Nakamura Returns To Winner's Circle In Titled Tuesday
After a near-miss in the early tournament, GM Hikaru Nakamura claimed another Titled Tuesday victory in the late tournament on July 12. It was his first win since a double sweep on June 7, after playing this event irregularly of late due to the 2022 FIDE Candidates.
GM Jose Martinez won the early tournament after beginning the event with a perfect 9/9 score.
Early Tournament
Martinez was dominant in the first tournament of the day, clinching a share of first place out of 344 players with a round still to go. His biggest victory came against Nakamura in round eight, needing just 28 moves to overcome a Ruy Lopez sideline.
Martinez finally made a draw in the 10th round, ending his chances at the second-ever 11/11 in Titled Tuesday but bringing his score to 9.5/10 for a full-point lead. Entering the final round, only one player could catch Martinez, even if he lost. He did, to GM Dmitry Andreikin, who thus finished third. But Martinez's outright victory was saved when Nakamura defeated IM (soon to be GM) Tuan Minh Le.
Nakamura's win brought him into second place. The rest of the top five were also big names, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk and GM Fabiano Caruana. Everyone in second through fifth place scored nine points, which Caruana got to with a brilliant promotion tactic in the final round.
July 12 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 13 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 2974 | 9.5 | 66.25 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3152 | 9 | 65.5 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3128 | 9 | 62 | |
| 4 | 4 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3036 | 9 | 56 | |
| 4 | 7 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3039 | 9 | 56 | |
| 6 | 10 | IM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3012 | 8.5 | 55.75 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3017 | 8.5 | 52.5 | |
| 8 | 39 | GM | @Grandelicious | Nils Grandelius | 2861 | 8.5 | 51.25 | |
| 9 | 62 | FM | @Iball95 | Vakhlamov Igor | 2791 | 8.5 | 43.5 | |
| 10 | 56 | GM | @Nemegejas | Paulius Pultinevičius | 2877 | 8 | 52.5 | |
| 11 | 3 | FM | @Maskless_Beast | Jefto | 2648 | 8 | 50.75 | |
| 12 | 20 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2915 | 8 | 50.25 | |
| 13 | 8 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 2994 | 8 | 47 | |
| 14 | 102 | FM | @koziororo | Michal Koziorowicz | 2709 | 8 | 46.25 | |
| 15 | 21 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2931 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2939 | 8 | 45 | |
| 17 | 64 | CM | @vovachesss | Vladimir Mikhailovsky | 2761 | 8 | 44.5 | |
| 18 | 14 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2964 | 8 | 44.25 | |
| 19 | 30 | GM | @shimastream | Alex Shimanov | 2935 | 8 | 43 | |
| 20 | 67 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2775 | 8 | 41.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Martinez won the $1,000 grand prize while Nakamura took home $750 and Andreikin earned $300. Bortnyk and Caruana were tied for fourth, each taking home $125, and the $100 prize for the top woman in the tournament went to GM Alexandra Kosteniuk who scored 8/11. She had won the same prize in last week's late tournament.
Late Tournament
Nakamura didn't lose a single game in the second tournament of the day, only three draws. The difficult matchups began early as Nakamura faced and defeated GM Baadur Jobava in round five on his way to a 6/6 start.
After nine rounds, Nakamura was back in a tie for first, having drawn in his seventh and ninth games. One more win in round 10, against GM Aydin Suleymanli, was enough to regain the sole lead.
Nakamura's typically high tiebreak score sustained him in the lead even after GM Alex Shimanov joined him on 9.5 points at the end of the tournament. Shimanov did so by defeating IM Renato Terry's pet Trompowsky Attack in round 11 (as Nakamura also had in round eight).
July 12 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3152 | 9.5 | 58.75 | |
| 2 | 24 | GM | @shimastream | Alex Shimanov | 2935 | 9.5 | 55.5 | |
| 3 | 13 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 2979 | 9 | 61.75 | |
| 4 | 23 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2929 | 9 | 53.75 | |
| 5 | 12 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 2979 | 9 | 53 | |
| 6 | 30 | GM | @LastGladiator1 | Aydin Suleymanli | 2912 | 8.5 | 49.5 | |
| 7 | 15 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2964 | 8.5 | 45 | |
| 8 | 45 | FM | @BaMBoMaTTo | Giuseppe Lettieri | 2866 | 8.5 | 36.25 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3128 | 8 | 52.5 | |
| 10 | 37 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2863 | 8 | 50.5 | |
| 11 | 7 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 2994 | 8 | 48 | |
| 12 | 67 | IM | @Jaaborok | Asylbek Abdyjapar | 2715 | 8 | 44.5 | |
| 12 | 70 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2931 | 8 | 44.5 | |
| 14 | 20 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2902 | 8 | 43.25 | |
| 15 | 42 | GM | @Gabix_94 | Gabor Nagy | 2827 | 8 | 42 | |
| 16 | 33 | GM | @VerdeNotte | Gawain Jones | 2872 | 8 | 41.5 | |
| 17 | 2 | IM | @GianmarcoVaR | Gianmarco Leiva | 2732 | 8 | 41 | |
| 18 | 18 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 2917 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 19 | 40 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2844 | 8 | 35.5 | |
| 20 | 26 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2880 | 7.5 | 43 | |
| 38 | 110 | WGM | @Crazy_girl99 | Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova | 2616 | 7 | 30.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 for his efforts and a total of $1,750 on the day. Shimanov took home the $750 second-place prize. GM Grigoriy Oparin won $300 for finishing third, GM Matthias Bluebaum $150 in fourth, and GM Aram Hakobyan $100 in fifth. WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova scored 7/11 and won the $100 prize for the best score among the women in the field.
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.
