Nakamura Begins 2024 With Another Win, Leads Titled Cup
Victory in the first Titled Tuesday tournaments of 2024, held January 2, went to two familiar faces. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the early event with 9.5 points and slightly better tiebreakers than GM Magnus Carlsen. Then, GM Hikaru Nakamura scored 10 points to win the late event, but he also needed tiebreaks to win out over GM Alexey Sarana.
Early Tournament
With 660 participants, it was the busiest single Titled Tuesday tournament of the double-tournament era, which began in February of 2022. The $100,000 Titled Cup is already bringing out the best players for what was already a strong Tuesday tradition for many top players. Soon, fans will also be able to participate by means of the Chess Prophet fantasy game that was recently announced.
Jumping out to the lead was GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who won his first eight games of the new year, the last of them coming out of an odd-looking opening in a game against GM Raunak Sadhwani that ended suddenly.
Mamedyarov only scored one point in the final three rounds, however, and ended up in third place. After two draws, he was surpassed by Carlsen in the final round when Carlsen won their game.
That should probably have been enough for Carlsen to win the entire tournament, but an earlier hiccup in round five caused him to miss a game. And so when Vachier-Lagrave defeated Raunak in the final round, it was the Frenchman who ended up in first place by one tiebreak point over the Norwegian.
January 2 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @LyonBeast | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 3178 | 9.5 | 69.5 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3371 | 9.5 | 68.5 | |
| 3 | 20 | GM | @Azerichess | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 3074 | 9 | 75.5 | |
| 4 | 18 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3034 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3286 | 9 | 72 | |
| 6 | 5 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3151 | 9 | 72 | |
| 7 | 7 | GM | @LevonAronian | Levon Aronian | 3092 | 9 | 69 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3116 | 9 | 65.5 | |
| 9 | 13 | GM | @RaunakSadhwani2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 3084 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 10 | 16 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 3030 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 11 | 148 | FM | @GoltsevDmitry2000 | Goltsev Dmitry | 2761 | 8.5 | 56 | |
| 12 | 27 | GM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 3038 | 8 | 77.5 | |
| 13 | 69 | GM | @adotand | Pranav Anand | 2922 | 8 | 73 | |
| 14 | 37 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 3005 | 8 | 71 | |
| 15 | 71 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2913 | 8 | 67 | |
| 16 | 30 | FM | @Sina_Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3006 | 8 | 66 | |
| 17 | 33 | GM | @Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 2979 | 8 | 66 | |
| 18 | 57 | GM | @Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2921 | 8 | 66 | |
| 19 | 59 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2913 | 8 | 66 | |
| 20 | 49 | GM | @rpragchess | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 2946 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 40 | 134 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2760 | 7.5 | 59 |
(Full final standings here.)
Because of the server issues that led not only to Carlsen missing his fifth round game but several other players losing rounds, the early tournament did not count toward the Titled Cup, although other prizes were awarded as normal. Next week's early tournament will have doubled prizes.
Ultimately, Vachier-Lagrave won $1,000 for first, Carlsen $750 for second, and Mamedyarov $350 for third. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda came in fourth for $200, Nakamura fifth for $100, and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the $100 women's prize.
Late Tournament
The late tournament consistently has smaller fields, and that held true this week, but the 552 late players still far exceed normal participation. That didn't stop Nakamura from winning yet another Titled Tuesday.
Nakamura and GM Fabiano Caruana were the last players on a perfect score, reaching 7/7 before making a draw with each other in round eight. Both won again in round nine before they were finally separated in round 10 after Sarana defeated Caruana.
The resulting scenario with one round to go was Nakamura and Sarana tied for first on nine points, with Caruana, GM Matthias Bluebaum, GM Grigoriy Oparin, and GM David Paravyan just behind on 8.5 points.
Nakamura and Sarana did not play each other, however, as they had already faced off in round six—which is where Sarana had lost his only point of the tournament.
And so Nakamura instead played Paravyan, Sarana faced Oparin, and Caruana took on Bluebaum. Caruana won his game and had the best tiebreaks of anyone in the tournament, but he needed help from both Paravyan and Oparin to win the tournament.
It didn't happen. In one game, Oparin fell into a brutal discovered check trying to activate his king.
In the other, Paravyan fell behind on the clock and was also losing on the board when he ran out of time. Nakamura's tiebreak advantage earned him the tournament victory over Sarana.
January 2 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3286 | 10 | 75.5 | |
| 2 | 23 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3051 | 10 | 73 | |
| 3 | 17 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3077 | 9.5 | 80 | |
| 4 | 53 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2928 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 5 | 15 | GM | @TRadjabov | Teimour Radjabov | 3045 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 6 | 29 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 3005 | 9 | 65 | |
| 7 | 70 | GM | @Igor_Lysyj | Igor Lysyj | 2860 | 9 | 61 | |
| 8 | 20 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3035 | 8.5 | 75 | |
| 9 | 50 | GM | @Elsa167 | Leon Livaic | 2922 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 10 | 11 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 3057 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 11 | 8 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3116 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 12 | 69 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2841 | 8.5 | 65.5 | |
| 13 | 32 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2979 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
| 14 | 33 | GM | @tptagain | David Anton Guijarro | 2996 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
| 15 | 47 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2914 | 8.5 | 56 | |
| 16 | 39 | GM | @h4parah5 | Jaime Santos Latasa | 2925 | 8.5 | 55.5 | |
| 17 | 57 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2903 | 8 | 77.5 | |
| 18 | 2 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3173 | 8 | 75.5 | |
| 19 | 13 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3028 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 20 | 5 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3134 | 8 | 71 | |
| 71 | 133 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2648 | 7 | 55 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 and jumped out to the early Titled Cup lead. His total for the day was $1,100. Sarana earned $750 in second place and Caruana $350 in outright third. GMs Vahap Sanal and Teimour Radjabov rounded out the top five for $200 and $100, respectively. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina won the $100 women's prize.
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second 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.
