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Nakamura Nearly Perfect, Wins Early; Carlsen Wins Late

Nakamura Nearly Perfect, Wins Early; Carlsen Wins Late

NathanielGreen
| 15 | Chess Event Coverage

For the second time ever, GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Magnus Carlsen won Titled Tuesday on the same day. It previously occurred on October 11, 2022. Just like last time, Nakamura won the early tournament and Carlsen the late event. Nakamura also finished second in the late tournament.

The two stars also continue to push boundaries in the opening. After Carlsen played 1...a6 in every game last week, Nakamura played 1.a3 or 1...a6 in every game early this week.


Early Tournament

Nakamura tried to match Carlsen's undefeated performance from last week, something which Nakamura himself previously accomplished in 2021, starting 10/10.

GM Benjamin Bok started 7/7 himself, but that did not last past the eighth-round encounter with Nakamura.

Nakamura's run continued against GMs Alireza Firouzja and Nihal Sarin. By defeating Nihal, Nakamura locked up the tournament.

There was still perfection to chase, and his opponent in the last round was GM Grigoriy Oparin. But not only did Oparin stop Nakamura's ride, but he also locked up the second place while doing so.

Bok didn't lose after the eighth round but draws in the 10th and 11th rounds left him in third place.

July 11 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak
1 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3237 10 73
2 12 GM @OparinGrigoriy Grigoriy Oparin 2987 9.5 70
3 14 GM @GMBenjaminBok Benjamin Bok 2992 9 78
4 6 GM @Indianlad S.L. Narayanan 3043 9 74.5
5 4 GM @Duhless Daniil Dubov 3088 9 73
6 5 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 3052 9 69
7 15 IM @Rud_Makarian Rudik Makarian 2965 9 62.5
8 25 GM @Gordima Dmitry Gordievsky 2916 8.5 71
9 20 GM @Vaathi_Coming Aravindh Chithambaram 2946 8.5 69.5
10 18 GM @Fandorine Maksim Chigaev 2947 8.5 66.5
11 9 GM @BogdanDeac Bogdan Daniel Deac 2992 8.5 66
12 17 GM @Shield12 Shamsiddin Vokhidov 2930 8.5 63.5
13 153 GM @nihalsarin Nihal Sarin 3048 8.5 63
14 24 GM @Vladimir_Zakhartsov Vladimir Zakhartsov 2933 8.5 59.5
15 27 GM @penguingm1 Andrew Tang 2921 8 73
16 16 GM @vi_pranav Pranav V 2954 8 69
17 49 FM @JimDiGrease Ivan Zemlyanskii 2795 8 68
18 8 GM @GM_dmitrij Dmitrij Kollars 3000 8 68
19 10 IM @0gZPanda Anthony He 2990 8 67.5
20 57 GM @DmitryMaximov Dmitry Maximov 2799 8 66.5
21 61 GM @GMG Andrey Gorovets 2788 8 66
22 47 GM @ChessQueen Alexandra Kosteniuk 2799 8 65

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura earned $1,000 for his first win in over a month (last on June 6). Oparin took home $750 in outright second place. Bok won $350 in third place, GM S.L. Narayanan $200 in fourth, and GM Daniil Dubov $100 in fifth. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk finished 22nd and won the $100 women's prize.

Late Tournament

Carlsen and GM Fabiano Caruana had skipped the early Titled Tuesday to play their match in the Aimchess Rapid. They, along with Nakamura, made up the top three of the late Titled Tuesday.

Compared to the previous two tournaments, where someone was perfect through 10 rounds, it took a 7/7 start for GM Vladimir Fedoseev to be the last player without a draw or loss, although he fell out of contention afterward. It was Firouzja who took down Fedoseev in the eighth round, taking the sole lead of the tournament in the process.

Firouzja's lead didn't last long, however, as he met Carlsen in the ninth round. They both played the ending in an uncharacteristically inaccurate fashion, according to the computer, but Firouzja made the last mistake.

That result threw the field into chaos, with Carlsen, Nakamura, and GM Bogdan Daniel Deac now all on the lead at 8/9. Carlsen faced Deac and put him into a thematic zugzwang in the ending, resulting in the outright lead when Nakamura made a draw with Caruana.

The result was a final-round clash for first place between Carlsen and Nakamura. A draw naturally favored Carlsen, and he secured the half point and the tournament in 37 moves, allowing Nakamura zero opportunities to make trouble. Both players still had over a minute on their clock when the game concluded.

July 11 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak
1 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3287 9.5 75.5
2 2 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3244 9 78
3 3 GM @FabianoCaruana Fabiano Caruana 3125 9 77.5
4 15 IM @Mykola-Bortnyk Mykola Bortnyk 3015 9 68.5
5 7 GM @SpeedofLight0 Andrew Hong 3101 9 66.5
6 10 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 3023 9 64.5
7 13 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 3030 8.5 73.5
8 11 GM @mishanick Aleksei Sarana 3075 8.5 71.5
9 29 GM @rasmussvane Rasmus Svane 2962 8.5 70.5
10 16 GM @BogdanDeac Bogdan Daniel Deac 3011 8.5 69.5
11 33 GM @shimastream Aleksandr Shimanov 2960 8.5 69.5
12 23 GM @Parhamov Parham Maghsoodloo 2984 8.5 68.5
13 6 GM @Firouzja2003 Alireza Firouzja 3100 8.5 66.5
14 12 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 3024 8.5 65
15 62 IM @liczner Ɓukasz Licznerski 2826 8 72
16 39 GM @sergiochess83 Sergey Grigoriants 2922 8 71
17 37 GM @jcibarra José Ibarra 2922 8 69.5
18 26 IM @Rud_Makarian Rudik Makarian 2943 8 67.5
19 73 GM @GMRafpig Rafael Leitao 2777 8 67
20 49 GM @xamax2000 Max Warmerdam 2842 8 66.5
44 107 IM @Flawless_Fighter Polina Shuvalova 2671 7 61.5

(Full final standings here.)

Carlsen earned $1,000 for his second late Titled Tuesday win in a row. The rest of the top five was dominated by U.S. flags. Nakamura won $750 in second, Caruana $350 in third, IM Mykola Bortnyk $200 in fourth, and GM Andrew Hong $100 in fifth. The $100 women's prize went to IM Polina Shuvalova in 44th place.

Titled Tuesday

Chess.com holds Titled Tuesday, two 11-round Swiss tournaments for titled players, every week on Tuesdays. The early tournament happens at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time followed by the late tournament at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).

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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