Nakamura, Dlugy Top Titled Tuesday
GM Hikaru Nakamura won his record seventh Titled Tuesday to close out 2016. His win came in the late Titled Tuesday, which he shared with a large pack of six players on 7.0/9: GMs Laurent Fressinet, Aleksander Shimanov, Daniel Naroditsky, Vidit Gujrathi, and NM Shanmuka Meruga. This allowed Nakamura to pull ahead of GM Georg Meier in the battle for most Titled Tuesday wins. Meier remains with six Titled Tuesday victories.
GM Maxim Dlugy, managed an impressive 8.0/9 for a clear first (his second first place finish) in the early event.
Dlugy's result was even more impressive considering he was better in nearly all of his games. It was difficult to catch a whiff of the usually requisite luck in power-play games like the following against second-place finisher GM Evgeny Levin.
Perhaps playing blitz in the VIP room during Carlsen-Karjakin helped Dlugy
to get in shape and claim his first sole first-place finish.
Levin had his own similar and stylish win where he sacrificed the exchange in an earlier game.
Even prettier was this finish against late-Titled-Tuesday victor GM Daniel Naroditsky. Can you see it?
Titled Tuesday, Early Event | Final Standings (6.5 Points And Up)
| Place | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Score |
| 1 | 17 | GM | Dlugy | Maxim Dlugy | 8 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Evgeny_Levin | Evgeny Levin | 7.5 | |
| 3 | 31 | GM | Izoria123 | Zviad Izoria | 7.5 | |
| 4 | 22 | GM | Tesla37 | Sergei Movsesian | 7 | |
| 5 | 4 | GM | platy3 | Alan Pichot | 7 | |
| 5 | 5 | NM | Harbuzi01 | Harbuzi Labinot | 7 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | Genghis_K | Federico Perez Ponsa | 6.5 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | E-Shaposhnikov | Evgeny Shaposhnikov | 6.5 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | Zaven_Andriasyan | Zaven Andriasyan | 6.5 | |
| 10 | 27 | GM | Gabrielian_Artur | Artur Gabrielian | 6.5 | |
| 11 | 37 | IM | TheButcher | Miodrag Perunovic | 6.5 | |
| 12 | 12 | GM | Sethu0025 | S. P. Sethuraman | 6.5 | |
| 13 | 124 | NM | pacific_heights | S. C. | 6.5 |
Full V3 tournament crosstables available here.
Nakamura's road to the top in the late event wasn't always smooth, but he managed to win some real fighting games such as this incredibly lengthy win against GM Alexander Lenderman. It seemed Nakamura was playing with the audience as the game dragged on far longer than all others and gathered hordes of spectators.
Nakamura grinding out wins on the clock and the position.
The funniest game of the tournament was presented by Naroditsky who won a miniature against Meier after the latter captured a poisoned bishop.
Naroditsky was a tactical magnet (both for and against) this Tuesday.
Another Titled Tuesday victor who has been in the news lately is Fressinet. The French GM served as a member of Carlsen's team at the world championship. Fressinet's style is refreshing; presumably Carlsen hired him for his ability to deliver pretty tactical finishes such as the following. 
Titled Tuesday, Late Event | Final Standings (6 Points And Up)
| Place | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 7 | 37.5 | |
| 2 | 12 | GM | Zlatan56 | Laurent Fressinet | 7 | 36.5 | |
| 3 | 11 | GM | ShimanovAlex | Aleksandr Shimanov | 7 | 35 | |
| 4 | 64 | NM | gmshanmeruga | Shanmukha Meruga | 7 | 33.75 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 7 | 33.5 | |
| 6 | 22 | GM | viditchess | Vidit Gujrathi | 7 | 31.25 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | Genghis_K | Federico Perez Ponsa | 6.5 | 28.5 | |
| 8 | 8 | IM | wonderfultime | Minh Le | 6.5 | 24.25 | |
| 9 | 2 | GM | GeorgMeier | Georg Meier | 6 | 29 | |
| 10 | 27 | IM | KNVB | Aman Hambleton | 6 | 26.5 | |
| 11 | 15 | GM | Sethu0025 | S. P. Sethuraman | 6 | 21 | |
| 12 | 3 | GM | Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 6 | 20.5 | |
| 13 | 56 | WGM | Fh2411 | anonymous | 6 | 19.5 |
Full V3 tournament crosstables available here.
The full tournament with expert commentary from IM Aman Hambleton and GM Eric Hansen is available on Twitch.tv/chess.
Watch live video from on www.twitch.tv
The day's big winner was Dlugy, who collected a clean $500 for his first place in the early event. Levin and Izoria each earned $188 for shared second place, while GMs Sergei Movsesian, Alan Pichot, and NM Harbuzi Labinot won $42 for a part of fourth.
In the late event, the large tie for first meant Nakamura, Fressinet, Shimanov, Meruga, Naroditsky, and Vidit Gujrathi all won $167.
The next Titled Tuesday will take place on January 3 at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time. Live broadcasts will be available on Chess.com/tv and Twitch.tv/chess.
I'm the Head of Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2015, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
You can find my personal content on Twitch , Twitter , and YouTube where I further indulge my love of chess.
