Near Perfection Nets Nihal Tournament Over Nepomniachtchi, Naroditsky
GM Nihal Sarin won the early Titled Tuesday event on May 30 for his second tournament victory in a row after winning last week's late tournament as well. This week he scored 10.5 out of 11 points, one of the few players to achieve that score in a Titled Tuesday. In the late event, GM Conrad Holt came out ahead with 10 points for his first event win, also without needing a tiebreak.
Early Tournament
Although Norway Chess preoccupied several Titled Tuesday regulars this week, 466 players joined the early tournament, including GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi, Daniel Naroditsky, Vladimir Kramnik, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. All of them finished in the top 10 but could not catch the red-hot Nihal.
Already on a perfect 7/7, Nihal faced Naroditsky in the eighth round and delivered checkmate in just 32 moves to improve to 8/8.
Nepomniachtchi was next in round nine. Nihal declined his King's Gambit, then won in the endgame.
Two games from a perfect 11/11, Nihal fought for a win in the 10th round but only managed a 47-move draw against GM Daniil Dubov. A full point ahead of the field at this point, with another draw therefore sufficient to win the event, Nihal still defeated GM Sanan Sjugirov to complete the nearly perfect effort.
Despite their losses to the winner, Nepomniachtchi and Naroditsky managed to finish in second and third place. Nepomniachtchi took sole second place with 9.5 points after beating GM Matthias Bluebaum in the final round.
For Naroditsky, it was a 10th-round checkmate of GM Jose Martinez that ultimately secured third place on tiebreaks over four other players: GM Andrey Gorovets, Dubov, Kramnik, and GM Denis Lazavik.
May 30 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3229 | 10.5 | 74 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3136 | 9.5 | 79.5 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3154 | 9 | 76 | |
| 4 | 66 | GM | @GMG | Andrey Gorovets | 2820 | 9 | 68 | |
| 5 | 10 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3070 | 9 | 63.5 | |
| 6 | 12 | GM | @VladimirKramnik | Vladimir Kramnik | 3021 | 9 | 63 | |
| 7 | 11 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3014 | 9 | 63 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3057 | 8.5 | 74.5 | |
| 9 | 21 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2970 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 10 | 9 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3045 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 11 | 18 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2950 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
| 12 | 26 | GM | @KuzubovYuriy | Yuriy Kuzubov | 2924 | 8.5 | 63 | |
| 13 | 15 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2961 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 14 | 27 | GM | @jcibarra | José Ibarra | 2913 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 15 | 4 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3060 | 8 | 70 | |
| 16 | 36 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 2930 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 17 | 38 | GM | @lilleper1 | Jonas Bjerre | 2891 | 8 | 67 | |
| 18 | 16 | GM | @Indianlad | S.L. Narayanan | 2963 | 8 | 66 | |
| 19 | 60 | GM | @Cayse | Martyn Kravtsiv | 2837 | 8 | 64.5 | |
| 20 | 83 | FM | @FMJoseHerrera | Jose Herrera | 2770 | 8 | 63 | |
| 39 | 186 | IM | @Vesper2018 | Anastasia Bodnaruk | 2610 | 7.5 | 51 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nihal won the $1,000 grand prize, while Nepomniachtchi won $750 for second place. Naroditsky took home the $350 third-place prize, while Gorovets won $200 in fourth and Dubov $100 in fifth. IM Anastasia Bodnaruk won the $100 women's prize, scoring 7.5 points.
Late Tournament
407 players joined the late tournament, which also ended not only with a sole first-place winner but a sole second-place winner. GM Eric Hansen lost in the very first round before scoring 9.5/10 the rest of the way. Holt, meanwhile, went undefeated, making draws against Naroditsky in the fourth round and Duda in the eighth.
That eighth-round game actually gave Duda the sole lead with three rounds to go, with seven players, including Holt, a half-point back. Of the top eight, however, only Holt went a perfect 3/3 the rest of the way, doing so against GMs Pranav V (below), Aram Hakobyan, and Cristobal Henriquez.
Hansen, meanwhile, took on the erstwhile leader Duda in the final round and won to secure second place.
May 30 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak |
| 1 | 49 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2878 | 10 | 69 | |
| 2 | 37 | GM | @hansen | Eric Hansen | 2900 | 9.5 | 62.5 | |
| 3 | 22 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 2962 | 9 | 73 | |
| 4 | 33 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2928 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 5 | 11 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3009 | 9 | 70.5 | |
| 6 | 19 | GM | @ViIIagra | Cristobal Henriquez | 2966 | 9 | 67 | |
| 7 | 30 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 2924 | 9 | 59.5 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3048 | 8.5 | 76 | |
| 9 | 50 | IM | @mbojan | Bojan Maksimović | 2837 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 10 | 4 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3043 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 11 | 36 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2893 | 8.5 | 65.5 | |
| 12 | 73 | GM | @Nikolakis2014 | Stelios Halkias | 2774 | 8.5 | 56.5 | |
| 13 | 21 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2941 | 8 | 73.5 | |
| 14 | 92 | NM | @chessforthesun | Rick Sun | 2714 | 8 | 72 | |
| 15 | 6 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3015 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 16 | 10 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2996 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 17 | 27 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2925 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 18 | 14 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2989 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 19 | 7 | GM | @VladimirKramnik | Vladimir Kramnik | 3005 | 8 | 62.5 | |
| 20 | 237 | NM | @SameerMujumdar | Sameer Mujumdar | 2502 | 8 | 61.5 | |
| 41 | 99 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2690 | 7 | 58 |
(Full final standings here.)
Holt won $1,000 in first place, while Hansen earned $750 in second. Once again, there was a five-way tie for third; on tiebreaks, Hakobyan finished third for $350, GM Vasif Durarbayli fourth for $200, and Pranav fifth for $100. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina was the winner of the $100 women's prize with seven points.
Titled Tuesday is an 11-round Swiss tournament held weekly on Chess.com for titled players. The two tournaments every Tuesday start 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.
