Nakamura Adds Another Tournament Victory
GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Jeffery Xiong, the most successful and one of the most successful players in the history of Titled Tuesday, each added another victory feather to their caps in the September 20, 2022 editions.
IM Anna Sargsyan swept the women's prizes.
Early Tournament
Of the 397 players who fought for this week's early victory, two tied for first: Nakamura and GM Matthias Bluebaum. Their ninth-round matchup, a 90-move victory for Nakamura against Bluebaum's Dutch Defense, wound up the tournament's key game. It was the only loss for either player in the event.
Bluebaum went on to defeat IM Khazar Babazada (below) and GM Nils Grandelius to reach 9.5 points out of 11.
But Nakamura, after defeating GM Dmitry Andreikin, in round 10, was so far ahead in tiebreaks that he made a draw with IM Renato Terry in the last round without any moves. Also on 9.5/11, Nakamura won the tournament.
The instant draw also made sense for Terry, who had his own significant tiebreak edge against the players on nine points, clinching third place.
September 20 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3225 | 9.5 | 66.75 | |
| 2 | 11 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2975 | 9.5 | 55 | |
| 3 | 20 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2952 | 9 | 64 | |
| 4 | 23 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2960 | 9 | 51.5 | |
| 5 | 24 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2918 | 9 | 48 | |
| 6 | 15 | GM | @Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 2915 | 8.5 | 51.25 | |
| 7 | 13 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2935 | 8.5 | 50.75 | |
| 8 | 3 | IM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3023 | 8.5 | 50 | |
| 9 | 26 | IM | @KhazarBabazada007 | Khazar Babazada | 2885 | 8.5 | 47 | |
| 10 | 17 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2921 | 8.5 | 40.25 | |
| 11 | 12 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2916 | 8 | 52.5 | |
| 12 | 19 | IM | @Bulldog167 | Leon Livaic | 2916 | 8 | 52 | |
| 13 | 62 | IM | @CSB7 | Balázs Csonka | 2768 | 8 | 48.25 | |
| 14 | 47 | IM | @Marcus_Harvey | Marcus Harvey | 2796 | 8 | 46.25 | |
| 15 | 2 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3047 | 8 | 46 | |
| 16 | 73 | GM | @Harry_Rakkel | Krzysztof Jakubowski | 2655 | 8 | 42 | |
| 17 | 29 | IM | @mbojan | Bojan Maksimović | 2875 | 8 | 41.5 | |
| 18 | 4 | GM | @champ2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2968 | 8 | 39.5 | |
| 18 | 14 | GM | @Grandelicious | Nils Grandelius | 2949 | 8 | 39.5 | |
| 20 | 6 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 2965 | 7.5 | 48 | |
| 70 | 90 | IM | @AnotherGrumpy | Anna M Sargsyan | 2642 | 6.5 | 27.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won the $1,000 victor's prize while Bluebaum took $750 for second place. Terry won $350 in third place, GM Aleksandr Lenderman $200 in fourth, and GM Rasmus Svane $100 in fifth, while Sarsgyan won the $100 women's prize on 6.5/11.
Late Tournament
Xiong won for the second time in as many weeks, this time emerging from a field of 321. As in the early tournament, two players tied for first on 9.5/11, with GM Oleksandr Bortnyk being the other this time. However, on this occasion, the winner of the individual matchup only finished in second place.
In the final four rounds, neither player lost, but Bortnyk made two draws while Xiong only made one, producing the tie atop the standings.
Xiong got to experience one of the greatest joys of chess against Lenderman in round 10, sacrificing his queen to deliver a back-rank checkmate on the board.
Once again, the tournament leader entering the final round had enough tiebreak edge to make a draw with the third-place finisher. Unlike Nakamura and Terry, Xiong and GM Eltaj Safarli played a real game but repeated after 29 moves.
September 20 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 8 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3002 | 9.5 | 72.5 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3006 | 9.5 | 61.25 | |
| 3 | 32 | GM | @Eltaj_Safarli | Eltaj Safarli | 2922 | 9 | 51.5 | |
| 4 | 20 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2921 | 8.5 | 56.25 | |
| 4 | 4 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3043 | 8.5 | 56.25 | |
| 6 | 27 | GM | @ChessLover0108 | Mahammad Muradli | 2913 | 8.5 | 50.75 | |
| 7 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3118 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 8 | 17 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2960 | 8.5 | 43.75 | |
| 9 | 55 | FM | @dragos420 | Dragos Ceres | 2784 | 8.5 | 43.25 | |
| 10 | 13 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2946 | 8 | 55.5 | |
| 11 | 25 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2919 | 8 | 55 | |
| 12 | 11 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2952 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 13 | 31 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2866 | 8 | 45 | |
| 14 | 3 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3047 | 8 | 43.5 | |
| 14 | 41 | FM | @1800_strength | Dachey Lin | 2835 | 8 | 43.5 | |
| 16 | 42 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2838 | 8 | 42.5 | |
| 17 | 24 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2889 | 8 | 40 | |
| 18 | 70 | FM | @MarcoRiehle | Marco Riehle | 2726 | 8 | 38.5 | |
| 19 | 113 | IM | @Arnaldofdelavaramulet | Arnaldo Fernandez | 2626 | 8 | 37.5 | |
| 20 | 29 | IM | @mbojan | Bojan Maksimović | 2875 | 7.5 | 44.75 | |
| 61 | 88 | IM | @AnotherGrumpy | Anna M Sargsyan | 2642 | 6 | 28 |
(Full final standings here.)
Xiong won $1,000, Bortnyk $750, and Safarli $350 as the top three finishers. GMs Sergei Zhigalko and Fabiano Caruana tied for fourth, each earning $150. Sargsyan was once again the highest-scoring woman, winning another $100 for a total of $200 on the day.
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly event for titled players. Every Tuesday, the two 11-round Swiss tournaments 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.
