It was one of the most prestigious four-player chess tournaments of all time, and Team Liquid’s star players took the top two spots in spectacular fashion. Featuring Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana alongside world number two Hikaru Nakamura and reigning classical world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, it was pure paradise for Team Liquid’s chess stars, who finished top two and won the lion’s share of the prize pool with $272,000 in total.

The St. Louis Chess Club is no stranger to top-tier tournaments, but this was truly something special. Sandwiched between the Sinquefield Cup and the U.S. Chess Championship, two Clutch Chess events heralded the opening of the renovated clubhouse, with some real star power to underscore the occasion. First, it was two former world champions in the form of Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand – then, it was time for four of the strongest chess players of the current era to join the fray, with Carlsen and Caruana joining Nakamura and Gukesh for a showdown of epic proportions, and over $400,000 on the line.

Featuring fast time controls and a special escalating format, Clutch Chess was designed with the goal of keeping things competitive all the way to the end by giving progressively more points for wins scored on the second and third days of the event. Two-game rapid mini-matches featuring one game with each color against every opponent, each win worth more points as the days progress along: in theory, this should guarantee an epic sprint to the finish line, or so the organizers thought. So what does it tell you that Carlsen clinched outright victory with two entire games to spare?

Here’s how it went down in St. Louis.

Day One: Gukesh races to the lead

Team Liquid’s contingent started the event in the strongest possible way, winning both their opening games. Caruana defeated Nakamura with the White pieces in a Sicilian, while Carlsen scored an impressive victory with Black against the reigning classical world champion in just 35 moves, winning in time in a position with a spectacular queen sacrifice defense on the agenda.

After the reverse games, Caruana ended up splitting the points with his American counterpart, while Carlsen steered his game to a draw to take the mini-match win against Gukesh.

The second mini-match pitted Liquid’s two players against each other, where Carlsen showed his skills as an escape artist in his favorite arena: the endgame. Saving the first game and outright turning around the second, it was another match win for the world number one.

Play concluded with an emergent Gukesh taking down Caruana, and Carlsen also suffered his only loss of the day at the hands of Nakamura. With these results, the reigning classical world champion was leading the pack, but things were only just getting started.

Day Two: Caruana turns the tables

It was as if he said, “call an ambulance… but not for me!” Caruana returned with a vengeance on day two, scoring nine points to Carlsen’s eight to top the daily standings and put himself back in contention. Team Liquid’s players won both their matches against Nakamura and Gukesh. They played an entertaining clash between each other in the middle of the day, with Caruana scoring a rare double against the Norwegian phenom – first in the Ruy Lopez with White, then an interesting sideline of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted.

That was part of the general trend of the event – the fast time controls and the exhibition style of the proceedings meant that players were more experimental in their opening choices, leading to explosive and exciting positions. It also offered heartwarming ways for self-expression. After the event had wrapped up, Nakamura revealed that his opening choices served as a tribute to the late Daniel Naroditsky, an all-around beloved compatriot who had tragically passed away at the age of 29.

Day Three: Carlsen clutches it all

In a regular tournament, Carlsen would have already had half a hand on the trophy at this point. With Clutch Chess being as it is, not to mention the level of the competition, it was not quite the case just yet as the players headed into the final day of play. But what promised to be a tight race to the finish turned out to be a procession, courtesy of Magnus’ fantastic displays.

Despite leading the standings after the first two days of play, the Norwegian voiced his unhappiness about the level of play he’s brought to bear up to that point, and he definitely turned on the jet engines for this final set of rounds.

Clean and surgical, two flawless displays from Carlsen carved up Gukesh’s position in two consecutive games, putting Caruana in a must-win situation in their intra-team battle. With two rounds to go, it was a Team Liquid showdown for the title.

Despite his impressive wins against Magnus on day two, it was a challenge Fabiano couldn’t quite rise to this time, giving the world number one an outright victory with a whole series left to play.

Let’s repeat that for good measure: in a format specifically designed to guarantee an exciting finish, Carlsen still put up such a level of dominance that his victory was secure despite two games – six entire points – still on the table for all participants.

Talk about being clutch.

After a quick draw against Nakamura, Carlsen ended the event on a +7 score (10 wins, five draws, and three losses), with a devastating +5 against Gukesh and +1 against the other two competitors. As for Caruana, he also traded points in his final series, keeping things at an even keel against the Indian youngster to wrap up the proceedings. His second-place finish is nothing to sniff at, considering how rough a start he had – finishing the first day with one win, one draw, and four losses, mounting this comeback was a job well done, ending with a 6-5-7 results sheet in total. But even though he kept it close, there was always only going to be one winner in St. Louis.

“I’m still quite a bit better than the others,” said Carlsen after securing the title. This calendar year, his tournament performances read eight wins (including the Esports World Cup) and two third-place finishes. It’s tough to argue with the G.O.A.T. when he backs up his words in such imperious fashion.