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Nakamura Sweeps Titled Tuesday After Battles With Carlsen

Nakamura Sweeps Titled Tuesday After Battles With Carlsen

NathanielGreen
| 43 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Hikaru Nakamura pulled off another Titled Tuesday sweep, his third, by scoring 9.5/11 in both of the day's events. This one may be his most impressive of the three, as GM Magnus Carlsen joined the field for both events. Carlsen finished fifth in the late event. GM Fabiano Caruana also had a successful day, finishing fifth place early and third late.


Early Tournament

Round seven was the highlight of the early tournament as Nakamura and Carlsen, both on perfect 6/6 scores, faced off. It was the first time Nakamura and Carlsen have battled directly in Titled Tuesday this year, despite Carlsen's two previous appearances in the event in the past months. The game itself was a rather uneventful draw but significant nonetheless.

Theirs was not the only high-profile matchup of the tournament. Two more turned out to be decisive to the outcome: GM Dmitry Andreikin defeated Carlsen in round eight, and Nakamura defeated Caruana in round 10.

GM Oleksandr Bortnyk also scored an upset over Carlsen, in the final round, to leap into second place. 

Carlsen's result and his wry, Carlsen-esque reaction afterward ultimately produced a little bit of playful give-and-take.

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 2 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3215 9.5 64.5
2 7 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3034 9.5 64.25
3 44 GM @Man-Chuk Manuel Petrosyan 2920 9.5 56.25
4 3 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3030 9 60
5 4 GM @FabianoCaruana Fabiano Caruana 3052 8.5 60
6 6 GM @Jospem Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara 3046 8.5 59.75
7 10 IM @DenLaz Denis Lazavik 2989 8.5 59.25
8 31 GM @TimofeevAr Artem Timofeev 2912 8.5 58.25
9 30 GM @Sethu0025 Sethuraman S.P 2901 8.5 57
10 55 GM @alexrustemov Alexander Rustemov 2822 8.5 55.5
11 48 GM @Byniolus Zbigniew Pakleza 2817 8.5 55.25
12 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3218 8.5 54.25
13 8 GM @OparinGrigoriy Grigoriy Oparin 2996 8.5 49.5
14 43 IM @Abdimalik_Abdisalimov Abdimalik Abdisalimov 2876 8.5 48.25
15 154 IM @korason34 Ariel Erenberg 2746 8.5 47
16 5 GM @GMWSO Wesley So 3008 8 50.25
17 38 GM @Nemegejas Paulius Pultinevičius 2886 8 49.5
18 19 GM @rasmussvane Rasmus Svane 2942 8 47
19 22 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2891 8 45.25
19 26 GM @AnthonyWirig Anthony Wirig 2911 8 45.25
61 325 WGM @smilingice Xiaobing Gu 2443 7 31.75

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura won the $1,000 first-place prize, with Bortynk winning $750 for second place and GM Manuel Petrosyan $350 for third. Andreikin, the only player on nine points, earned $200 in fourth place. Caruana emerged from an 11-way tie on 8.5/11 to win the $100 fifth-place prize. WGM Xiaobing Gu, with 7/11, won the $100 women's prize.

Late Tournament

After outlasting 459 players in the early tournament, Nakamura needed a 10th-round victory over GM Baadur Jobava to emerge victorious from the 368-player late field.

Jobava recovered in the final round to defeat GM Rodrigo Vasquez and reach nine points out of 11.

Jobava thus tied for second place with three other players but retained the tiebreak advantage over all of them. They were some big names as well: Carlsen, Caruana, and GM Daniel Naroditsky

Carlsen did not lose any games in the second tournament, instead making draws against Jobava, GM Jorden van Foreest, Nakamura, and GM Daniel Dardha. Naturally, we must show the day's other Nakamura-Carlsen battle here. It happened in round nine this time and lasted quite a bit longer than the first.

It was Dardha who, after holding a draw against Carlsen in round 10, was Caruana's last victim as the American finished in third place. Despite losing games to FM Guenther Wachinger in round one and GM Gata Kamsky in round eight, Caruana won every other game. His nine wins were, in fact, the most of the late tournament.

September 27 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 2 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3215 9.5 61.75
2 20 GM @exoticprincess Baadur Jobava 2975 9 62.5
3 5 GM @FabianoCaruana Fabiano Caruana 3052 9 60
4 3 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3123 9 59.75
5 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3218 9 53.75
6 7 GM @Jospem Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara 3046 8.5 55.25
7 160 FM @Maskless_Beast Alexandros Dounis 2628 8.5 54.75
8 28 GM @TigrVShlyape Gata Kamsky 2923 8.5 51
9 19 GM @joppie2 Jorden van Foreest 2977 8.5 50.5
10 68 GM @DanielDardha2005 Daniel Dardha 2805 8.5 47.5
11 8 GM @GMWSO Wesley So 3008 8.5 45.25
12 27 IM @KazakhFighter04 Kazybek Nogerbek 2893 8 52
13 9 IM @DenLaz Denis Lazavik 2989 8 46.75
14 12 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 2964 8 46
15 15 GM @Hrant_ChessMood Hrant Melkumyan 2937 8 43.75
16 172 IM @Jaaborok Asylbek Abdyjapar 2600 8 43.5
17 39 GM @K_A_S_T_O_R Rodrigo Vasquez 2861 8 43
18 25 GM @AryanTari Aryan Tari 2906 8 42
19 59 GM @chessdjw Dennis Wagner 2778 8 41
20 16 GM @ChristopherYoo Christopher Woojin Yoo 2949 8 40.5
62 109 IM @AnotherGrumpy Anna M Sargsyan 2645 6.5 30.75

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura's additional $1,000 gave him $2,000 on the day. Jobava won $750 for second place. Caruana added $350 for a daily total of $450, while Naroditsky won $200 for fourth place and Carlsen $100 for fifth place. (A hundred bucks is a hundred bucks whether you're Carlsen or someone else!) IM Anna Sargsyan, scoring 6.5/11, won her third $100 women's prize in the last two weeks.

Titled Tuesday

Titled Tuesday is a weekly Chess.com event for titled players. Two 11-round Swiss tournaments are played every Tuesday, starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European.

NathanielGreen
Nathaniel Green

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.

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