This is a more serious stream than usual. It's a [Chess960] World Championship and this is stage two. [...] To move on beyond this tournament I need to finish top-18.
That post provided enough background to locate online resources that documented the entire FWFRCC event. This current post features GM Hikaru Nakamura, an even more popular streamer, who won the entire event. For more background, see last year's post 2022 FWFRCC Finals - Live (November 2022). The following video covers the end of the last stage of the event.
Dear YouTube, Meet Your New World Champion (44:17) • '[Published on] Oct 31, 2022'
The video's description said,
Hikaru played Ian Nepomniachtchi in the Fischer Random World Chess Championship in Iceland on October 30, 2022, and WON! Here's his recap of the last five games.
The video was the last in a series by Nakamura that captured, from start to finish, his climb to the C960/FRC title. The winner's Youtube channel (GMHikaru) currently boasts '2.15M subscribers'. I found nine videos relevant to the 2022 FWFRCC on the channel:-
- 2022-09-13: Hikaru on Lichess Fischer Random World Champs Qualifier • 'Hikaru plays in a qualifier on Sept 11, 2022 held on Lichess for the Fischer Random World Championship being held in Iceland in October. This is the first qualifier, the top 15 will play on Sept 18th in a knockout format. This is part 1. Hikaru recorded this off stream.'
- 2022-09-18: Can Hikaru Be World 960 Champion? • 'This is the 2nd half of the qualifier played on Sept 11, 2022, on lichess.'
- 2022-09-19: Hikaru Finds Young Talent in 960 Quals • 'Hikaru Beats up two youngsters, FM Andy Woodward and GM Awonder Liang, and recaps it for us in the 960 World Championship Qualifier played on Lichess on September 18, 2022.'
- 2022-09-26: I'm Going to Iceland to Play Bobby Fischer! • 'Today, Sept 25, 2022, Hikaru played in the Qualifier to the Fischer Random World Championship 2022 in Iceland.'
- 2022-10-26: How I Beat Magnus - A Strong Start to 2022 FRWC Day 1 • 'Thanks to everyone for your continued support. The FR World Champs will be broadcast on my Twitch channel every day and I hope to make recaps after each day.'
- 2022-10-27: World Championship Recap Day 2, Fedoseev is a Tough Fish to Catch • 'Hikaru's recapping Day 2 of the Fischer Random World Chess Championship, two matches vs Vladimir Fedoseev.'
- 2022-10-27: Dear Youtube, Magnus is a Beast • 'Today I played Magnus in two games to qualify to the Semifinals'
- 2022-10-29: Dear YouTube, I'm Playing in a World Championship! • 'Hikaru played World Rapid Champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the Fischer Random World Chess Championship Semifinals today and here is his recap.'
- 2022-10-31: Dear YouTube, Meet Your New World Champion • 'Hikaru played Ian Nepomniachtchi...' [as above]
The video embedded on this post is the last clip of the series. It currently has over 519K views and over 2200 comments. The first comment says,
The man just won the Fischer 960 World Championship. Does he rest or go out for celebratory drinks or dinner -- nope, he goes back to the hotel, gets back to work, and gives his fans/subscribers a recap and analysis. Hikaru, you’re a true gift to the game of chess. Congratulations and thank you!
You might have a problem with GM Nakamura's brash style -or- you might have a problem with the idea of C960/FRC, but that's your problem. Naka is a legitimate World Champion in a chess discipline of the 21st century.
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