Nakamura Back Atop Titled Tuesday
The December 13 edition of Titled Tuesday ended with two familiar winners, GMs Daniil Dubov and Hikaru Nakamura. Both won their tournaments outright.
Early Tournament
Dubov outlasted the early field of 418 players, including Nakamura, to win the tournament with 10/11, which end up being the day's best score in either event. His result left GM Alexey Sarana alone in second place with 9.5/11.
It was only draws in the fifth and 11th rounds that kept Dubov from a perfect score, and his five-win run from rounds six through 10 culminated with victories over GMs Dmitry Andreikin, Alireza Firouzja, and Baadur Jobava. After Andreikin played an unusual (but generally effective) third move, Dubov checkmated him over the board in an endgame.
In the Jobava game, Dubov managed to turn a position the computer judged completely even for several moves into a winning position, before claiming the game on time.
Sarana had a chance to catch up with a head-to-head game against Dubov in the last round, but the leader held the draw and the tournament.
Third place went to GM Matthias Bluebaum, the highest finisher who also had a game against the top-seeded Nakamura. It ended up a key win for the German's tournament standing.
December 13 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 6 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3120 | 10 | |
| 2 | 11 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3058 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 16 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2982 | 9 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3021 | 9 | |
| 5 | 15 | GM | @Denis_Makhnyov | Denis Makhnev | 3007 | 9 | |
| 6 | 34 | GM | @kpio91 | Kacper Piorun | 2933 | 9 | |
| 7 | 37 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2907 | 8.5 | |
| 8 | 12 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3011 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 23 | GM | @FormerProdigy | David Navara | 2955 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 4 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3072 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 22 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2944 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 57 | IM | @tacticthunder | Dimitris Alexakis | 2851 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 8 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3008 | 8 | |
| 14 | 44 | GM | @moro182 | Luca Moroni Jr | 2823 | 8 | |
| 15 | 35 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2859 | 8 | |
| 15 | 13 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3001 | 8 | |
| 17 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3203 | 8 | |
| 18 | 18 | GM | @VincentKeymer | Vincent Keymer | 2943 | 8 | |
| 19 | 38 | GM | @ActorXu | Xu Yi | 2876 | 8 | |
| 20 | 24 | FM | @Zhalmakhanov_Ramazan | Ramazan Zhalmakhanov | 2945 | 8 | |
| 34 | 175 | IM | @zajka-molotok | Yuliia Osmak | 2612 | 7.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Dubov earned $1,000 for first place and Sarana $750 for second place. Tiebreak scores resulted in $350 for third place for Bluebaum, $200 for fourth place for Jobava, and $100 for fifth place for GM Denis Makhnev. IM Yuliia Osmak won the $100 women's prize with a 7.5/11 score.
Late Tournament
The late tournament came down to the wire before Nakamura's consistency prevailed in the field of 283. Of the six players tied for first after nine rounds, only Nakamura won both of his final-round games.
He began with a win over Sarana. It was a typically tenacious tilt from Nakamura, who was nearly lost a few moves after a correct piece sacrifice from Sarana before roaring back.
Nakamura was one of just three of the leaders to win in the 10th round. The others were Firouzja and GM Maksim Chigaev, the latter of whom was Nakamura's opponent in the final round. As in the previous round, the early middlegame was a struggle for Nakamura, but the computer did not like Chigaev's tempting check on move 18, and Nakamura would end up winning a 102-move marathon.
Meanwhile, Firouzja lost to GM Bogdan Daniel Deac. Deac, as Black, delivered checkmate on move 77, launching him into second place with the side effect of securing Nakamura's victory.
Firouzja still managed third place, having secured the best tiebreak scores among the seven players on 8.5/11.
December 13 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3203 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3072 | 9 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3103 | 8.5 | |
| 4 | 22 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2968 | 8.5 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | @GMWSO | Wesley So | 3140 | 8.5 | |
| 6 | 21 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2949 | 8.5 | |
| 7 | 70 | FM | @Babageldi | Babageldi Annaberdiyev | 2744 | 8.5 | |
| 8 | 26 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 2892 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 35 | GM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 2874 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 7 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3058 | 8 | |
| 11 | 27 | IM | @Eduard_Limonov | Remizov Yaroslav | 2856 | 8 | |
| 12 | 19 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2944 | 8 | |
| 13 | 11 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3008 | 8 | |
| 14 | 31 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2876 | 8 | |
| 15 | 43 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2861 | 8 | |
| 16 | 87 | FM | @KATPAH | Maksym Goroshkov | 2648 | 8 | |
| 17 | 48 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2800 | 7.5 | |
| 18 | 261 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 3028 | 7.5 | |
| 19 | 158 | IM | @gshwbedhkhd | Eline Roebers | 2582 | 7.5 | |
| 20 | 6 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3021 | 7.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000, Deac $750, and Firouzja $350. Despite the loss to Nakamura, Chigaev recovered in the final round to finish fourth and earn $200. GM Wesley So finished fifth for $100, while 16-year-old Dutch IM Eline Roebers finished in 19th place with a 7.5 score to win the $100 women's prize.
Titled Tuesday is a weekly tournament held every Tuesday for titled players on Chess.com. There are two 11-round Swiss tournaments each week, starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European.
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.
