Nakamura Nearly Perfect, Wins Early; Carlsen Wins Late
For the second time ever, GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen won Titled Tuesday on the same day. It previously occurred on October 11, 2022. Just like last time, Nakamura won the early tournament and Carlsen the late event. Nakamura also finished second in the late tournament.
The two stars also continue to push boundaries in the opening. After Carlsen played 1...a6 in every game last week, Nakamura played 1.a3 or 1...a6 in every game early this week.
Early Tournament
Nakamura tried to match Carlsen's undefeated performance from last week, something which Nakamura himself previously accomplished in 2021, starting 10/10.
GM Benjamin Bok started 7/7 himself, but that did not last past the eighth-round encounter with Nakamura.
Nakamura's run continued against GMs Alireza Firouzja and Nihal Sarin. By defeating Nihal, Nakamura locked up the tournament.
There was still perfection to chase, and his opponent in the last round was GM Grigoriy Oparin. But not only did Oparin stop Nakamura's ride, but he also locked up the second place while doing so.
Bok didn't lose after the eighth round but draws in the 10th and 11th rounds left him in third place.
July 11 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3237 | 10 | 73 | |
| 2 | 12 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 2987 | 9.5 | 70 | |
| 3 | 14 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2992 | 9 | 78 | |
| 4 | 6 | GM | @Indianlad | S.L. Narayanan | 3043 | 9 | 74.5 | |
| 5 | 4 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3088 | 9 | 73 | |
| 6 | 5 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3052 | 9 | 69 | |
| 7 | 15 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 2965 | 9 | 62.5 | |
| 8 | 25 | GM | @Gordima | Dmitry Gordievsky | 2916 | 8.5 | 71 | |
| 9 | 20 | GM | @Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2946 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 10 | 18 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2947 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 11 | 9 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2992 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 12 | 17 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2930 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
| 13 | 153 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3048 | 8.5 | 63 | |
| 14 | 24 | GM | @Vladimir_Zakhartsov | Vladimir Zakhartsov | 2933 | 8.5 | 59.5 | |
| 15 | 27 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 2921 | 8 | 73 | |
| 16 | 16 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2954 | 8 | 69 | |
| 17 | 49 | FM | @JimDiGrease | Ivan Zemlyanskii | 2795 | 8 | 68 | |
| 18 | 8 | GM | @GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 3000 | 8 | 68 | |
| 19 | 10 | IM | @0gZPanda | Anthony He | 2990 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 20 | 57 | GM | @DmitryMaximov | Dmitry Maximov | 2799 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 21 | 61 | GM | @GMG | Andrey Gorovets | 2788 | 8 | 66 | |
| 22 | 47 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2799 | 8 | 65 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura earned $1,000 for his first win in over a month (last on June 6). Oparin took home $750 in outright second place. Bok won $350 in third place, GM S.L. Narayanan $200 in fourth, and GM Daniil Dubov $100 in fifth. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk finished 22nd and won the $100 women's prize.
Late Tournament
Carlsen and GM Fabiano Caruana had skipped the early Titled Tuesday to play their match in the Aimchess Rapid. They, along with Nakamura, made up the top three of the late Titled Tuesday.
Compared to the previous two tournaments, where someone was perfect through 10 rounds, it took a 7/7 start for GM Vladimir Fedoseev to be the last player without a draw or loss, although he fell out of contention afterward. It was Firouzja who took down Fedoseev in the eighth round, taking the sole lead of the tournament in the process.
Firouzja's lead didn't last long, however, as he met Carlsen in the ninth round. They both played the ending in an uncharacteristically inaccurate fashion, according to the computer, but Firouzja made the last mistake.
That result threw the field into chaos, with Carlsen, Nakamura, and GM Bogdan Daniel Deac now all on the lead at 8/9. Carlsen faced Deac and put him into a thematic zugzwang in the ending, resulting in the outright lead when Nakamura made a draw with Caruana.
The result was a final-round clash for first place between Carlsen and Nakamura. A draw naturally favored Carlsen, and he secured the half point and the tournament in 37 moves, allowing Nakamura zero opportunities to make trouble. Both players still had over a minute on their clock when the game concluded.
July 11 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3287 | 9.5 | 75.5 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3244 | 9 | 78 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3125 | 9 | 77.5 | |
| 4 | 15 | IM | @Mykola-Bortnyk | Mykola Bortnyk | 3015 | 9 | 68.5 | |
| 5 | 7 | GM | @SpeedofLight0 | Andrew Hong | 3101 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 6 | 10 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3023 | 9 | 64.5 | |
| 7 | 13 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3030 | 8.5 | 73.5 | |
| 8 | 11 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3075 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 9 | 29 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2962 | 8.5 | 70.5 | |
| 10 | 16 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3011 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 11 | 33 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 2960 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 12 | 23 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2984 | 8.5 | 68.5 | |
| 13 | 6 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3100 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 14 | 12 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3024 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 15 | 62 | IM | @liczner | Łukasz Licznerski | 2826 | 8 | 72 | |
| 16 | 39 | GM | @sergiochess83 | Sergey Grigoriants | 2922 | 8 | 71 | |
| 17 | 37 | GM | @jcibarra | José Ibarra | 2922 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 18 | 26 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 2943 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 19 | 73 | GM | @GMRafpig | Rafael Leitao | 2777 | 8 | 67 | |
| 20 | 49 | GM | @xamax2000 | Max Warmerdam | 2842 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 44 | 107 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2671 | 7 | 61.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Carlsen earned $1,000 for his second late Titled Tuesday win in a row. The rest of the top five was dominated by U.S. flags. Nakamura won $750 in second, Caruana $350 in third, IM Mykola Bortnyk $200 in fourth, and GM Andrew Hong $100 in fifth. The $100 women's prize went to IM Polina Shuvalova in 44th place.
Chess.com holds Titled Tuesday, two 11-round Swiss tournaments for titled players, every week on Tuesdays. The early tournament happens at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time followed by the late tournament at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).
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.
