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Duda Outlasts Nakamura, Caruana

Duda Outlasts Nakamura, Caruana

NathanielGreen
| 5 | Chess Event Coverage

GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Aram Hakobyan took home the victories in Titled Tuesday on May 2, both of them scoring 9.5 points out of the possible 11. Duda won on tiebreaks over higher-rated GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in the first tournament, and then finished just half a point out of first place in the second tournament. 


Early Tournament

In addition to Duda, Nakamura, and Caruana finishing as the top three players in the original field of 538, GM Alireza Firouzja achieved fourth place, showing just how competitive Titled Tuesday has become.

But Duda, who began the tournament scoring 7/7, was in trouble in round 10 after he lost his game against Nakamura.

Still, the Polish super grandmaster recovered from that loss and defeated GM Aleksandr Shimanov in the final round.

The 68-move fighting draw between Nakamura and Firouzja in the same final round ended up being just what Duda needed to score the tournament victory. Meanwhile, Caruana moved into a tie for first as well, with a 28-move demolition of GM Dmitry Andreikin.

All three players were close in the first tiebreak score, but Duda came out on top. For details on how Chess.com breaks ties in Swiss tournaments, see here.

May 2 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score
1 10 GM @Polish_fighter3000 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 3077 9.5
2 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3174 9.5
3 5 GM @FabianoCaruana Fabiano Caruana 3102 9.5
4 4 GM @Firouzja2003 Alireza Firouzja 3107 9
5 40 GM @Durarbayli Vasif Durarbayli 2911 9
6 6 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 3069 8.5
7 8 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3062 8.5
8 37 GM @Sam_ChessMood Samvel Ter-Sahakyan 2940 8.5
9 65 GM @Sethu0025 Sethuraman S.P 2855 8.5
10 19 GM @Parhamov Parham Maghsoodloo 2983 8.5
11 13 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3045 8.5
12 2 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 3089 8.5
13 20 GM @shimastream Aleksandr Shimanov 2982 8.5
14 17 GM @crescentmoon2411 Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2993 8.5
15 57 FM @Zohid6 Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov 2848 8.5
16 16 GM @BillieKimbah Maxim Matlakov 2977 8.5
17 203 GM @viditchess Vidit Gujrathi 3033 8.5
18 79 IM @Eduard_Limonov Remizov Yaroslav 2834 8.5
19 3 GM @Bigfish1995 Vladimir Fedoseev 3095 8
20 131 IM @Fy_Rakotomaharo Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo 2732 8
78 1 WIM @Srisshhhtea Srishti Pandey 2382 7

(Full final standings here.)

Duda won $1,000 while Nakamura settled for $750 and Caruana for $350. Firouzja earned $200 and GM Vasif Durarbayli, the only other player on nine points, finished in fifth for $100. WIM Srishti Pandey won the $100 women's prize after scoring seven points.

Late Tournament

While the early tournament was a story of frontrunners, the underdogs in the late field of 444 took over. Hakobyan ended up winning on tiebreak over GM Aydin Suleymanli. The two players also showed down in round eight, with Hakobyan winning there as well.

Another win in round nine put Hakobyan in the sole tournament lead. He made draws in his last two games, including a one-move non-game in the last round against his countryman GM Shant Sargsyan. It was enough to keep Hakobyan in first place and Sargsyan in third. 

At the same time, Suleymanli won his last two games to get back into a share of first place, but after tiebreaks were applied, it wasn't quite enough to win. Suleymanli's win in the last round also prevented Caruana from returning to the top five, as it came against Caruana himself.

May 2 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score
1 20 GM @Njal28 Aram Hakobyan 2996 9.5
2 32 GM @LastGladiator1 Aydin Suleymanli 2957 9.5
3 23 GM @Sargsyan_Shant Shant Sargsyan 2974 9
4 14 GM @BogdanDeac Bogdan Daniel Deac 3027 9
5 39 IM @KhazarBabazada007 Khazar Babazada 2912 9
6 7 GM @Polish_fighter3000 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 3071 9
7 12 GM @Grischuk Alexander Grischuk 3048 9
8 4 GM @FabianoCaruana Fabiano Caruana 3099 8.5
9 13 GM @mishanick Alexey Sarana 3041 8.5
10 15 GM @SantoBlue Vahap Sanal 2967 8.5
11 30 GM @sergiochess83 Sergey Grigoriants 2903 8.5
12 1 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3212 8.5
13 36 CM @stollenmonster Egor Baskakov 2868 8.5
14 189 GM @Marcan2b Marc-Andria Maurizzi 2620 8.5
15 3 GM @Firouzja2003 Alireza Firouzja 3096 8
16 9 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3055 8
17 79 FM @AlexPapasimakopoulos Alexandros Papasimakopoulos 2754 8
18 56 IM @nocnypako Marcin Sieciechowicz 2820 8
19 62 GM @Byniolus Zbigniew Pakleza 2788 8
20 75 FM @Ol_Bilych Olexiy Bilych 2763 8
43 362 WFM @starplatinum2030 Elene Tsotsonava 2297 7

(Full final standings here.)

Hakobyan won the $1,000 first-place prize while Suleymanli won $750 for second place. Sargsyan's third-place finish earned him $350, while GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac came in fourth for $200 and IM Khazar Babazada in fifth for $100. Duda also scored nine points but finished in sixth. WFM Elene Tsotsonava won the $100 women's prize with a 7/11 score.

Titled Tuesday

Titled Tuesday is a weekly-held 11-round Swiss tournament for titled players on Chess.com, which runs two times every Tuesday. The tournaments begin at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European. 

NathanielGreen
Nathaniel Green

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.

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