Arena Kings Season 8 Recap: Nakamura Wins Championship Final
Another season of Chess.com's premier streaming event, Arena Kings, is in the books. Season 8 concluded on Wednesday, December 15, with GM Hikaru Nakamura (@Hikaru) winning the Championship Final and earning the $4,000 prize for first place. Nakamura won an additional $4,150 during the season for total earnings of $8,150.
Congratulations to @GMHikaru for winning today's Arena Kings KO tournament AND all of Arena Kings Season 8! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/o0o0n4xSgl
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) December 15, 2021
In the last round of the Championship Final, Nakamura defeated GM Raunak Sadhwani (@champ2005) by a 3-1 score. Sadhwani won $425 during the season and $2,000 in the final for a total of $2,425 in prizes.
The full broadcast of the Championship and Championship Final, with hosts NM James Canty III and, for the FInal, GM Daniel Naroditsky.
Season 8 consisted of the usual weekly arena tournaments, of which there are 12, including two Chess960 (Fischer Random) tournaments. December 15 was the culmination, a two-hour Championship arena followed the Championship Final knockout.
Throughout the season players earned points for their standing each week. Players who scored at least 100 points were eligible for the Championship.
Season Standings
| Rank | Player | Points | # Events | Channel | Name |
| 1 | Hikaru | 975 | 10 | www.twitch.tv/gmhikaru | GM Hikaru Nakamura |
| 2 | wonderfultime | 960 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/gmminhle | IM Tuan Minh Le |
| 3 | Jospem | 795 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/gmjosephmart | GM Jose Martinez |
| 4 | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | 585 | 10 | www.twitch.tv/bortnyk_chess | GM Oleksandr Bortnyk |
| 5 | exoticprincess | 520 | 9 | www.twitch.tv/jamesblunder | GM Baadur Jobava |
| 6 | miterryble | 505 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/miterryble | IM Renato Terry Lujan |
| 7 | emiliochess | 465 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/mrchessmx | NM Emilio Castellanos |
| 8 | Zhigalko_Sergei | 460 | 11 | www.youtube.com/c/SergeiZhigalkoChess | GM Sergei Zhigalko |
| 9 | GMBenjaminBok | 380 | 7 | www.twitch.tv/gmbenjaminbok | GM Benjamin Bok |
| 10 | The_Blessed | 315 | 12 | www.youtube.com/channel/UC045f5ja4Ln5PsXI4n6u5pQ | Arian Piscoya Romero |
| 11 | diamondop | 300 | 10 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCaUY_EmSKy5tkCv1GC4JIIA | Rushil Shah |
| 12 | jack2212 | 280 | 11 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCPYuG83HjsxyLAfEhCu6awg | Shlok Chandrani |
| 13 | MarcoRiehle | 275 | 10 | www.twitch.tv/chesshobbits99 | FM Marco Riehle |
| 14 | vugarrasulov | 270 | 7 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCatcV_KnIFEsFWLoj5ByXdQ | GM Vugar Rasulov |
| 15-T | XDPS | 265 | 9 | www.twitch.tv/gmsalinas | GM Pablo Salinas |
| 15-T | gurkiraatt | 265 | 10 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmmH-Ue1XlmFoTWygYUhlw | Gurkirat Singh Anand |
| 15-T | strider23cpk | 265 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/strider28cpk | Caleb Kircher |
| 18 | siddharthsarma_2003 | 250 | 12 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCFG6OW-V9vFa5KoKyIse0ew | Siddharth Sarma |
| 19 | hallvardhf | 245 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/hallvardhf | Hallvard Haug Flatebo |
| 20-T | artem_sadovsky | 210 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/IM_ArtemSadovsky | IM Artem Sadovsky |
| 20-T | ChessHeroesComp | 210 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/chessheroes | Andrew Horne |
| 22 | KeshavGupta1 | 205 | 10 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCjAbfK2K78bHyfWf9_CkAAQ | Keshav Gupta |
| 23 | Arseniy_Nesterov | 200 | 5 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCev1BG00VIdNflNX_ZTg58g | GM Arseniy Nesterov |
| 24 | ChessLover0108 | 195 | 7 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRsd9ffavDMpXxHmwi2ddg | IM Mahammad Muradli |
| 25-T | MikhailTal-ReBorn | 190 | 9 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCBXLHqAoK7034O-tIGD-ksA | Saksham Singh |
| 25-T | TigrVShlyape | 190 | 9 | www.twitch.tv/igmgatakamsky | GM Gata Kamsky |
| 27 | champ2005 | 175 | 5 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCIDUkl61OpGhEo_0RQ-5H6w | GM Raunak Sadhwani |
| 28-T | SundramNaam2SunaHoga | 170 | 7 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCBIS7oXQ42849gL0fh-gLng | Sundram Kumar |
| 28-T | R_ANIRUDH | 170 | 8 | www.twitch.tv/chessguy1976 | Anirudh R |
| 28-T | RYZ3NGAMES | 170 | 10 | www.youtube.com/c/Ryz3Ngames | Krish Kumar |
| 28-T | FritziSchach_Twitch | 170 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/fritzischach | Marvin Henning |
| 32 | OhanyanEminChess | 165 | 9 | www.youtube.com/channel/UC-pg99UwhhMpxBWTdE8XL0g | FM Emin Ohanyan |
| 33-T | ckgchess | 160 | 6 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCDw07vdFzmMqY6LSVKjwZnw | IM Cem Kaan Gokerkan |
| 33-T | Damianolew95 | 160 | 6 | www.twitch.tv/DamianLewtak | IM Damian Lewtak |
| 33-T | GMHess | 160 | 6 | www.twitch.tv/gmhess | GM Robert Hess |
| 33-T | leapmanpepa | 160 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/leapmanpepa | Edwin Vargas |
| 37-T | kbkhan91 | 145 | 7 | www.twitch.tv/kbkhan91 | Kaykobad Khan |
| 37-T | ande_star | 145 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/ande_star | Andrea Jakovac |
| 39 | ME_Mosharrof | 140 | 9 | www.twitch.tv/mosharrof | Mosharrof Hossain |
| 40-T | GMSrinath | 135 | 6 | www.youtube.com/channel/UC0GH48LA_TcWKWOIXJkyJXg | GM Srinath Narayanan |
| 40-T | Mr_Ruthless | 135 | 6 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCQxuDui8osU_DBMZLFwmCRw | Namitbir Singh Walia |
| 42 | LordGigantics | 130 | 8 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCyVOLOcqwgfZ6erbMl8DW9g | Sriansh sinha |
| 43-T | SleepingBeast07 | 120 | 8 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCOVn8fkCgVb_IWtWjgd_Dtg | Aryan Nair |
| 43-T | cha_charealsmooth | 120 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/chachachess | Vahan Nalbandyan |
| 43-T | NikolaDubovik | 120 | 12 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCd_jjprIf7VTo_dyppgJa5Q | Nikolay Dubovik |
| 43-T | th3d4rkness | 120 | 12 | www.twitch.tv/aajusti | Luciano Justi Antunes |
| 47 | Blitzstream | 115 | 9 | www.twitch.tv/blitzstream | Kevin Bordi |
| 48-T | Akshay_joglekar | 110 | 2 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCtKsYIdT2Qe8kR5Ng8VyijQ | Akshay Joglekar |
| 48-T | adarsh0369 | 110 | 3 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCwTQchThDnuMpPEbpQK6CLg | Adarsh Sudhakaran |
| 48-T | adriananikolova | 110 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/wgmadriana | WGM Adriana Nikolova |
| 48-T | potatoboi007 | 110 | 11 | www.twitch.tv/potatoboi007 | Harshit Singh |
| 52-T | Tanishv1234 | 100 | 2 | www.youtube.com/c/SportsWithTanish | Tanish Virmani |
| 52-T | moro182 | 100 | 5 | www.twitch.tv/gm_moro | GM Luca Moroni Jr |
| 52-T | shreyas1609 | 100 | 6 | www.youtube.com/channel/UCVr4zb1HHi4tZXK4hlGs7WA | Shreyas K |
| 52-T | vallabhtft | 100 | 6 | www.twitch.tv/vallabhtft | Neil Vallabh |
| 52-T | biregina | 100 | 10 | www.twitch.tv/biregina | Nicolas Perossa |
| 52-T | NM_Antelacus | 100 | 10 | www.twitch.tv/antelacus | NM Alberto Fabris |
The top eight finishers advanced to the Championship Final, where Nakamura toppled IM Renato Terry (@miterryble), GM Jose Martinez (@Jospem), and GM Sadhwani on his way to victory.
Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.
