Nakamura Sweeps New Titled Tuesday
On the first Tuesday of the revamped Titled Tuesday with two tournaments a day, a familiar face won both events: GM Hikaru Nakamura, who twice scored 9.5/11. Also earning a prize in both tournaments was GM Jose Martinez, who finished fourth in the 8 a.m. Pacific tournament and second in the 2 p.m. Pacific tournament. Second place in the early field belonged to GM Eric Hansen.
Early Tournament
The first tournament on Tuesday was entered by 477 players, including several from India taking advantage of the 21:00 start time for them, two hours earlier than before.
Live broadcast of the early tournament, hosted by GM Benjamin Bok.
The most surprising game of the early tournament was IM Le Tuan Minh's round-four win. The final position looks like a self-mate puzzle.
It became important when Le and Nakamura were tied at eight points entering round 10. They played, and Nakamura's head-to-head victory in that round ultimately made the difference in the tournament.
Hansen won in the last round to catch up with a drawing Nakamura, but the tiebreak score was not close between the two.
February 1 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3218 | 9.5 | 70 | |
| 2 | 14 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2992 | 9.5 | 62.25 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3016 | 9 | 65 | |
| 4 | 12 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 3049 | 9 | 55.5 | |
| 5 | 8 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3009 | 9 | 55 | |
| 6 | 41 | GM | @tigra | Boris Savchenko | 2907 | 9 | 54.5 | |
| 7 | 25 | GM | @Arseniy_Nesterov | Arseniy Nesterov | 2908 | 8.5 | 52.25 | |
| 8 | 9 | IM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3015 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 9 | 36 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2870 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 9 | 13 | NM | @Sviridov_Valery | Валерий Свиридов | 2998 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 11 | 5 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3038 | 8 | 54.75 | |
| 12 | 4 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3004 | 8 | 53 | |
| 13 | 34 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2910 | 8 | 49 | |
| 13 | 39 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2913 | 8 | 49 | |
| 15 | 50 | GM | @shimastream | Alex Shimanov | 2892 | 8 | 48 | |
| 16 | 56 | GM | @Indianlad | S.L. Narayanan | 2852 | 8 | 47.25 | |
| 17 | 9 | IM | @Manticore17 | Arystanbek Urazayev | 2791 | 8 | 46.25 | |
| 18 | 75 | GM | @nrvisakh | Visakh NR | 2781 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 19 | 195 | IM | @bardiya_Daneshvar | Bardiya Daneshvar | 2781 | 8 | 44.5 | |
| 20 | 35 | GM | @g3god | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2873 | 8 | 42.75 | |
| 51 | 100 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2712 | 7 | 34.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won the new $1,000 first place prize with Hansen earning $750 with a second-place finish. GM Jeffery Xiong won $300 for third place, Martinez $150 for fourth, and GM Fabiano Caruana $100 for fifth. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the $100 prize as the top-scoring female player.
Late Tournament
The second tournament of the day had 328 players, but the result at the very top of the standings was the same.
Live broadcast of the late tournament, hosted by GM Aman Hambleton.
The final round was decisive, as it often is. Martinez, in fact, led the tournament with 9/10 beforehand, having drawn Nakamura in round nine. Nakamura and GM Aram Hakobyan were just behind on 8.5 points. Martinez played Hakobyan and they drew.
But Nakamura defeated another community favorite, GM Daniel Naroditsky, in the last round to join Martinez on 9.5/11. Once again, Nakamura's large advantage in the tiebreaks score earned him the tournament win.
And so, it didn't take long to get the first sweep of a doubled Titled Tuesday. How about someone commentating once and winning once on the same day? Bok had a chance today, finishing 23rd in the second tournament, after commentating on the first one.
February 1 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3218 | 9.5 | 68.75 | |
| 2 | 11 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 3049 | 9.5 | 56.75 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 3054 | 9 | 53.75 | |
| 4 | 12 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3012 | 9 | 51.75 | |
| 5 | 10 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3038 | 9 | 51.5 | |
| 6 | 53 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2823 | 8.5 | 54 | |
| 7 | 13 | NM | @Sviridov_Valery | Валерий Свиридов | 2998 | 8.5 | 52.25 | |
| 8 | 21 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2952 | 8.5 | 50.5 | |
| 9 | 36 | GM | @XDPS | Pablo Salinas Herrera | 2903 | 8.5 | 47.25 | |
| 10 | 8 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3004 | 8 | 56 | |
| 11 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3115 | 8 | 50 | |
| 12 | 25 | FM | @Twitch_ElhamBlitz05 | Elham Abdrlauf | 2952 | 8 | 49.75 | |
| 13 | 20 | GM | @joppie2 | Jorden van Foreest | 2973 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 14 | 22 | IM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 2933 | 8 | 48 | |
| 15 | 48 | GM | @GMHess | Robert L. Hess | 2845 | 8 | 43.5 | |
| 16 | 189 | FM | @ApacheSVD | Guenther Wachinger | 2521 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 17 | 49 | GM | @VladDobrov | Vladimir Dobrov | 2830 | 8 | 37 | |
| 18 | 28 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2913 | 8 | 36 | |
| 19 | 32 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2870 | 7.5 | 45 | |
| 20 | 37 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2870 | 7.5 | 43.25 | |
| 20 | 29 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2897 | 7.5 | 43.25 | |
| 25 | 76 | IM | @Marta_gm | Marta Garcia | 2779 | 7.5 | 39 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won another $1,000 for the late victory while Martinez earned an additional $750 for his second-place finish. Hakobyan took $300 for third, GM Hans Niemann $150 for fourth, and GM Dmitry Andreikin $100 for fifth. IM Marta Garcia won the $100 prizes as the top woman in the field.
Titled Tuesday is a weekly pair of tournaments held by Chess.com for titled players. They are Swiss-system events starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European.
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.
