Nakamura Arrives, Dubov Repeats
GM Daniil Dubov became the first two-time Titled Tuesday winner of 2023 on January 17 and was followed by GM Hikaru Nakamura entering the winner's circle for the first time this year. Both scored 9.5/11, Dubov winning on tiebreaks over GM Denis Lazavik and Nakamura winning outright.
Early Tournament
Round 10 was the turning point of a closely contested early tournament. Of the original field of 537, five were tied at a score of 8/9 entering the round. From that group of Dubov, Lazavik, GM Vladislav Artemiev, GM Daniel Dardha, and IM Khazar Babazada, Dubov was the only one to win his game. It came against eventual third-place finisher, Artemiev.
After Dubov drew with fourth-place GM Alexey Sarana in the final round, Lazavik recovered the half-point with a win against GM Andrey Esipenko, but could only make second place.
January 17 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 2 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3114 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 19 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2991 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | @Sibelephant | Vladislav Artemiev | 3121 | 9 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3071 | 9 | |
| 5 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3206 | 9 | |
| 6 | 37 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2945 | 9 | |
| 7 | 32 | GM | @DanielDardha2005 | Daniel Dardha | 2932 | 9 | |
| 8 | 72 | GM | @krzyzan94 | Marcin Krzyżanowski | 2855 | 9 | |
| 9 | 48 | GM | @igorkovalenko | Igor Kovalenko | 2904 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 60 | IM | @KhazarBabazada007 | Khazar Babazada | 2906 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 26 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2946 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 84 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2827 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 47 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2923 | 8.5 | |
| 14 | 10 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3020 | 8.5 | |
| 15 | 28 | GM | @Andreikka | Andrey Esipenko | 2942 | 8.5 | |
| 16 | 12 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2993 | 8 | |
| 17 | 38 | GM | @Zkid | Steven Zierk | 2937 | 8 | |
| 18 | 24 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2958 | 8 | |
| 19 | 22 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2966 | 8 | |
| 20 | 4 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3097 | 8 | |
| 43 | 109 | IM | @nurgyulsalimova | Nurgyul Salimova | 2766 | 7.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Dubov earned the $1,000 first place prize while Lazavik settled for $750 in second. Artemiev earned $350 for third place, Sarana $200 for fourth, and Nakamura inched into the top five for $100. IM Nurgyul Salimova won the $100 women's prize with a 7.5/11 score.
Late Tournament
Entering round seven of the late tournament, four of the 404 players were still on a perfect 6/6: Nakamura, GM Vugar Rasulov, GM Andrew Tang, and IM Elham Abdrlauf. They all made draws with each other in the round, which was followed by Tang scoring the upset over Nakamura in round eight. Nakamura played the Polish Opening on move one; Tang executed a Greek Gift sacrifice on move 15 before winning in the endgame.
However, Tang immediately lost to Duda in the next round, while Nakamura did not lose again for the rest of the tournament, taking out Esipenko, Abdrlauf, and Duda in the final three rounds. First, he dispatched Esipenko with the Trompowsky Attack.
After a 27-move win over Abdrlauf, Nakamura took 83 moves to defeat Duda and clinch the tournament. Checkmate arrived in the middle of the board in a queen vs. rook endgame after what was either a de facto resignation or a mouse slip from Duda.
Duda thus went from the sole lead, on 9/10 before the game, to a tough-luck sixth-place finish after the tiebreaks were calculated. Along with Nakamura, Tang and Rasulov were the only players who entered the last round on 8.5 points, but they drew each other. The draw kept both of them in the top five, where they were joined by Andreikin and Artemiev, but no one could match Nakamura's score.
January 17 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3206 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 20 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 2969 | 9 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3097 | 9 | |
| 4 | 26 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2947 | 9 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | @Sibelephant | Vladislav Artemiev | 3121 | 9 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3079 | 9 | |
| 7 | 19 | GM | @Sebastian | Leinier Dominguez Perez | 2950 | 9 | |
| 8 | 21 | IM | @Mykola-Bortnyk | Mykola Bortnyk | 2923 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 8 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3020 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 18 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2923 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 52 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2822 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 11 | GM | @eljanov | Pavel Eljanov | 2988 | 8 | |
| 13 | 12 | GM | @champ2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2990 | 8 | |
| 14 | 5 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3071 | 8 | |
| 15 | 17 | GM | @Zkid | Steven Zierk | 2937 | 8 | |
| 16 | 31 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2907 | 8 | |
| 17 | 10 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2998 | 8 | |
| 18 | 48 | IM | @Manticore17 | Arystanbek Urazayev | 2858 | 8 | |
| 19 | 23 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 2903 | 8 | |
| 20 | 15 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2945 | 8 | |
| 45 | 145 | WGM | @dey2580 | Deysi Cori | 2616 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 for first place to bring his total on the day to $1,100. Tang won $750 for second place, while GM Dmitry Andreikin slid into third for $350. Rasulov won $200 in fourth place, while Artemiev snagged another prize, $100 for fifth place, to bring his daily total to $450. WGM Deysi Cori was the $100 women's prize winner scoring 7/11.
Titled Tuesday is a tournament for titled players hosted by Chess.com every Tuesday. There are two 11-round Swiss tournaments each week 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.
