Arjun Takes Titled Tuesday With 10/10, Locks In Speed Chess Championship Spot
As the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix nears its conclusion, with just two tournaments now remaining, the players we will see at the 2025 Speed Chess Championship are coming into view. GM Dmitry Andreikin won the first tournament of Titled Tuesday on May 20, with GM Arjun Erigaisi taking the second—launching the latter from eighth to third place in the Grand Prix standings despite missing the first round today. More about the ramifications of next week's Titled Tuesdays in the standings section below.
With 10 points each, both Andreikin and Arjun won outright, without the need of tiebreaks. Yes, after missing the first round, Arjun ripped off 10 straight victories to earn his second Titled Tuesday victory of 2025 and third overall. Andreikin's was his 19th since 2022, more than anyone not named GM Hikaru Nakamura or GM Magnus Carlsen, but first this year.
Early Tournament
Andreikin started 6/6 in the early field of 662, but it was seventh-seeded teenage GM Haowen Xue who was perfect longest, reaching 8/8. Xue would reach that mark with a win over Grand Prix hopeful GM Oleksandr Bortnyk.
Andreikin finally stopped Xue in the ninth round with a draw, but that was enough to keep Xue in the sole lead. The 10th round is where momentum shifted, with GM Nihal Sarin delivering Xue's first defeat while Andreikin picked up a 30-move win over GM Jakub Kosakowski.
The final round then came down to the new tie at first place between Andreikin and Nihal. As a thank you to Nihal for taking out Xue, Andreikin took home the win and the tournament. Andreikin had Black but Nihal's 1.a3—a well-known "passing" move that the swashbuckling Adolf Anderssen was reduced to playing against Paul Morphy, hence its name (although Anderssen did win a game with it!)—was not the most challenging opening.
Xue, meanwhile, recovered from his lull in rounds nine and 10 to win against GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov in the final round, albeit on time in a losing position. But Xue's tiebreaks nonetheless dominated the field, and it was enough for second place ahead of GMs Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Martyn Kravtsiv. The remaining prizes then went to youngest-ever GM Abhimanyu Mishra in fifth place and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in 56th for the women's prize.
Congratulations to Dmitry Andreikin on winning the Early #TitledTuesday with an unbeaten 10/11! 🎉🏆 pic.twitter.com/40iWluA81Q
— chess24 (@chess24com) May 20, 2025
May 20 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3214 | 10 | 66.5 | |
| 2 | 7 | GM | @Dr_Tyger | Haowen Xue | 3162 | 9.5 | 79 | |
| 3 | 61 | GM | @crescentmoon2411 | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | 2941 | 9.5 | 68 | |
| 4 | 71 | GM | @Cayse | Martyn Kravtsiv | 2950 | 9.5 | 59 | |
| 5 | 12 | GM | @PursuitOfHappyness2 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 3111 | 9 | 75 | |
| 6 | 16 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 3065 | 9 | 75 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3189 | 9 | 74 | |
| 8 | 35 | GM | @VitaliyBernadskiy | Vitaliy Bernadskiy | 3024 | 9 | 73.5 | |
| 9 | 45 | GM | @Kosak12 | Jakub Kosakowski | 2985 | 9 | 63.5 | |
| 10 | 142 | FM | @Marcul0 | Ernur Amangeldy | 2800 | 9 | 57 | |
| 11 | 27 | FM | @Bauman_Guy | Konstantin Popov | 2998 | 9 | 53 | |
| 12 | 18 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3079 | 8.5 | 81 | |
| 13 | 44 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2987 | 8.5 | 75.5 | |
| 14 | 23 | IM | @DonkyDonkyDonkey | Eray Kilic | 3003 | 8.5 | 72.5 | |
| 15 | 161 | IM | @Losingexperience | Srihari L | 2775 | 8.5 | 62.5 | |
| 16 | 57 | IM | @Arash_Tahbaz | Arash Tahbaz | 2928 | 8.5 | 60 | |
| 17 | 259 | IM | @varunkrishnanchess | Varun Krishnan | 2694 | 8 | 74.5 | |
| 18 | 8 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3068 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 19 | 10 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3078 | 8 | 71 | |
| 20 | 56 | GM | @severomorskij | Aleksandr Moiseenko | 2936 | 8 | 70 | |
| 56 | 129 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2814 | 7.5 | 54.5 |
Prizes: Andreikin $1,000, Xue $750, Nguyen $350, Kravtsiv $200, Mishra $100, Kosteniuk $100.
Late Tournament
Out of 394 players, Arjun was both the last perfect player, having never lost, but also among the first non-perfect players, having not played the first round. Despite coming up against three straight of his strongest Indian rivals in rounds seven through nine, followed by Bortnyk and then Carlsen himself, Arjun rocketed to the top of the standings, just as he's rocketed to several milestones in the past few years.
In that back half, Arjun's shortest win came in the eighth round against GM Pranesh M, where he needed just 25 moves to obtain a mate-in-seven, when Pranesh resigned.
The game against Bortnyk was somehow even more crushing, checkmate itself coming on the 26th move. Although the contest technically came down to a one-move blunder by Bortnyk, it took two consecutive piece sacrifices from Arjun, one passive and one active, to punish that blunder. It was only then that Arjun obtained sole first place, having moved into a tie in the previous round after needing three times as many moves, 77, to take down GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.
But no one wins Titled Tuesday outright after missing a round without a fight, and to get it done now, Arjun needed to beat Carlsen. Neither player got much out of the opening, and the computer didn't think it was the most accurate middlegame, but Arjun would end up outplaying Magnus and winning before move 40 yet again.
Arjun needed every last point, with his tiebreaks naturally coming in very low, and IM Kacper Drozdowski scoring 9.5 points. Drozdowski would win his last five games, the last two of them coming against GM Fabiano Caruana and Bortnyk.
Third place was a three-way tie between GMs Daniel Naroditsky, Pranesh, and Aravindh Chithambaram, with tiebreaks shaking out into that final order. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina won the women's prize in 46th place.
May 20 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Buchholz Cut 1 |
| 1 | 15 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3136 | 10 | 65 | |
| 2 | 16 | IM | @Kacparov | Kacper Drozdowski | 3072 | 9.5 | 71 | |
| 3 | 37 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 2999 | 9 | 69 | |
| 4 | 26 | GM | @artooon | Pranesh M | 3009 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 5 | 33 | GM | @Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2988 | 9 | 65 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | @PursuitOfHappyness2 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 3111 | 8.5 | 77.5 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | @rpragchess | Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | 3178 | 8.5 | 76.5 | |
| 8 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3240 | 8.5 | 69 | |
| 9 | 15 | GM | @GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 3067 | 8.5 | 63 | |
| 10 | 10 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3120 | 8 | 76.5 | |
| 11 | 3 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3179 | 8 | 76.5 | |
| 12 | 11 | GM | @LiemLe | Liem Le | 3089 | 8 | 72 | |
| 13 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3349 | 8 | 71 | |
| 14 | 25 | GM | @Kosak12 | Jakub Kosakowski | 2985 | 8 | 70 | |
| 15 | 40 | CM | @stollenmonster | Egor Baskakov | 2951 | 8 | 70 | |
| 16 | 60 | GM | @topotun | Mikhail Panarin | 2887 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 17 | 65 | GM | @theredking89 | Juan Carlos Obregon Rivero | 2877 | 8 | 66 | |
| 18 | 36 | GM | @Alexander_Donchenko | Alexander Donchenko | 2956 | 8 | 60.5 | |
| 19 | 75 | FM | @heytbeteacher | Baver Yılmaz | 2820 | 8 | 58.5 | |
| 20 | 44 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2929 | 8 | 56.5 | |
| 46 | 76 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2780 | 7 | 61 |
Prizes: Arjun $1,000, Drozdowski $750, Naroditsky $350, Pranesh $200, Aravindh $100, Goryachkina $100.
Grand Prix Standings
We've expanded the standings to show not just the eight currently qualified players (bolded), but those on their tails as well, and added a column for each player's 10th-best individual result so far, the lowest one that counts to the standings. The lower that score is, the easier it is for a player to jump in the standings with a strong showing in the final week. GM Parham Maghsoodloo or Nihal, for example, would earn a full two points with a score of 10/11, and very possibly a spot in the top eight—although that alone wouldn't clear Arjun, hence the safety of the latter's position.
You can work out some more scenarios for different players from this article, or via the full standings here.
| Rk | Username | Score | 10th | Title | Name |
| 1 | @MagnusCarlsen | 98.5 | 9.0 | GM | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2 | @Hikaru | 95.0 | 9.0 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura |
| 3 | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | 93.0 | 9.0 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi |
| 4 | @LiemLe | 92.5 | 8.5 | GM | Liem Le |
| 5 | @DenLaz | 92.5 | 9.0 | GM | Denis Lazavik |
| 6 | @Jospem | 92.0 | 8.5 | GM | Jose Martinez |
| 7 | @HansOnTwitch | 92.0 | 9.0 | GM | Hans Niemann |
| 8 | @Msb2 | 91.5 | 8.5 | GM | Matthias Bluebaum |
| 9 | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | 91.0 | 9.0 | GM | Oleksandr Bortnyk |
| 10 | @wonderfultime | 91.0 | 9.0 | GM | Tuan Minh Le |
| 11 | @Parhamov | 90.5 | 8.0 | GM | Parham Maghsoodloo |
| 12 | @Polish_fighter3000 | 90.5 | 8.5 | GM | Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
| 13 | @nihalsarin | 90.5 | 8.0 | GM | Nihal Sarin |
| 14 | @mishanick | 90.5 | 8.5 | GM | Alexey Sarana |
The situation regarding the Women's Speed Chess Championship is a bit less fluid, although the last spot is very much up for grabs, currently only being decided on a tiebreak. Making matters worse for IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham is her 10th-best score being higher than GM Jiner Zhu, creating a higher bar to improving her overall score, but the former is still very much alive.
| Rk | Username | Score | 10th | Title | Name |
| 1 | @ChessQueen | 74.5 | 7.0 | GM | Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 2 | @Flawless_Fighter | 72.5 | 7.0 | IM | Polina Shuvalova |
| 3 | @Goryachkina | 71.0 | 6.5 | GM | Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 4 | @karinachess1 | 70.5 | 7.0 | IM | Karina Ambartsumova |
| 5 | @Meri-Arabidze | 68.5 | 6.5 | IM | Meri Arabidze |
| 6 | @Sanyura | 67.5 | 6.0 | WGM | Aleksandra Maltsevskaya |
| 7 | @anasta10 | 67.5 | 6.0 | FM | Anastasia Avramidou |
| 8 | @jinbojinbo | 66.5 | 6.0 | GM | Jiner Zhu |
| 9 | @Fh2411 | 66.5 | 6.5 | IM | Le Thao Nguyen Pham |
| 10 | @rollercoaster29 | 64.0 | 6.0 | WFM | Kalyani Sirin |
Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), juniors (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) do not have SCC places on the line, but there will be cash prizes in each of these categories. The current leaders are:
Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov), 83.5 points
Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46), 86.5 points
Girls: WFM Kalyani Sirin (@rollercoaster29), 64.0 points
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).
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.
