Carlsen and Nakamura amaze fans with blindfold chess in Barcelona at ICE 2026 ♟️🔥

Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura made a special appearance at ICE Barcelona 2026. ICE is one of the biggest events in the world for gaming, iGaming, and technology. Thousands of professionals attend this expo every year.

The two chess stars are currently the World No.1 and World No.2. They were the main guests at an exciting event hosted by BETBY.

A rare blindfold chess battle from pure memory 👀❌

The biggest highlight was a blindfold chess exhibition match. This means both players played without seeing the chessboard. They had to remember every piece and calculate everything in their mind.

This type of match is extremely rare. According to public knowledge, this was the first blindfold head-to-head game played publicly between the World No.1 and No.2.

The opening surprise and a clever finish ⚔️

Many fans expected Carlsen to play the Catalan Opening. But instead, he started with 1.Nf3. Nakamura answered with the solid Agincourt Defence. The game was played in a quick 15-minute format.

Carlsen tried to confuse Nakamura with a double fianchetto setup. He also moved his knights aggressively. At one point, Carlsen even won a pawn in the center. But Nakamura had calculated far ahead. At the perfect moment, he sacrificed a bishop. This sacrifice forced a perpetual check, and the game ended dramatically.

GothamChess makes it fun for everyone 🎥

Levy Rozman, also known as GothamChess, provided live commentary. He explained every move in a simple and exciting way. This helped even casual chess fans enjoy the match.

Rozman is one of the biggest chess creators in the world. He is an American International Master and a popular teacher online. His YouTube channel has now crossed 7 million subscribers.

A special fireside chat with chess insights 💡

After the game, Carlsen, Nakamura, and Rozman joined a fireside chat. They spoke about strategy, mental discipline, and modern chess culture.

Fans got a rare chance to understand how top players think. The discussion also covered how chess has changed in recent years.

Nakamura shared how his career shifted in 2019. He said he started focusing seriously on content creation at that time. After the pandemic, content creation became his main professional focus.

Carlsen also talked about chess becoming more popular online. He said chess has been showing up more in social media algorithms since early 2023. He also explained that the pandemic changed chess forever.

Today, chess is not only about classical tournaments. Speed chess formats like rapid and blitz are now much more popular worldwide.

Fans also got to play against the legends 🤩

The event was not only about watching. Spectators also got a chance to play short games against Carlsen and Nakamura. These fun exhibition blitz games thrilled the crowd.

The atmosphere was energetic and unforgettable. Barcelona witnessed a chess moment fans will remember for years.