The Top 6 Titled Tuesday Tactics

Six Titled Tuesday tournaments are in the books, and the seventh is scheduled for today as the event moves to the first Tuesday of the month. 

After thousands of master games, tightly packed leaderboards, and thrilling finishes, these events have become can't-miss spectacles on Chess.com's live server, Twitch channel, and Chess.com/TV. 

Last week's event saw super-GM Hikaru Nakamura's Titled Tuesday debut, along with the strongest field ever. As the event grows, more and more strong titled players may look to test their skills and earn cash prizes in this free tournament. 

As you wait one more day to tune in to today's big tournament, take a moment to review six of the best tactics played in the series.

Let us know your favorite tactics from the Titled Tuesday archive in the comments section below or on Facebook. 

Don't forget to join us today for Titled Tuesday on March 3 at 11 a.m. PST (2 p.m EST, 7 p.m. GMT).  IM Daniel Rensch will host live commentary on Chess.com's Twitch channel and Chess.com/TV. 

6.  Jobava weaves a double-knight mating net.

GM Baduur Jobava has won first place in four out of the six Titled Tuesdays, so it's no surprise his game pops up immediately on his list. 

Here, Jobava ensnares a fellow grandmaster in an equine mating net that has to be seen to be believed:

5. Consecutive mutual exchange sacs win for White.

FM Nick Raptis upsets Titled Tuesday king Jobava in this wild game with exchange sacrifices from both sides -- one immediately after the other:

4. Andreikin sacs knight and rook for the win. 

GM Dmitry Vladimirovich Andreikin proved that two pieces are expendable if the end result is a spectacular win:

3. MVL sacs a bishop and finishes with a royal fork. 

The two strongest players to ever participate in Titled Tuesday played each other in what turned out to be a shockingly short miniature win for GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave over GM Hikaru Nakamura. As IM Daniel Rensch pointed out in his live coverage, Nakamura could have saved himself with 12…Nxd5, after which Black is actually quite a bit better. (Nakamura himself proposed this move in the post-game chat.)

2. Nakamura scores a royal fork of his own.

Always beware when a super-GM appears to hang a rook. If you snap up the "free" piece, you might find your king and queen in a devastating fork: