The Magnus And Hans Show Continues In Titled Tuesday

A week after GMs Hans Niemann and Magnus Carlsen won Titled Tuesday on June 10, Titled Tuesday on June 17 was won by... Carlsen and Niemann. This week, Carlsen scored 10.5 points in the early event, winning by a full point ahead of GMs Alexey Sarana and Jeffery Xiong, and Niemann scored 10 points later, a half-point ahead of GM Fabiano Caruana. Even the scores were mirrored after Niemann scored 10.5 points and Carlsen had 10 last week; and Carlsen this week, like Niemann last week, started 10/10 before a draw in the final round.

But yes, this was a new week, not some sort of Matrix glitch. Let's jump in (to the games, not the Matrix—the Matrix isn't real).

• Early Tournament (Carlsen, 10.5/11)
• Late Tournament (Niemann, 10/11)
• Grand Prix Qualifiers

Early Tournament

Even the total number of players was eerily similar, with 695 joining the early tournament this week compared to 692 last week. Carlsen faced an eventual top-25 finisher as early as round one and ended up with a tiebreak of 84, which wasn't relevant to the final result but demonstrates the quality of opponents he faced throughout the near-perfect event.

Carlsen came within moments of losing as early as round six against IM Renato Terry after Terry, already down to just 16 seconds, missed a beautiful mate-in-two opportunity. Ten moves later, Carlsen checkmated Terry instead.

After the round, four players were still perfect on 6/6. Carlsen dispatched eventual runner-up Sarana in the seventh, leaving two perfect players, and then took out Xiong to become the last player standing on 8/8. The Carlsen-Xiong game reached an early endgame and was played almost flawlessly by both contestants, to the point that when it was over, underpowered engines can't quite see to the finish. But, while Xiong lost on time, the tablebase confirms that the game was indeed a win for Black had it continued with best play.

After another win in the ninth round, Carlsen faced Niemann in the 10th round for the third straight tournament, as they battled in the same round both times last week as well. Their games always seem to be a battle of nerves to some extent, but for the second time in the three games, Carlsen's won out.

And so Carlsen had played the second- through fifth-place finishers, in order, in the last four rounds and won them all. Like Niemann last week, however, Carlsen took an easy draw despite being one step from a perfect 11/11 score. Sarana and Xiong, the only players one point back entering the round, drew each other in the final round, so Carlsen would have won the tournament outright even with a loss, but it's tough to blame him since his slate of opponents this event was a gauntlet—plus, he's already scored 11/11 before. Three times.

Other than their games against Carlsen and each other, Sarana and Xiong were a perfect 9/9. Sarana's tiebreaks won out, largely on account of his speed, as he won on time in rounds eight and 10 in unclear positions. His ninth-round win against IM Artiom Stribuk, however, came on the board.

GM Alireza Firouzja and Niemann rounded out the top five, and WGM Savitha Shri B won the women's prize. Niemann, of course, would be back.

June 17 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Carlsen $1,000, Sarana $750, Xiong $350, Firouzja $200, Niemann $100, Savitha $100.

Late Tournament

The late tournament cracked 500 participants for the first time since February, reaching 529. Carlsen was not one of them, but Niemann was. Niemann did not lose a game, only making draws in the fifth and 10th rounds.

It was 11-year-old IM Faustino Oro instead who was the last perfect player, reaching 6/6 on his way to a 10th-place finish. Oro's sixth straight win to start the tournament came against Firouzja. "Messi" is going places.

Oro's run would end in the next round against GM Hikaru Nakamura, but he didn't lose again until the final round, putting him in contention for the top five right to the end. It was Caruana who won that last game, taking second place for himself despite losing way back in round two.

But it was Niemann, of course, who stole the show, scoring 2.5 points in the final three rounds against Nakamura, Caruana, and Firouzja—all current or former world number-twos. It took 110 moves and, of all things, bishop-and-knight checkmate technique, for Niemann to score the point off Nakamura. Niemann needed 30 of the allotted 50 moves to pull it off.

Two rounds later, armed with the sole lead despite the 10th-round draw versus Caruana, Niemann held on just long enough against Firouzja. Firouzja held serve for much of the game, but a natural check in the endgame lost the battle on the spot.

And just like that, Niemann won his fourth Titled Tuesday of the year, matching Nakamura for the second-most this year behind only Carlsen. GMs Bogdan Daniel Deac, Salem Saleh, and Daniel Naroditsky rounded out the top five while WGM Anna Shukhman won the women's prize.

June 17 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Niemann $1,000 (daily total: $1,100), Caruana $750, Deac $350, Saleh $200, Naroditsky $100, Shukhman $100. 

Grand Prix Qualifiers

The Titled Tuesday Grand Prix concluded on May 27. Congratulations to the Speed Chess Championship qualifiers!

SCC qualifiers:

Women's SCC qualifiers: 

Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), juniors (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) did not have SCC places on the line, but there were cash prizes in each of these categories. The winners were:

Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov), 83.5 points (won $2,500)

Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46), 86.5 points (won $2,500)

Girls: WGM Anna Shukhman (@speshka), 66.5 points (won $1,000)

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).