IM Moskalenko Tops GMs In Titled Tuesday; 1st Place Narrowly Eludes Andreikin

IM Alexander Moskalenko achieved the highest point total in Titled Tuesday as he racked up eight wins in nine games to claim clear first place in the early event. Two other non-GMs, FM Ilya Duzhakov and IM Minh Le, shared second with GM Evgeny Shaposhnikov.

Shaposhnikov even improved on that fine result by returning in the evening and taking shared first place with GM Evgeny Levin in the late event. Shaposhnikov was second on tiebreak, which is mostly meaningless except that it means his photogenic visage caps our report instead of Mr. Levin's  (Also, Mr. Levin has no publicly available pictures.)

Let's start with a game from Titled Tuesday regular, Minh Le, who isn't representing Vietnam at the Olympiad this year, but will hopefully soon join his national team.

Unfortunately for Le, in round two he was toppled by GM Boris Savchenko when he missed an intermezzo.

Also in the second round, another second-place finisher, Duzhakov, quickly found the refutation of an error from GM Alexander Moiseenko.

GM Alexander Moiseenko.

Duzhakov's good fortune continued into the third round when his opponent, GM Adrien Demuth, started a fine barrage of exchange sacrifices only to misplay the complicated position and let Duzhakov sac back and win.

With the Olympiad underway and the famed Bermuda Party in full swing, many elite regulars sat out the event. One who was in attendance was GM Dmitry Andreikin, whose current FIDE rating of 2727 would make him first board in almost any country in the world, but in Russia, it wasn't quite sufficient to make the national team. (Neither was GM Peter Svidler's 2745 FIDE!)

Andreikin can't be too disappointed as he used the extra time to win the Abu Dhabi Masters. Despite strong play, he couldn't quite cap his Tuesday with a victory, but he did share third in the late event.

Unfortunately for Andreikin, in round four, he faced a Duzhakov-shaped buzzsaw and despite many accurate defensive moves, he eventually succumbed.

Andreikin delivering in Dubai. | Photo Abu Dhabi Chess Festival.

In the late event, GM Maxim Dlugy offered commentary, and perhaps his sixth-round opponent, Le, caught him already monologuing in this miniature. Certainly, the normally resilient Dlugy was not playing his best game.

We've held off on presenting the winners' games for far too long. Two of Moskalenko's best efforts (after his sparkling 5-0 start) came late as he first ground out this fine win in round seven against FM Paolo Ladron de Guevara.

Then in the final round, he delivered Andreikin the first of his two final-round disappointments in an opposite-color bishop endgame. Had Andreikin won either final round, he would have reached shared first.

Titled Tuesday, Early Event | Final Standings (6.5 Points And Up)

Full V3 tournament crosstables available here.

The story of the late event was GM Conrad Holt who started with a truly excellent 7.0/7. He seemed in great position to reach the first perfect score in a Titled Tuesday as he had already played some of his chief competitors. Here is his fifth-round win over Andreikin.

He followed that up with this sixth-round win over Le.

Unfortunately, Holt collapsed in the final two rounds, losing first to Levin and then to Shaposhnikov. Those victories escalated the victors to 7.5/9 and shared first place while Holt dropped back into a four-way tie for third.

We've done a bit of a disservice to Andreikin by unintentionally showing only his unfortunate losses. Here is one of his fine victories; this one came against GM Elshan Moradiabadi.

Moradiabadi and his trademark headgear. | Photo from an interview with PowerPlayChess.

In the final round, Andreikin and Le engaged in a heated, but error-packed game. The final result (draw) landed each on shared third. Had either won, they would have reached shared first.

Titled Tuesday, Late Event | Final Standings (6.5 Points And Up)

Full V3 tournament crosstables available here.

In the early event, Moskalenko was the big winner, earning $500. Duzhakov, Le, and Shaposhnikov each won $150. That meant that the $50 fifth-place prize was divided many times, resulting in $6 winnings for Andreikin, Movsesian, FM Nihal Sarin, Moiseenko, IM Klekowski, FM David Gorodetzky, FM Paolo Ladron de Guevara, IM Saveliy Golubov, and GM Demuth.

The late event was a bit simpler. Shaposhnikov and Levin each won $375 ,which means Shaposhnikov won $525 total on the day. Holt, Andreikin, Le, and GM Dusan Popovic all collected $62.50. Le's combined take was $212.50.

The next Titled Tuesday will take place on October 4 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time. Live broadcasts will be available on Chess.com/tv and Twitch.tv/chess.