Nakamura Nearly Perfect Early, Nearly Sweeps Late
GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Daniil Dubov were big winners in Titled Tuesday on September 6, both winning a tournament and finishing top three in the other. Nakamura began the early tournament with 9/9 before drawing his last two games against GM Vasyl Ivanchuk and Dubov. Ivanchuk (fifth place early) and GM Gata Kamsky (third place late) were among the other notable prize winners on the day.
Early Tournament
Nakamura's perfect start gave him a 1.5-point lead with two rounds remaining. His victims in those first nine games included three other players who have won a Titled Tuesday in 2022: GM Aryan Tari in round five, GM Salem Saleh in round eight, and GM-elect Tuan Minh Le in round nine.
His shortest win, however, came against eventual second-place finisher GM Steven Zierk in round seven, in what ended up perhaps the most important game of the tournament. The game was a 13-move miniature featuring a quickly devastating kingside attack. Nakamura barely needed 30 seconds to play the entire game.
It was the only blemish on Zierk's tournament, who drew one other game. Like Nakamura, Zierk defeated Saleh and Minh Le in consecutive rounds, his coming in rounds 10 and 11 to secure second place. The game against Minh Le took 97 moves and included an exchange sacrifice.
September 6 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3229 | 10 | 65.5 | |
| 2 | 15 | GM | @Zkid | Steven Zierk | 2996 | 9.5 | 59.75 | |
| 3 | 10 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 2998 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 4 | 4 | GM | @Azzaro25 | Anish Giri | 3088 | 9 | 63 | |
| 5 | 53 | GM | @viviania | Vassily Ivanchuk | 2962 | 9 | 57 | |
| 6 | 21 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 2932 | 8.5 | 55.75 | |
| 7 | 46 | FM | @Iball95 | Vakhlamov Igor | 2849 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 2995 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 9 | 22 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2938 | 8.5 | 48.25 | |
| 10 | 11 | IM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 2993 | 8.5 | 48 | |
| 11 | 42 | IM | @ckgchess | Cem Kaan Gokerkan | 2856 | 8.5 | 41.75 | |
| 12 | 52 | GM | @VladimirBelous | Vladimir Belous | 2852 | 8 | 50 | |
| 13 | 23 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2912 | 8 | 48 | |
| 14 | 7 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2992 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 15 | 35 | GM | @DrVelja | Velimir Ivic | 2877 | 8 | 46.25 | |
| 16 | 33 | FM | @TrahtarBelarus | Artiom Stribuk | 2877 | 8 | 45.75 | |
| 17 | 12 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 2949 | 8 | 44 | |
| 18 | 14 | GM | @abhidabhi | Abhimanyu Puranik | 2945 | 8 | 42.5 | |
| 19 | 20 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2913 | 7.5 | 47.5 | |
| 20 | 9 | GM | @Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 2993 | 7.5 | 45.75 | |
| 23 | 43 | GM | @Vanina1989 | Valentina Gunina | 2843 | 7.5 | 41.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 and Zierk $750 at the top of the standings. Dubov finished third for a $350 prize while GM Anish Giri won $200 for fourth place. Ivanchuk won the $100 fifth-place prize, and GM Valentina Gunina won the $100 women's prize with a 7.5/11 performance.
Late Tournament
The late tournament was time for Dubov to break through for his second Titled Tuesday victory in the last three weeks. It was a tough road, with five of his last six opponents all finishing in the top 17 of the standings.
The only exception was hardly a break, though: GM Daniel Naroditsky, one of the few players who can boast a higher Chess.com Blitz rating than Dubov, in round nine. The game was decided by a pin resulting in an extremely fast c-pawn.
The result kept Dubov in a share of first place with IM Bojan Maksimovic. They drew in the 10th round, allowing Nakamura to catch up. Nakamura played Maksimovic in the last round and ended the IM's upset bid.
However, Dubov kept pace with Nakamura by defeating GM Jose Martinez, and Dubov's tiebreaks were stronger. Nakamura's would-be third sweep of Titled Tuesday was thus barely averted.
September 6 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3026 | 9.5 | 63 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3221 | 9.5 | 53.5 | |
| 3 | 11 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2944 | 9 | 50.25 | |
| 4 | 42 | GM | @Cayse | Martyn Kravtsiv | 2825 | 9 | 46 | |
| 5 | 31 | IM | @mbojan | Bojan Maksimović | 2854 | 8.5 | 56.75 | |
| 6 | 33 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2842 | 8.5 | 55.75 | |
| 7 | 50 | FM | @dragos420 | Dragos Ceres | 2813 | 8.5 | 52 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 2982 | 8.5 | 46.25 | |
| 9 | 51 | IM | @Fins0905 | John Bartholomew | 2742 | 8 | 48.75 | |
| 10 | 36 | IM | @Murad_Ibrahimli | Murad İbrahimli | 2829 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 11 | 3 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2963 | 8 | 44 | |
| 11 | 2 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 2994 | 8 | 44 | |
| 13 | 35 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2825 | 8 | 43.5 | |
| 14 | 6 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2975 | 8 | 42 | |
| 15 | 69 | FM | @peonrojo150 | Gonzalo Navarrete | 2668 | 8 | 33.5 | |
| 16 | 65 | CM | @AlexPapasimakopoulos | Alexandros Papasimakopoulos | 2700 | 7.5 | 47.5 | |
| 17 | 40 | FM | @MarcoRiehle | Marco Riehle | 2801 | 7.5 | 45.25 | |
| 18 | 9 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2907 | 7.5 | 44.5 | |
| 19 | 62 | IM | @DeTimmerman | Mark Timmermans | 2702 | 7.5 | 42.25 | |
| 20 | 71 | IM | @bazar-wokzal | Nikolai Vlassov | 2687 | 7.5 | 37.75 | |
| 30 | 72 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2676 | 7 | 37.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Dubov earned $1,000 for his win for a total of $1,350 on the day. Nakamura's $750 for second place gave him the highest total winnings of the day at $1,750. Kamsky won $350 in third place and Chess.com Global Championship qualifier GM Martyn Kravtsiv $200 for fourth place. The $100 prizes went to Maksimovic for fifth place and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina for the highest score among the women who participated, 7/11.
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.
