first game before going on to lose the first game against Caruana with the outcome almost inevitable after the first few moves Caruana called his position "like a Dutch from heaven!" and criticized Keymer's 1...d5?!, which prevented c6 and left his king trapped, while the e5-square was "just uncontrollable." Everything Caruana foresaw came to pass, with Keymer's coach, GM Peter Leko happy when his student got to give up his queen for two pieces and only a mercy draw offer saw the game end "peacefully" since that was all Caruana needed to win the match and take $100,000 and an automatic invite to the next Grand Slam in Las Vegas in July Caruana doesn't seem the vengeful type, but he had made up for losing the Weissenhaus final to Keymer. That's our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed below but he's still earned $260,000 for two events on the Tour It was a day when no one would make a comeback though local hero Vachier-Lagrave came closest The Frenchman told the confessional he was happy with his situation early on since even though he judged "obviously I'm not better," he had a chaotic position he could play for a win The mere fact that it was playable was a bonus: "I’m pretty happy especially after how the game went yesterday—I was not sure I would get a game!" but held everything together to snatch fifth place on his Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour debut Arjun takes $50,000 while it's $40,000 for Vachier-Lagrave this looked like it would be the easiest victory with Nepomniachtchi soon better out of the opening with Abdusattorov somehow ending up in an endgame where he was the one with any winning chances Carlsen explained about Nepomniachtchi: "It’s the way he goes with Abdusattorov resigning in a position that could still be drawn Nakamura and Caruana couldn't help but laugh when Abdusattorov played the only saving move but then simply resigned against Nepomniachtchi! https://t.co/qwNfv3QUFf#FreestyleChess pic.twitter.com/fIPIq7GZ52 It wasn't the kind of blunder such decisions often are, however. A loss or a draw made no difference to the match outcome, while it was also completely understandable not to realize that Black could survive, with GM Anish Giri calling it "a very unexpected draw." Nepomniachtchi took $30,000 and Abdusattorov $20,000 It's a classical event with four days of double-rounds "I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also dreading it!" Magnus says about the GRENKE #FreestyleChess Open later this week, where the players will face 2 classical games a day! pic.twitter.com/JFbdbLLTnT with qualification for the Las Vegas Grand Slam also up for grabs!    Prema’s Kean Nakamura-Berta cruised to a comfortable victory in the second Italian Formula 4 race of the weekend at Misano Nakamura-Berta controlled the pace out front gradually extending his lead after an early safety car while his rivals fought over the other podium places Tomass Stolcermanis finally fought his way past Maximilian Popov in the closing stages to grab second after a race-long duel but finished four seconds behind his team-mate caused by Viola Formula Racing’s Arthur Lorimier rolling to a halt on the track on the first attempt as fellow front-row starter Salim Hanna immediately came under pressure from Prema team-mate Tomass Stolcermanis Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maksimilian Popov took advantage of the intra-team battle to slot into second through the first chicane with the Latvian taking third despite being forced to put two wheels on the grass Two separate incidents at the back of the field brought out a safety car to neutralise the race Nakamura-Berta made a perfect restart to pull away from Popov extending the gap to over one second within a lap R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri demoted Hanna to fourth over a second behind Stolcermanis who was on Popov’s tail as he looked to find a way through to second Luka Sammalisto had been heading the next group but pulled off to the side of the track on lap seven promoting his US racing team-mates Gabriel Gomez and Kabir Anurag to sixth and seventh with Artem Severiukhin heading a Jenzer triumvirate in the remaining points-scoring positions extending the gap to over two seconds at the end of lap eight the battle between Popov and Stolcermanis had allowed Olivieri and Hanna back onto their tail Stolcermanis was on Popov’s tail down the back straight Olivieri was also having to defend forcefully from Hanna as he simultaneously tried to attack the slowing Popov Nakamura-Berta continued his untroubled run out front maintaining a pace that his rivals could not match before taking the flag almost four seconds ahead of Stolcermanis The remaining points places remained unchanged to the finish as Mercedes junior Alex Powell just failed to grab tenth place at the flag despite setting the fastest lap of the race on the final tour You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here FRONT OFFICE EXECUTIVE« Back to directory Eunice Nakamura is in her first season with the Rangers after being hired as Senior Vice President & General Counsel in February 2025 She joined the Rangers after serving as Chief Legal Officer / General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for The Susan G and Compliance functions globally for the organization she served as Vice President of Legal for a national hospitality company and held broad legal responsibilities Eunice began her career practicing as a commercial litigator at a Dallas law firm representing corporations and organizations of all sizes in various industries Eunice is active both in the legal and overall community and has served in and continues to serve in various board roles Eunice is a frequent speaker at seminars and conferences around the country and has been recognized by the State Bar of Texas and other organizations for her accomplishments throughout her legal career in Political Science from Baylor University and obtained her Juris Doctor from Texas A&M University School of Law Eunice lives in Dallas with her husband Dice Eunice and her husband can be found supporting Chayse on the youth baseball circuit Undefeated Japanese bantamweight Rinya Nakamura (9-0-0) competes at his first numbered UFC event on Saturday when he battles the vastly more experienced Tajikistan fighter Muin Gafurov (19-6-0) at UFC 311 in Inglewood The 29-year-old from Saitama is one of his country’s brightest prospects and brings a world-class amateur wrestling pedigree and a hybrid style to the Octagon Order UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano Nakamura was a standout freestyle wrestler on the Japanese team and after winning the u23 World Championships in 2017 was tipped for glory at the senior level and was in contention to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.  When the Olympics was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Nakamura boldly opted to hang up his wrestling boots at the age of 25 to pursue mixed martial arts and chase his boyhood dream of becoming a UFC champion.  the only job I wanted was to be a professional fighter,” Nakamura told the UFC.  “I'm so happy that I can move people's hearts by competing and flying the flag for Japan that I even cry about it sometimes during my training “I believe that the Olympic challenge was good motivation but I believe that it is my destiny and mission to compete here in the UFC and that it is a challenge given to me by God.” BREAKING: Tsarukyan Out, Moicano Replaces As Title Challenger At UFC 311 a sport he had practiced for 20 years since the age of five and had excelled at “I didn't think all that long about it; I had already been practicing different martial arts while I was still wrestling.” and was an avid fan of the colossal PRIDE Fighting Championships which held their famed events nearby at Saitama Super Arena.  Many Japanese fighters have competed in both PRIDE and UFC such as UFC Hall of Famer Kazushi Sakuraba and Yushin Okami and Nakamura was never short of inspirational fighters to idolize so it's very strange and exciting for me to be on this stage where many of my predecessors who I admired have fought.” How To Watch UFC 311 In Your Country The most vivid memory of Nakamura’s childhood was a life-changing time when his family invited then-UFC star Carlos Newton to live with them.  “Carlos used to live at our house when I was little,” Nakamura recalls gleefully.  “He often trained and fought in Japan and the belt he took from Pat Miletich (UFC welterweight championship) he gave to us a gift and it was in our home.  I used to watch videos of that title fight all the time to motivate me and to visualize myself winning a UFC title.  While Nakamura has adopted some of Newton’s poses and mannerisms one which has earned him the nickname “Hybred.”  Khabib Talks Coaching Main & Co-Main At UFC 311 the Japanese star competed all over the world in wrestling and has recently trained in South Korea and Mongolia as he develops his ever-growing skillset.  Nakamura’s accelerated route to the upper echelons of the sport saw the UFC come calling just 12 months into his new career in 2022 to invite him to compete in the Road to UFC tournament.  He won two fights in the tournament before sensationally stopping his compatriot Toshiomi Kazama by knockout in just 33 seconds to the win the series and a place in the UFC in 2023.  Japan’s blossoming UFC newcomer followed up with a unanimous decision victory over Fernie Garcia in August 2023 and bested Carlos Vera via the same manner in February 2024.  Nakamura has had to wait 11 months since then to get back into the Octagon after fracturing his wrist last year.  "I opted for conservative treatment without surgery I didn't think it would take this long at all and it was a really stressful year for me Tyson Chartier Breaks Down Saturday's Co-Main Event aiming to make up for lost time and coming back from the longest period of inactivity of his burgeoning career is aiming to go 10-0 at the Intuit Dome on the biggest stage of his career.  “I'm so happy to be fighting on such a big event There are two UFC title fights on the card but I'm not thinking about it too much because I want to stay focused on my opponent it has gone through my mind that a win over Gafurov who also trains with the champion Merab Dvalishvili who boasts a strong combat sambo background is coming off a decision win – his first triumph in the Octagon – over South Korea’s Kyung Ho Kang from June 2024.  Nakamura has studied Gafurov’s style and is wary of his finishing ability.  “As you can see in his finishing percentage he always aims to finish and hits with big punches and kicks He is also good at guillotine submissions.” As for a potential clash of sambo against wrestling the unbeaten fighter believes that he has the edge “The Japanese style of wrestling is strong so I think it will be a level of wrestling that he has never experienced before I'm going to show everyone all the things I’ve been working on in my camp.” Nakamura has prepared for his eagerly awaited return by training at LDH Martial Arts and retired ex-PRIDE fighter Hiroyuki Takaya’s FIGHT FARM dojo in his homeland as well as a two-month spell at American Top Team.  and bids to edge closer to a potential UFC title shot Nakamura will do so empowered with what he holds dearly as the most cherished piece of advice that he has received.  Fellow wrestler-turned fighter Erson Yamamoto ex-UFC fighter and Japanese legend Kid Yamamoto - and someone who Nakamura has trained with extensively – offered four words of encouragement to his close friend.  Nakamura believes he can win and entertain the fans in the process "Fans can definitely expect a finish win from me on Saturday,” he says with a smile.  but I want to show everyone how much I've evolved and I want to make everyone at home in Japan proud.” Changes To Pay-Per-View Event Scheduled For January 18 The Official Weights Of The Athletes Competing At The Two Title Fight Mega Event January 18, 2025 At The Intuit Dome Dutch Middleweight Aims To Make Quick Work Of Kevin Holland At UFC 311 And Continue His Ascent Up The 185-Pound Divis Nearly a year after her record-breaking performance at the Paris Olympics, France's most-streamed pop star — now fully independent — continues to challenge conventions and captivate audiences around the globe. How does one reinvent themselves after becoming with over six billion streams and 24 diamond certifications (16 in France and 8 internationally according to the National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) “I’ve asked myself that question,” Aya Nakamura admits I think as long as you stay true to who you are you’ll always be able to put that energy back into your work… at least if you’re passionate.” the singer’s hits have already travelled the world — so much so that she was the natural choice to represent Francophone music at the Paris Olympic Games “I wonder if I could have done the same thing if I’d been born twenty years earlier,” she reflects “It definitely wouldn’t have been as easy… Especially because there’s something new here — a Black woman singing in a completely distinct and unapologetic style speaking directly to her audience through different platforms.” Aya Nakamura is turning the page and launching a new chapter — with the announcement of her very first signing Aya arrived in France just a few months later Coming from a family of griots — West African storytellers and musicians — she grew up in Aulnay-sous-Bois in a household where music was already part of everyday life because my mother was a singer and would’ve loved to have a career I’m doing it in her place — almost like a form of redemption for her and I hope it can inspire other women to pursue their own dreams.” she took inspiration from the character Hiro Nakamura to create her stage name The turning point came in 2017 with her debut album Journal Intime Aya Nakamura laid the foundation for the sound that would come to define her On the track "Oumou Sangaré," she paid tribute to her Malian heritage — a connection she’s been feeling drawn to again I’ve been thinking more and more about doing something like that again,” she says It was in 2018 that Aya Nakamura reached international acclaim with the release of Djadja The track topped the French charts for two consecutive weeks and quickly crossed European borders it made history: for the first time since Édith Piaf in 1961 a French-language song performed by a woman hit number one That meteoric rise was solidified with the release of her second album Driven by diamond-certified singles like Copines the album became an unprecedented commercial success for a Francophone artist — certified diamond in France and double diamond abroad it stands as the most-streamed French-language album in Spotify’s history Following up with two more albums — AYA and DNK — Aya Nakamura reached a symbolic high point on July 26 performing on the Pont des Arts for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games Accompanied by musicians from the Republican Guard and the French Army Choir she delivered a historic performance that drew a record-breaking 31.4 million viewers — the highest television audience ever recorded in France “People keep calling it ‘iconic.’ It took me six months to truly realize what I had done working hard to deliver something you’re proud of another milestone: the "Djadja" video surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube making it only the fourth French-language song to reach that number — and the first by an African artist the Stade de France (France’s biggest venue and I still want to share more shows with my audience before experiencing that big moment.” How can one explain such a rare ability to transcend language barriers “I didn’t realize right away that I had an international audience — it really grew gradually,” Aya Nakamura reflects ‘You’re being listened to all over the world,’ but it was really through interacting with fans on social media and stumbling across videos that it hit me and I hear my music everywhere — in the U.S. But I don’t create music for a specific territory That global dimension is also reflected in her collaborations After teaming up with Colombian superstar Maluma for a remix of "Djadja" in 2020 she joined forces with Nigerian artist Ayra Starr in March 2024 for a reimagined version of her hit "Hypé." The track climbed to number 17 on the UK charts — a rare feat for a song sung predominantly in French The tracks that stand out the most are often the ones where I express what I’m feeling as deeply as I can People don’t just listen for the lyrics… It’s like when I used to listen to artists like Rihanna without understanding everything she was saying What resonates with listeners is the energy I’m giving at that specific moment — and also the blend of influences that’s rooted in me and that people can feel.” paired with her distinctive vocal style and a French language she’s reshaped on her own terms has forged an instantly recognizable artistic identity “I don’t know if that’s what makes the music universal the constant drive for something new — not just chasing trends but putting out things I’m 100% proud of and never compromising artistically — maybe that’s what connects with people while maintaining a high level of quality.” Aya Nakamura surprised fans with the release of "Chimiyé" — a track that marked a notable shift in her discography Collaborating with French rapper Alpha Wann and his team (JayJay she ventured into previously unexplored territory blending R&B and even elements of spoken word “I gave myself the challenge of making something more rap-oriented “That’s what pushed me out of my comfort zone Some of my producers don’t even listen to my music — and that creates room to experiment I would’ve never made songs like 'Djadja' or 'Pookie.'” Aya Nakamura’s cultural influence now extends well beyond the realm of music she was named global ambassador for Lancôme marking her entry into the exclusive circle of luxury brand muses — a milestone that would open the door to a new world of opportunities she received one of the most coveted invitations in fashion: the Met Gala in New York she became only the sixth French musical artist to walk its legendary red carpet Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour personally selected her to perform her single Fly at the prestigious Vogue World Paris show Dressed in a custom haute couture gown by Jean Paul Gaultier Nakamura took part in a striking celebration of music and fashion “I really love fashion and the creative universe it represents,” she shares I absolutely loved performing at Place Vendôme and being part of this blend of music and fashion I felt completely at ease — and I found the entire production of the event to be incredibly high-quality.” Alongside her growing institutional recognition Aya Nakamura has taken full control of her professional destiny the chart-topping artist has officially stepped into independence by launching her own label “It’s a whole different experience,” she admits I’ve always felt independent — especially when it comes to creative direction I’m deeply involved in all the strategic decisions from choosing the singles and setting release dates to selecting the producers and crafting the visuals Becoming fully independent gave me a new perspective on the business side I can make all the decisions and stand by them — whether they lead to success or not I still have a team around me and I know how to let go when needed but being able to oversee the entire process This commitment to autonomy has also steered her toward a new role: producing new talents I took the leap — I think he brings something different.” Behind the icon is a young woman — and a mother of two daughters Balancing a global career with motherhood is a daily challenge one she meets with unwavering determination it’s a bit complicated with fame,” she admits I cook for them — those moments are precious to me and I sometimes try to stay low-key to preserve a bit of normal life because I’m absolutely committed to maintaining that freedom and living fully in those moments it’s important to pay attention to that — to remember to put yourself first sometimes This article first appeared on Billboard France Each of the Canadian artists left with three trophies at the event which celebrates the achievements of Quebec's music industry from artists to songwriters and the music rights agency celebrated last night (May 4) by giving away more than 100 awards The 34th edition of the SOCAN Gala lit up the TOHU in Montreal Over 100 awards were presented to creators and industry professionals in Quebec in 29 different categories with a room full of major figures from the Canadian Francophone music scene It was hosted by Rebecca Makonnen and with musical direction by Chloé Lacasse Cristobal Tapia de Veer and the duo Roxane Bruneau and Mathieu Brisset who recently represented Canada as a Global Woman of the Year at Billboard Women in Music while her tracks "Feel Good" and "Confetti" were also awarded as Francophone and Anglophone Popular Songs of the Year 1 SOCAN honours for their songs "Si jamais on me cherche," "Partout," "Le blanc des yeux," and "Une bouteille à la mer." The International Award went to superstar producer Kaytranada whose influence has spread well beyond his hometown of Montreal in the form of a video featuring artists from London Paris and Los Angeles praising his unparalleled global influence The evening kicked off with La Zarra’s performance of "Évidemment," awarded the International Song of the Year followed by a speech from SOCAN CEO Jennifer Brown who honoured the legacy of Quebec’s copyright pioneers Other highlights included the Lifetime Achievement Award given to Diane Juster accompanied by a moving performance of "Ce matin" by Marie-Denise Pelletier and Richard Séguin’s induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrated with a heartfelt medley performed by Luce Dufault The Cultural Impact Award was presented to the legendary group Muzion for their song "La Vi Ti-Neg," with a performance by Shah Frank was recognized for his remarkable work on The White Lotus praised for creating an original and haunting atmosphere Jason Brando (Non-Performing Songwriter) and Banx & Ranx (Songwriters-Producers) were also honoured Other winners included Fredz (Revelation of the Year) The evening concluded with a video message from creators across Canada calling to elevate Canadian music for the next century Cultural Impact Award "La Vi Ti-Neg" – Muzion Songwriters: J Non-Performing Songwriter of the Year Jason Brando Songwriters of the Year – Producers Banx & Ranx Screen Composer of the Year Cristobal Tapia de Veer Publisher of the Year Face Trois Musique / Third Side Music "Partout," "Le blanc des yeux," and "Une bouteille à la mer" Performed by: Roxane Bruneau Songwriters: Roxane Bruneau Mathieu Brisset Publishers: Musique Variole "80’s" Performed by: FouKi Songwriters: Adel "Poolboy" Kazi-Aoual Marc "Ruffsound" Vincent Publisher: Disques 7ième Ciel "Vol à l’étalage" Performed by: Les Trois Accords Songwriters: Alexandre Parr Pierre-Luc Boisvert Publisher: Les Éditions de La Tribu "Printemps" Performed by: Koriass Songwriters: Emmanuel Dubois Alex (A.C.) Castillo Vasquez Publisher: Disques 7ième Ciel "Ensemble" Performed by: Aliocha Schneider Songwriters: Aliocha Schneider Marc-André Gilbert Publishers: Éditorial Avenue "Rien d’autre que toi" Performed by: 2Frères Songwriter: Steve Marin Publishers: Musicor "Night in Paris V F" Performed by: Mike Demero with Aloe Blacc & Alexe Songwriters: Mike Demero "Fake Friends" Performed by: Billie du Page Songwriters: Billie du Page "La fin du show" Performed by: Les Cowboys Fringants Songwriters: Jérôme Dupras Marie-Annick Lépine Publishers: Les Éditions de la Tribu "Feel Good" Performed by: Charlotte Cardin Songwriters: Charlotte Cardin Mathieu Sénéchal Publisher: Big Boy Éditions "Confetti" Performed by: Charlotte Cardin Songwriters: Charlotte Cardin "Take Me Away (My Love)" Performed by: Mike Demero & Zagata Songwriters: Mike Demero "Évidemment" Performed by: La Zarra Songwriters: Zacharie "Soke" Raymond Fatima Zahra Hafdi Publisher: Coyote Records "ANTIFRAGILE" Performed by: LE SSERAFIM Songwriter: Isabella Lovestory (SOCAN) and 12 other co-songwriters not affiliated with SOCAN MATEJCEK AWARD (New Classical Music) Caroline Lizotte HAGOOD HARDY AWARD (Jazz Music) Dominique Fils-Aimé BREAKOUT SCREEN COMPOSER OF THE YEAR Olivier Bibeau CANADIAN SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE Richard Séguin DOMESTIC TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDFiction or drama "STAT" Composer: Miklos Simpson Aetios Distributions Inc Fiction or drama "Indéfendable" Composer: Guy Kaye Pixcom International Inc Fiction or drama "Wong and Winchester" Composer: Kim Gaboury Pixcom International Inc Non-fiction or public affairs "Salut Bonjour" Composer: Gaétan Essiambre ÉditionsTM Inc Youth Programming "L’île Kilucru" Composer: Rémy Tremblay Les Éditions Gallen Musique Enr Film "Smile" Composer: Cristobal Tapia de Veer TV Series "The White Lotus" Composers: Cristobal Tapia de Veer "Kings of Coke" Composer: Ramachandra Borcar HERBERT RUFF AWARD FOR AUDIOVISUAL POST-SYNCHRONIZATION Les Éditions Backstage Passes Head here for more info Following his win at the 2025 American Cup, GM Hikaru Nakamura picked up another $5,000 the next day with his first-place finish in the 2025 American Cup Blitz After two weeks of battling with the U.S.'s best players Louis with a total of $95,000 and retains his world number-two spot with a +2 classical rating gain The next event co-organized by the Saint Louis Chess Club will be the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland which will take place on April 24-May 1 in Warsaw I am the world champion of the American Cup Blitz We didn't see any upsets in those top three games, but we did get one story. Speaking to GM Cristian Chirila on the broadcast Whoever would get the white pieces in round one must start with 1.a4 though it had nothing to do with the opening variation he grinded out an endgame with mutual time pressure That same round, IM Anna Sargsyan upset GM Leinier Dominguez The Webster student said that the last time she played blitz before this was at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York just [to] have fun," and so how sweet round one must have been she found the winning 41.Rhf5 to win a piece and In the same round, GM Mikhail Antipov upset Aronian though it's not quite as big a rating disparity Both players ultimately finished in the money who earned the bigger prize of $4,000 in second place warmly said that he at least lost to a nice guy and that it "was the only game where I had no doubts that I'm going to win because my position was so winning I lost my concentration and I blundered tremendously!" the only game where I had no doubts that I'm going to win because my position was so winning Antipov's combination was an awesome way to start the event even if he missed a mate-in-two along the way winning the U2600 class prize of $2,500 as he upset several 2700+ players he had chances to take down Nakamura and lost only after he declined a threefold repetition (more on that later) Nakamura was simply unstoppable in this event the first seven rounds were absolutely flawless." In round six, GM Ray Robson defended with incredible tenacity while playing on just the increment This is a good time to stop and solve a puzzle but Nakamura found the most direct combination.) It was smooth sailing for Nakamura until the final two rounds and he just narrowly managed to finish a half-point above Aronian Round eight was a cold shower for the American number-one when 26...Bf7? when Antipov had Nakamura on the ropes after some clever opening preparation Nakamura told Chirila: "I walked into some prep no doubt Antipov prepared this for Fabiano at some point or another so I kind of was playing something that was not pure chess." but the biggest highlight was Antipov rejecting the offer to repeat moves with 45.Rxe4! though in the mad time scramble Nakamura came out on top with the full point Reflecting on the two weeks in St. Louis, Nakamura said, "the last couple of games leave a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but at the end of the day the result is quite good." In both events, he "played very well when it mattered," and his first match against GM Abhimanyu Mishra in the main event GMs Yasser Seirawan, Ioan-Cristian Chirila, and WGM Katerina Nemcova hosted the broadcast The 2025 American Cup Blitz was a nine-round Swiss tournament that took place the day after the American Cup One hundred titled players were invited by the organizers to participate The time control was 3+2 and the prize fund was $21,700 Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Liberal ArtsMary E 14Writer and 2013 Penn State alum Jami Nakamura Lin will be the next featured presenter in the 2024-25 Mary E — Accomplished writer and Penn State alum Jami Nakamura Lin will offer a reading as part of this year’s Mary E in Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium at University Park The reading is free and open to the public Nakamura Lin’s work interrogates mythology and motherhood and is influenced by Japanese She is the author of the speculative memoir “The Night Parade” — published by Mariner Books/HarperCollins and illustrated by her sister Cori Nakamura Lin – that was named a Best Book of 2023 by the Boston Globe and Vulture/New York Magazine and was given starred reviews by Publisher’s Weekly Nakamura Lin’s work has also appeared in the New York Times She has received fellowships and support from the National Endowment for the Arts/Japan-US Friendship Commission She is a 2023 Sustainable Arts Foundation awardee and her work was shortlisted for the 2021 Chicago Review of Books Awards Nakamura Lin received her master of fine arts in nonfiction from Penn State in 2013 The Mary E. Rolling Reading Series is a program offered by Penn State’s Creative Writing Program in English. The series receives support from the College of the Liberal Arts; the Department of English; the Joseph L. Grucci Poetry Endowment; the Mary E. Rolling Lectureship in Creative Writing; and University Libraries. A full list of readings in the 2024-25 series can be found here. Tadashi’s previous documentaries include Pilgrimage (2007) a look at the Manzanar concentration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II and its evolving relationship with the community over the years from a symbol of trauma to kinship; and  Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings (2012) which tracks the life of the Hawaii-born ukulele prodigy through his years growing up.  Tadashi’s preoccupation with identity comes full circle in Third Act Structured around interviews and conversations with his father the film is dotted with moments such as Robert playfully instructing his son during the sit-down interviews “this might be a great end shot.” The visibly frail Robert (now 87 years old) willingly accommodates his son by looking back at his past even if that includes revisiting his trauma at Manzanar where he was incarcerated with his family when young and confesses his shame on wanting his father to look less Japanese Tadashi seldom probes but expresses genuine interest to understand the many roles Robert assumed in his life—a son a filmmaker—alongside being a father to him offers a safe space for acknowledgment and admission.  The documentary recently premiered at Sundance as part of the U.S I spoke with Tadashi to understand how he went about shooting the film and if the process of filming Robert Nakamura was a veiled act of delaying grieving for his father This interview has been edited for length and clarity DOCUMENTARY: As someone whose father suffers from Parkinson’s disease it was clear to me that Robert Nakamura has the condition and that is why you are making the film Yet the diagnosis occurs midway through the film which makes me curious—what was the initial point of urgency for wanting to make Third Act My dad says he was feeling the symptoms five years before the diagnosis He always suffered from depression but the condition really enhanced it During 2017–18 I saw him really slowing down He had retired and was in his mid-70s at that point I wanted to make the film because he was slowing down and felt that the clock was ticking.  D: Documentaries on artists tend to be an exposition of their craft But the fascinating bit about Third Act is that although you use clippings from your father’s works (Wataridori: Birds of Passage Hito Hata: Raise the Banner) there is an intimacy to the approach wherein you underline your personal connection with the films more than reiterating their greatness… TN: We wanted to utilize the fact that I was making this film versus any other filmmaker I hold my dad on a pedestal and for most of my life he was just my father and not this esteemed filmmaker He is the Godfather of Asian American media but he is also so much more and I realized that all of them contributed to his greatness as a filmmaker and as a teacher and experience of growing up in a racist America informed his work.  The starting point for me would have been a highlight reel of his craftsmanship But due to both of our vulnerabilities in the journey I realised it was the “why” behind the craft that came forward that became more of the film and me discovering what went behind his work I always thought he was an activist filmmaker who made these films so that history does not repeat itself But one of my big discoveries was that the process was therapeutic to him which is why we went beyond his craft and accolades We wanted to use clips from his films to progress his personal story versus using them just as examples of his work.  D: The editing process must be chaotic given the unrestricted access you have to his work and the footage you assembled while filmmaking TN: It took us seven years to make the film At the beginning I used the film as a distraction from dealing with his diagnosis It was easier to see my dad and even myself as “characters” in a film who are going through the challenge rather than actually realizing that when the camera turns off As we got used to more and more shooting—all the interviews consisted mostly of me and my father without any crew—there were several special moments where we would talk about his career The film became an opportunity for him to tell me what he thinks I should know about his life There was a point when I didn’t want the process to end because it was our last collaboration We kept shooting him and the editing process was harder because of that [laughs] D: Did making the film complicate your relationship with your father He might be the subject but he is also my father so he will do anything for me He was not joking when he said in the film that he did Third Act to further my career The complicated part was the internal decisions I had to take I was a filmmaker when the camera was on and a son when it was off I just wanted to be the son and not the filmmaker. That is what was complicated the negotiation with myself over how much to shoot he does not understand the concept of taking a break D: Can an upshot of filming constantly be that you were tempted to manufacture memories with your father There is a moment where you both are in the car and you tell him that Christmas and Thanksgiving will be production shoots now… TN: I am not sure if I ever thought about manufacturing memories My dad has taught me that there is always going to be a POV We were upfront about this from the beginning.  D: There is a recurring question of  identity in your work I wanted to make this film to tell my dad how much I loved him Initially I put that pressure on myself but through the process I was able to express how much I love him and how grateful I am In the same way he could share that he was proud of me I have only strived for my parents’ approval For a large part of my life my identity was that of their son and there was a pressure to do them proud we both could share the love and pride we have for each other It was fulfilling because in the absence of your loved ones these are the questions that keep haunting you Ishita Sengupta is an independent film critic and culture writer from India Her writing is informed by gender and pop culture and has appeared in The Indian Express © 2024 International Documentary Association Privacy Policy It was the third tiebreak score that separated Nakamura and Sarana after Nakamura and Martinez had both led the tournament on 9/10 with a round to go The latter two players did not face each other in the last round because they had already played in the eighth Six players now shared the lead with three rounds to go but it seemed things would clarify into a single winner after Nakamura won in rounds nine and 10 and then built a strong position in round 11 against Sarana while Martinez lost relatively quickly (25 moves) to Yoo in the space of just a couple moves (the 34th and 35th) it was Sarana who would come out with the W Sarana passed Martinez on tiebreaks and nearly usurped Nakamura as well Their first tiebreak was an equal 76 and the second an equal 77 but finally a half-point separated them on the third tiebreak And so below them was Martinez settling for third, despite some great games, like when he moved to 7/7 with an 18-move win against GM Hans Niemann But, like Nakamura, Martinez would fall in the final round. And for what—Yoo, who beat him, only finished in an unpaid fifth place. Instead, Xiong finished fourth after defeating GM Aravindh Chithambaram. The women's prize went to 22nd-place IM Karina Ambartsumova her second prize in a row and third in four weeks March 28 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25) (Full final standings.) Freestyle Friday is Chess.com's weekly tournament dedicated to Freestyle Chess for titled players Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time A solid draw with the black pieces vs. GM Fabiano Caruana was all GM Hikaru Nakamura needed to win The American Cup Grand Final on Sunday in St Nakamura won the $75,000 first prize plus a $15,000 Champion's Bracket bonus IM Alice Lee ($40,000 plus a $9,000 bonus) managed to tie the score with a classical win before beating WGM Tatev Abrahamyan ($30,000) twice in the blitz playoff to secure her second consecutive Women's American Cup title Having lost the first classical game on Saturday but at least Caruana had the white pieces to do so He had played mostly 1.e4 in the tournament but Caruana this time went for 1.d4 instead Caruana was prepared for it and initially followed that Ding-Nakamura game from Norway Chess 2024 placing his bishop on g4 even though he knew it was not the most accurate White had alternatives on moves 12 or 14 perhaps but even in the double-rook endgame he was slightly more comfortable for a while Nakamura felt that he only completely equalized on move 25 after the 2023 edition (he didn't play last year) very happy that I got the job done in classical chess One of the ironies of this tournament is that when I played in 2023 I was the only player to have decisive classical games That year I won two classical games and in 2025 as I am the only player to have decisive games and lo and behold I have two victories once again while everybody else drew their classical games." It was a completely different story in the women's event Abrahamyan had the white pieces and needed only a draw although she would have had to win a rematch on Monday to claim the title as Lee had an "extra life" as the Champions Bracket winner Abrahamyan was gradually outplayed by Lee in a Caro-Kann endgame The position was obviously equal when the queens were traded but Abrahamyan played it just slightly too passively Especially moving her knight to g1 (twice!) was not good and the endgame got more and more unpleasant for her until she got her rook trapped It was quite a tough loss for Abrahamyan in the blitz playoff because she was completely winning in the first game she couldn't work out the tactics on move 19 and two moves later Abrahamyan had no problems in the second game but creating winning chances was hard and she needed too much time on the clock her position collapsed quickly as Lee found a winning setup with Nh5 and (the threat of) Qg4 "I was just very happy that I was able to win the classical game," said Lee afterward even if I lost the blitz playoffs I would be happy with the result today was an over-the-board tournament featuring some of the strongest players in the United States The time control was 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30-second increment starting on move one; rapid games were played at the 15+10 time control Email: peter@chess.com FOR SUPPORT PLEASE USE chess.com/support!Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827Address: 877 E 1200 S #970397 Contact us ISO certification Phishing & fraud As part of our long-term funding and private sector engagement strategy we use innovative finance mechanisms to incentivise investment in immunisation Learn more Gavi's Investment Opportunity 2026–2030 Download Global Summit, 25 June 2025 VaccinesWork is an award-winning digital platform hosted by Gavi features and explainers from every corner of global health and immunisation About | Homepage Latest VaccinesWork About VaccinesWork Contact the Editor How we fight disease outbreaks: first-hand accounts from the epidemic frontlines Learn more New deals announced to catalyse vaccine manufacturing in Africa Learn more Assistant Minister/Director-General for Global Issues After graduating with a Bachelor of Law from the University of Tokyo he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992 He also obtained a Magister Legum degree from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany in 1994.  Ambassador Nakamura’s diplomatic career covers various fields ranging from political including Director of Policy Planning Division and concurrently Director of the Division for the Promotion of Emerging Countries Policy (2011-2013) Director for Central and South Eastern Europe Division (2013-2015) Minister of the Embassy of Japan in Indonesia (2015-2018) Minister of the Embassy of Japan in Germany (2018-2021) Chief of Nagasaki Prefectural Police (2021-2023) and Director-General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department (2023-2025) Our achievements are thanks to the support and expertise of our founding partners Leo Nakamura, senior trombone player in the Edmonds-Woodway High School jazz band brought a passion and knowledge to KNKX as the School of Jazz guest DJ for February Nakamura included “Face It Here It Is” by trombone icon Al Grey laughing “there’s just this one double-time figure that I just… I cannot wrap my head around how he even thought of that in the moment!” But the 18-year-old is a quick-thinking musician himself he’s been “working on a big band chart of (Benny Golson’s composition) ‘Fair Weather’ in the style of a bossa nova.” Saxophonist Stan Getz provides the Brazilian music in Nakamura’s playlist he chose “Para Machucar Meu Coração” rather than the massive hit “Girl from Ipanema “There’s just something about his voice… it just works in that range Discussing his own evolution as a musician Nakamura pointed to his comfort in standing up to play a solo “I’ve definitely become more on an open person more extroverted because of band,” he explained “Standing up for a solo was pretty terrifying At the heart of Nakamura’s show is the One O’Clock Jazz Band’s recording of “Dizzyland.” He called them, “pretty much the best jazz students at the University of North Texas.” His private teacher and "main influence, probably" for his sound is trombonist Conner Eisenmenger Recalling the band's recent concert at Seattle’s Roosevelt High School Nakamura remembers them as “the best jazz band that I’ve ever heard in person Every single one of the people in that band is just crazy!” Planning to pursue a double-major in jazz and business administration he shared that he was leaving the next day for Denton KNKX wishes Leo Nakamura the best of luck in his jazz future Listen to his show to hear some of the first steps on his musical journey I really like to play the trombone because I feel like it gives me a different way to express my voice than any other instrument I also like it because it feels like a challenge Music was never something that came easily for me I remember seeing all the five-year-old prodigies on YouTube I look back and realize that one of the parts of playing trombone that I enjoy the most is working hard and seeing progress so it’s hard to narrow it down to just one song One piece that I’ve always really loved is “My One and Only Love” by Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane and Coltrane’s chorus at the top adds to the vibe too My jazz hero at the moment is definitely Freddie Hubbard I recommend listening to his album First Light I love jazz because of the freedom it grants me to express myself Learning how to play jazz is like learning a new language and to make progress is one of the most satisfying things for me The winner will walk away with $25,000 and 100 tour points The Grand Final between Carlsen and Nakamura is on Friday It was a long and arduous road for Nepomniachtchi through the Losers Bracket He won two matches and got all the way to tiebreaks in the third Winning the first game was key in both matches were unable to win on demand in game two so we had no armageddon tiebreaks The match was essentially decided in game one where Arjun opted for the heavily theoretical—and rare at the top levels now—Marshall Attack of the Ruy Lopez Arjun played the first new move after 21 moves of following correspondence chess but enjoyed no advantage Nepomniachtchi was two pawns down but with full compensation set up a nice trap (in addition to just attacking the g3-pawn) that appeared on the board Black sacrificed the exchange for a devastating attack on the diagonals Needing to win on demand with the black pieces He played provocatively but only got a worse and Nepomniachtchi had no problems in securing his first match It wasn't pretty, but Duda got the job done. Like in the other match, game one—won with the black pieces—was critical in deciding the match. "That is chess meets esports, ladies and gentlemen!" said GM Aman Hambleton as the Polish number-one the final position was actually winning for Black though the clock was the most important factor in deciding Firouzja's fate Some say that the clock is the 17th chess piece Nepomniachtchi won with the black pieces to take the match sacrificed a pawn in game one and was objectively lost at one point but he ultimately held a rook endgame with one pawn less the Russian number-one simply made no mistakes on the black side of a Catalan Opening Duda made just one mistake; allowing the queen trade with 25.Bf1 Nepomniachtchi showed exceptional technique to convert the full point without any shenanigans.  Nakamura won their previous encounter 3-0 on the very first day of the Playoffs with both players racking up 98 percent accuracy No one can win when both play a perfect game Nearly 98 accuracy from both sides in game one! 🤯#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/S32Q8ao7Oh Nakamura could have ended it all in game two and lessened the drama The American GM outplayed his opponent in a long but the nerves started to show when he got down to five minutes he allowed Nepomniachtchi back into the game with 43...Nh5? but later he was again in the driver's seat with two extra pawns Hikaru is winning, which means he might just have his rematch against Magnus!Here's what Nepo missed 👇https://t.co/Iev733Xbhp#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/xQ4HI0kRdn Nepo pulled a Houdini to save the game—and he even came close to winning it on time. GM Rafael Leitao's analysis is below Nepomniachtchi shockingly bid 10 minutes for the black pieces in armageddon Nakamura couldn't have known about this ahead of time and he had six minutes and 37 seconds to hold the draw with Black—even though any bid below 10 minutes would have gotten the same result The most critical moment of the game was on move 20  The U.S. player got to tip his hat to IM Levy Rozman at the end as well sacrificing his rook for the draw and also for the memes You can listen to Nakamura's video recap below This means we have the "el classico" matchup of Carlsen and Nakamura or will Nakamura win twice to take the first title in the 2025 Champions Chess Tour The Chessable Masters is the first of two legs in the 2025 Champions Chess Tour the world's best players competed in the Play-in a nine-round Swiss with a 10-minute time control (no increment) a four-day event on February 18-21 with a prize fund of $150,000 The top-12 on the CCT leaderboard make it to the Esports World Cup in the summer of 2025 Team Falcons, the winner of the 2024 Esports World Cup, has announced the signing of none other than world number-two GM Hikaru Nakamura. Meanwhile, Serbian esports organization Aurora Gaming also picked up the World Blitz Champion GM Ian Nepomniachtchi on Tuesday Esports organizations around the world continue to make big moves by signing the world's top chess players the Saudi Arabian powerhouse Team Falcons unveiled their expansion into chess in a stylish video "The next big move in chess and esports is here Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has officially joined Team Falcons and strategy to our team," they wrote in a post on X/Twitter The next move is clear—@GMHikaru joins Team Falcons. 🦅♟ Welcome to the nest! pic.twitter.com/y5VcrOiRzY Nakamura, the current world number two behind GM Magnus Carlsen and one of the most popular players and streamers in the world, is competing in the 2025 Champions Chess Tour (CCT) to secure his place in the EWC The top 12 players from the CCT will qualify directly while the remaining four spots will be determined via a Last Chance Qualifier.  Team Falcons initially focused on competing in FIFA the organization expanded into multiple esports disciplines Team Falcons has since grown into one of the world’s leading esports organizations known for building "superteams" by signing high-profile players and coaches across various games لايك لو تبون نسوي بث مباراة شطرنج بين للي ولاعبنا الجديد!! 😂@LLE_97 @GMHikaru https://t.co/F84MuURacO pic.twitter.com/QQfOLGn0tb they competed in 18 out of the 22 esports and eventually picked up the $7 million first prize for winning the Club Championship Nakamura is one of the few grandmasters who previously has been associated with an esports team. In 2020, he joined TSM on a six-figure deal, according to Esports Insider receiving financial support and resources for content creation "I am pretty excited," Nakamura said during the announcement on his stream Serbian esports organization Aurora Gaming also announced the signing of Blitz World Champion Nepomniachtchi chess may become a real esports discipline I hope that the new entertaining format will help attract a new audience," Nepomniachtchi said about becoming a chess esports athlete In addition to being one of the world's best chess players Nepomniachtchi has also been an avid gamer competing in Dota 2. "I've been into computer games for a long time and actively follow esports so I'm pleased to join the Aurora Gaming squad: it's a well-known and ambitious project," the 34-year-old said We're happy to announce that a famous Dota streamer, Grandmaster and the World Champion Ian Nepomniachtchi is joining Aurora family and will represent our colors at the CCT and EWC.Welcome home, Nepo 💙 pic.twitter.com/DVe13mjJwz A total of 12 players have been signed by esports organizations in the last weeks It took just about one hour for GM Magnus Carlsen to win the Grand Final against GM Hikaru Nakamura and thus the 2025 Chessable Masters the first event of this year's Champions Chess Tour number-one for the second time in the event with a score of 2.5-1.5 and two draws later he was one more draw away from victory and giving Nakamura a shot at reaching tiebreaks Carlsen sacrificed his queen and even managed to outplay his opponent from an inferior position.  The second leg of the Champions Chess Tour takes place on May 18-23 Whereas last year players would earn entry into the second event based on how they finished Eight players are invited for leg two and the other eight qualify through the Play-in Here are the standings after this first event: Carlsen won their last encounter in the Winners Final with a game to spare Nakamura came close to reaching the tiebreaks and essentially had two chances in the entire match—for literally one move in game two and then a more realistic opportunity came in game four The world number-one won, by their standards, an easy game one. After following a GM Hans Niemann vs. Nakamura game from the 2024 Speed Chess Championship Carlsen deviated with the plan of 15.Bxc6 and created a passed a-pawn Nakamura's clearest chance to eliminate the threatening passer was 29...Ba4! and when he missed that his position became difficult he collapsed when he grabbed the pawn on d3 and lost a piece but his position was already beyond repair.   the first one more exciting than the second In an otherwise flawless game by both sides Nakamura had one chance—exactly one move—to transition into a queen endgame up a pawn and instead played 31.Ne1?—and the game petered out Hikaru misses a big chance in game two! 31.Nxe5 Qxe5 32.Qd4 Kf6 33.Qb6+ wins the b-pawn for no compensation!Instead, 31.Ne1? was played.https://t.co/p97HmuwWA2#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/WlAWwgXXUi "That was a fleeting chance that he missed I think apart from that he didn't have anything." as Nakamura agreed to a threefold repetition and placed his bets on winning with White in the last game The players make a draw in 10 moves so Magnus leads by one going into the last game!https://t.co/BnGqMFevtw#ChessChamps pic.twitter.com/L8cmReMx6V Carlsen didn't agree with this match strategy saying in the post-match interview that Nakamura himself had advocated against it in the past: I've heard Hikaru talk about this specific situation before when he actually feels like it's a mistake for the person with the black pieces to allow an early draw and that generally you should try to push in both games three and four if you're down by one point so I was a little bit surprised that he allowed that.  In a must-win game four, Nakamura had his best chance of the match when Carlsen blundered a one-move discovered attack. The former world champion sacrificed his queen to complicate matters—in fact it was the best and only non-losing choice. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the chaotic brawl below where ultimately Carlsen's pesky minor pieces outperformed the enemy queen Post-Covid, Carlsen has won eight matches against Nakamura and lost two—once in the 2022 Speed Chess Championship and then in the 2023 Bullet Chess Championship He has now won eight out of 10 Grand Finals in the last three years and is the king of the Champions Chess Tour having won every edition since it began in 2020 "I felt overall in the course of two matches [against Nakamura] I played the better chess and generally am fairly happy with my level." I played the better chess and generally am fairly happy with my level WGM Dina Belenkaya asked him about his recent podcast appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience and his thoughts about appearing just after Donald Trump and Elon Musk I don't really think about the other guests that have been there and so on I was just trying to do my best and hang on but I think overall it's going to bring publicity to the game she asked if he'd miss Nakamura if he retired—a prospect the American GM has been entertaining lately explaining further that Nakamura is a strong chess player even if the mistakes will grow more frequent with age: I think Hikaru is still an incredibly strong player as you saw in his matches.. I don't see him retiring at least from faster chess any time soon and there are going to be mishaps here and there  I don't see him retiring at least from faster chess any time soon You can listen to Nakamura's thoughts about the match in the video recap below That's it for the first leg of the Champions Chess Tour when we will know which 12 players move on to the 2025 Esports World Cup taking place this summer You can see the full prize breakdown for this event below The Chessable Masters was the first of two legs of the 2025 Champions Chess Tour Nakamura's only loss of the tournament came in round five and it came at the hands of Le after Le was able to use a knight to effectively trap Nakamura's h8-bishop behind his g7-pawn Le himself would remain perfect for one additional round before losing in the seventh and eighth rounds the first of these losses against eventual second-place finisher Sevian It took only 19 moves for Sevian to win after capturing Le's queen on move 12 and soon thereafter finding a forced checkmate a draw all the way back in the first round meant he was on 6.5/7 at that point as in the ninth round came a showdown against Nakamura Nakamura's bizarre blunder turned the game back over but the last 1.4 seconds ran off of a surely surprised Sevian's clock Whatever happened there, the top two in the standings were now the same as they would end up after Nakamura and Sevian both won their last two games. With a round left, the outcome was still in doubt, but Nakamura got a big advantage early and never let it go against GM Matthias Bluebaum averting a rerun of last week where Nakamura also entered the last round leading the tournament but needed tiebreaks for ultimate victory after a loss in his 11th game April 4 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25) (Full final standings.) Japan attacker Keito Nakamura took his season's tally to 11 goals in the French Ligue 1 with a brace on Friday as Reims claimed a 2-0 win away to Lens The 24-year-old steered high into the net for the 33rd-minute opener at Stade Bollaert-Delelis off a low left-wing cross from Sergio Akieme reaching double figures for goals in one of Europe's five major leagues Reims keeper Yehvann Diouf stood firm as the visitors held on to the lead before Nakamura's second in the 88th minute after substitute Nhoa Sangui launched a counter from inside his own half and set up the Japanese to side-foot into the far bottom corner The win moved Reims up to 14th on 29 points and out of the relegation zone attacker Kodai Sano drilled in a left-footed opener 15 seconds into the second half for his second goal this term in the Eredivisie helping NEC Nijmegen secure a late 2-1 over RKC Waalwijk Football: Celtic's Maeda nets 30th goal, Nakamura stars in Reims win Football: Ayase Ueda back scoring as Japan near fastest 2026 World Cup spot Football: Daizen Maeda hits brace as Celtic smash Aberdeen To have the latest news and stories delivered to your inbox Simply enter your email address below and an email will be sent through which to complete your subscription Please check your inbox for a confirmation email Thank you for reaching out to us.We will get back to you as soon as possible Men's Soccer Adds Nakamura As Volunteer Assistant July 24 Big update on the rumours that Shinsuke Nakamura and WWE were DONE Shinsuke Nakamura is not leaving WWE. At least Nakamura's somewhat unexpected loss of the United States Championship to LA Knight on the March 7th edition of SmackDown has sparked speculation about his WWE future particularly after the reign - kicked off with victory over Knight at Survivor Series 2024 - seemed to achieve virtually nothing despite online rumours suggesting Nakamura may be on his way out there appears to be no credibility to these claims Reports surfaced over the alleging WWE was “done” with Nakamura, with some even misattributing the statement to wrestling journalist Wade Keller thanks to a Reddit thread that quickly spread. However, Fightful has since debunked these claims clarifying that Keller never made such a statement they confirmed that "nobody we'd talked to had heard anything to lend credibility to Shinsuke Nakamura leaving WWE" Nakamura’s WWE journey began in 2016 when he debuted in NXT following an illustrious career in New Japan Pro Wrestling. His arrival was met with great fanfare and one of his best ever matches against Sami Zayn at TakeOver: Dallas He quickly captured the NXT Championship twice solidifying himself as a major player in the promotion After transitioning to the main roster in 2017, he won the 2018 Royal Rumble and faced AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34 Though his WWE/World/Universal Title ambitions didn’t materialise Nakamura carved out a relatively successful career winning multiple championships including the Intercontinental and United States Titles as well as a reign with the SmackDown Tag Team Championship The speculation about his potential exit did lead to lots of discussion on where he could/should land he'll be staying put with the market leader WhatCulture is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab) ©Future Publishing Limited Quay House England and Wales company registration number 2008885 Lawmakers formally voted to install Kauaʻi Rep. Nadine Nakamura as House speaker. However, first-time Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto was the lone "no" vote because she said the House rules are not being followed One of the main issues is Nakamura’s assignment of Vice Speaker Linda Ichiyama as a voting member on three committees: Consumer Protection & Commerce Dating back to the first Hawaiʻi legislative session in 1959 the House rules say that the speaker and vice speaker will serve as ex-officio members of committees without a vote The vice speaker can only be a voting member on the Legislative Management Committee What does it say to our colleagues that we aren’t beholden to our own rules?” Iwamoto said Iwamoto explained that the rule is important because it discourages the consolidation of power into the hands of just two powerful lawmakers “We should be diversifying and making sure we have a full representational democracy among all 51 members,” she said “We need to move away from centering power on a few because that's how pay-to-play politics thrives and that builds the climate of corruption.” Nakamura pointed out that past vice speakers have served as voting members on committees in the past — despite it being against the rules That’s why they will likely eliminate the rule this legislative session “If you look back to [former Rep.] John Mizuno when he was vice speaker when you look back to [Rep.] Gregor Ilagan and [former Rep.] Mark Nakashima as vice speakers — all recently — they were all members of committees and they all voted,” Nakamura said “We are going to be updating our rules to reflect that.” The Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedure was convened to go through over 70 suggested amendments to the House rules submitted by representatives This comes as good government advocacy groups are pushing the House to enact rule reforms such as posting public testimony before hearings implementing term limits for powerful committee chairs and streamlining bill referrals so that measures with no fiscal component don't have to be heard in the House Finance Committee Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action Program Director Aria Castillo has been circulating a petition for these rule changes It has garnered over 1,600 signatures and has been approved by 10 neighborhood boards “ We also have a new leadership and new speaker of the House with the fresh crop of House members and new leadership,” Castillo said during a press conference last week “We're very hopeful that it's time for the rules to change and to be ready to get the reform that we need to make the process more transparent and equitable to the public.” Della Au Bellati have called for a public hearing from the Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedure as is mandated by the House rules “ Questions about how that committee is going to proceed are still up in the air there is a public hearing,” Au Bellati said at last week’s press conference as a former majority leader — and I will acknowledge this and I will take ownership of this — I believe that rule has been a long-standing rule and … for the 18 years that I have been in the Legislature I have never seen a public hearing or a convening of this advisory group So my hope is that there is more public discussion.” The committee was supposed to submit the final amendments to the House on Friday who chairs the Advisory Committee on Rules and Procedure would not comment on whether there should be a public hearing or if any amendments were actually submitted the round began with huddles between groups of players about to have the white pieces and those about to play Black Nakamura reported that Caruana had advocated for White's chances, claiming that "this Slav structure with d4 d5 c4 c6 c5 is good for White in almost every position I think we all thought it was very promising." Caruana didn't manage to reach his favored structure but both Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi reached their target position on move four and aimed to test Caruana's idea Carlsen had so many thoughts about the opening today that it was even hard for the top grandmasters in the commentary booth to keep up.  Caruana navigated the complications and reached a safe endgame, which seemed like a draw, but where White would have some slight pressure. GM Peter Leko speculated that the game should be drawn but that Carlsen understood that dangers lurked for Black "If he would be with the white pieces he would be very interested to continue this game." If [Carlsen] would be with the white pieces he would be very interested to continue this game The world champion joined the commentary team and speculated that "I think the question is how easy is the draw here I'm starting to think it's not that easy." However he won a pawn and pressed for a win before the players reached a draw with bare kings.  Caruana and Carlsen play on to bare kings, so the match is all square going into tomorrow's 2nd day of the Paris #FreestyleChess Semifinals! pic.twitter.com/wH9giag7mO After a short day at the office, Carlsen found time to compete in Freestyle Friday Some people just can't get enough of #FreestyleChess, with Magnus playing Freestyle Friday after the first day of the Paris Semifinals! https://t.co/Om4A3CVS5b pic.twitter.com/QVFdkI9sZD Nakamura was happy to test Caruana's theory that a space advantage in the Slav structure should favor White he admitted after the game that he couldn't figure out how to prove the advantage and even said that I just lost (my) sense of danger." Keymer had a better structure and a comfortable position in the middlegame but didn't see a path to more and the players eventually split the point whoever wins the next freestyle RR is randomly picking anyone but vincent Nakamura recorded his own analysis of the game While Nakamura wasn't able to demonstrate any advantage for White in the Slav structure, Nepomniachtchi had no such difficulties against GM Arjun Erigaisi He built a space advantage and found a powerful exchange sacrifice for a pawn allowing him a mass of pawns on the queenside but when he allowed the white a-pawn to advance all the way to a7 on move 28 it was only a matter of time before Nepomniachtchi won the game The other decisive game of the day was equally brilliant. Abdusattorov nearly defeated Carlsen yesterday and wasn't going to let GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave escape the same way.  GMs Richard Rapport and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu each won their matches yesterday and are competing for ninth place in the tournament They played one of the most precise games of the day Rapport eventually won a pawn in the ending but the presence of opposite-colored bishops meant that Black was never in serious danger Tournament organizer Jan Henric Buettner announced today that the next event in the Freestyle Grand Slam which was previously scheduled for New York City Jan Henric Buettner announces that the next #FreestyleChess Grand Slam will be not in New York but in Las Vegas in July. The tournament will be cut from 8 to 5 days to appeal more to TV, with the 90+30 games cut to 45+10, so two can be held on one day pic.twitter.com/jtbAEuNjD8 The freestyle tournament will follow a chess event with NBA players in July and feature a faster time control of 45 minutes That will allow for more than one game per day The new format will allow players who are eliminated in the Round-Robin stage to still compete for third place in the tournament