Martinez Notches Back-To-Back Double Wins In 3 0 Thursdays
For the second time in as many weeks, GM Jose Martinez notched two 3 0 Thursday victories in one day, earning himself $800 in prize money. Martinez posted scores of 9.5/11 in both events to claim first place outright, and lost only a single game in 22 rounds.
The third tournament was won by IM Renato Terry, who had to wrest his spot at the top of the all-time leaderboards back off Martinez, while the top women's performers were IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen, WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn, and WIM Hong Anh Nguyen.
1st Tournament: Martinez Conquers Caruana On Candidates Rest Day
GM Abhimanyu Puranik emerged as an early leader in the first tournament after winning six games in row. In rounds 3-6, Puranik defeated GMs Sina Movahed, Martinez, and IM Faustino Oro, who are all regular contenders at the top.
Playing Black against Oro, Puranik brought his knight to a supreme outpost on e3 and launched an unstoppable kingside attack.
As a consequence of his success, Puranik then came face-to-face with several super, and former super-GMs, including GMs Dmitry Andreikin, Fabiano Caruana, and Matthias Bluebaum, but was unable to keep up the heroics.
Caruana and Bluebaum's participation raised eyebrows since they were supposed to be resting between rounds of the 2026 Candidates Tournament. In saying that, both players clearly love to play chess in their downtime—Caruana also played and finished second in an edition of Titled Tuesday during the 2024 Candidates Tournament.
By round 10, Caruana and Martinez were the tournament's frontrunners and they eventually paired, with Caruana on 7.5/9 and Martinez on 8/9. Their clash was a messy skirmish in the English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense that ended with a Caruana queen blunder on move 19.
Boasting a one-point lead over Andreikin and GM Denis Lazavik, Martinez played steady, solid chess to draw with Lazavik in the final round and secured first place.
2nd Tournament: Flagging Spree Leads To Martinez Double-Up
In the second tournament, Martinez' path to victory was less tumultuous, though a round-one draw with FM Dylan Tang forced him to fight his way back to the top.
Martinez went on to score eight wins, interrupted only by two draws with GM Vugar Rasulov and Lazavik. While this purple patch would give the impression that the Peruvian-born GM was experiencing a flow-state of sorts, a review of his games shows that mastery of the clock was one of the greatest factors leading to his victory.
In four of his games, three of which were equal rook endgames, Martinez won by flag fall. The final game against GM Bardiya Daneshvar was particularly important as a draw would have resulted in him coming equal first with Lazavik and having to rely on tiebreaks.
A special mention must also go to the 13-year-old CM Damir Bulgak who punched above his weight and finished 10th with a score of 8/9. Had he overcome Lazavik in the final round, he would have earned himself a spot on the podium.
3rd Tournament: Terry & Martirosyan Fight For First
By the end of round five in the third tournament, Terry was the only player on a perfect score, however, Martirosyan was hot on his heels. When they came face-to-face in round six, the Armenian spotted a shrewd liquidation tactic that left Terry in a losing king-and-pawn ending.
Martirosyan's time at the top was cut short in round seven by GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov, and Tsydypov's victory gave Terry and IM Khuong Duy Dau a berth to join him.
A trio of wins for Terry in rounds nine, 10, and 11 would seal yet another title for the IM. In the final round, Terry capped off the win in style with a bone-crushing knight sacrifice that prompted CM Vladislav Zhirkov's immediate resignation.
3 0 Thursday features three tournaments every week for titled players. The events are on Thursday every week at 11 a.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. ET / 17:00, 22:00, and 3 a.m. (+1) CEST / 9:30 p.m., 2:30 a.m. (+1), and 7:30 a.m. (+1) IST.
