Firouzja Wins Fashionably Late
The March 7, 2023, editions of Titled Tuesday were won by GM Vladimir Fedoseev early and GM Alireza Firouzja late, both scoring 9.5 points. Falling just shy were GMs Nihal Sarin and Dmitry Andreikin, who also scored 9.5 points but lost due to tiebreaks, each settling for second place.
Early Tournament
Fedoseev emerged from a field of 514 players after a topsy-turvy few rounds in the late middle portion of the tournament.
Sixth-round games don't always stand out, but one did in this tournament as Fedoseev toppled GM Hikaru Nakamura.
In the very next round, however, Fedoseev faced Nihal, and the Indian teenager came out on top.
The carousel continued as eventual third-place finisher GM Oleksandr Bortnyk then beat Nihal in round eight.
The routine ended the next round, however, as Fedoseev defeated Bortnyk in the ninth round to enter a four-way tie on eight points. All four of those players made a draw in round 10, and Nihal joined them with a win in the round. Nihal continued with a victory over GM Matthias Bluebaum, but it was Fedoseev's win over GM Arjun Erigaisi that ultimately decided the tournament champion.
March 7 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 15 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3035 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3176 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 16 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3022 | 9 | |
| 4 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3200 | 9 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3078 | 9 | |
| 6 | 12 | GM | @BillieKimbah | Maxim Matlakov | 3027 | 9 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3067 | 9 | |
| 8 | 32 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2934 | 9 | |
| 9 | 31 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2956 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 7 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3058 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 29 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2957 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 72 | FM | @rezamahdavi2008 | reza mahdavi | 2778 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 122 | FM | @AlexPapasimakopoulos | Alexandros Papasimakopoulos | 2676 | 8.5 | |
| 14 | 19 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 2981 | 8 | |
| 15 | 9 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3022 | 8 | |
| 16 | 21 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2962 | 8 | |
| 17 | 51 | GM | @Harsha_Bharathakoti | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2861 | 8 | |
| 18 | 25 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2953 | 8 | |
| 19 | 63 | GM | @krzyzan94 | Marcin Krzyżanowski | 2811 | 8 | |
| 20 | 26 | GM | @Anton_Demchenko | Anton Demchenko | 2950 | 8 | |
| 84 | 246 | FM | @Yosha_Iglesias | Yosha Iglesias | 2509 | 6.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Fedoseev won $1,000, and Nihal earned $750. Bortnyk won $350, while Nakamura eventually finished fourth for $200. The $100 prizes went to GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in fifth place and FM @Yosha_Iglesias with the highest score among the women in the field.
Late Tournament
In the late field of 425, Firouzja won after surviving a third-round loss to GM Carlos Albornoz (who eventually finished in 14th place). By the time the final round began, Firouzja led the rest of the field by half a point, and a five-move draw against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was enough to clinch the tournament.
In between, Firouzja won seven games in a row. The last of these came against the early tournament winner Fedoseev.
Andreikin, who drew in round two and then lost to GM Gata Kamsky in round six, was able to move into a tie by facing no other setbacks and defeating GM Fabiano Caruana in the final round.
It says something about just how strong Titled Tuesday is becoming that 9.5 has been the target winning score as of late, when the longtime norm has been 10 points. But the last player to score in the double figures was Nakamura in the early February 14 tournament.
March 7 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3131 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3084 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 6 | GM | @LyonBeast | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 3103 | 9 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3074 | 9 | |
| 5 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3221 | 9 | |
| 6 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3192 | 9 | |
| 7 | 19 | GM | @rednova1729 | Awonder Liang | 2995 | 9 | |
| 8 | 24 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2971 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 30 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2957 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 9 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3052 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 3 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3130 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 35 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 2944 | 8 | |
| 13 | 27 | GM | @gena217 | Guillermo Vazquez | 2950 | 8 | |
| 14 | 62 | GM | @CarlosAlbornoz | Carlos Albornoz | 2810 | 8 | |
| 15 | 38 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2881 | 8 | |
| 16 | 97 | GM | @attack2mateU | Razvan Preotu | 2737 | 8 | |
| 17 | 23 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2964 | 8 | |
| 18 | 20 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2948 | 8 | |
| 19 | 29 | GM | @VincentKeymer | Vincent Keymer | 2955 | 8 | |
| 20 | 52 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2806 | 8 | |
| 56 | 108 | WGM | @jinbojinbo | Jiner Zhu | 2667 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Firouzja won the $1,000 first-place prize, while Andreikin earned $750. Vachier-Lagrave won $350 for third place. Fedoseev added $200 to his day's winnings, for a total of $1,200. GM Magnus Carlsen made a fifth-place appearance for $100. The $100 women's prize went to WGM Jiner Zhu.
Titled Tuesday is the weekly Chess.com tournament for titled players, with two 11-round Swiss tournaments held every Tuesday 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.
