Iranians Darini, Hejazipour Win IoM Trips In Titled Tuesday
June's Titled Tuesday was a fantastic success for Iranian players.
As evidenced by their success in the 2016 Olympiad and the emergence of prodigies like GM Alireza Firouzja, Iran is becoming quite a strong chess country.
With two trips (top male and top female) to the Chess.com Isle of Man International up for grabs, Iranians took home both. GM Pouria Darini and WGM Mitra Hejazipour were the victors.
Road to the Top
Darini's road to the top started inauspiciously as he drew in rounds one and three before defeating GM Daniil Dubov in round four (a very harsh start for Dubov). From round four on, he won all seven games in convincing fashion. Here is his final-round victory against GM Maxim Matlakov in which he came out a piece to the better after some queenside fireworks.
Dubov understandably withdrew after such an unfortunate start. | Photo Maria Emelianova, Chess.com.
Darini's road to the top was cleared somewhat when GM Zaven Andriasyan concluded the tournament with three draws in 9, 12, and 12 moves respectively. One wonders if he did not want to win the trip to IoM. Prior to that Andriasyan had started with 7/7 (!) and looked a lock for at least shared first place. Andriasyan also scored a nice win over Matlakov.
One perennial contender, GM Dmitry Andreikin, wasn't able to make a run at the top in this event, but he did score one of the more satisfying victories in the event.
Andreikin is one of the winningest Titled Tuesday regulars. Photo Maria Emelianova, Chess.com.
Streaming Glory
Plenty of streamers opted to compete in this month's event. Among them were were GMs Jon Ludwig Hammer, Eric Hansen, Ruslan Ponomariov, IM John Bartholomew, and even this author. If there is one thing better than winning a brilliant game it's winning it on stream to the accolades of the chat. Two particularly exciting games were so captured.
First Hammer delivered a magnificent checkmate as Black against one of the Iranian players who was not so fortunate in this event as his victorious compatriots.
Another streamer won a nice game against Hammer himself later as GM Ruslan Ponomariov played a crushing ...Nxg4! sacrifice as Black.
Final Standings | June Titled Tuesday
| Place | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Score |
| 1 | 115 | GM | Fighterman91 | Pouria Darini | 9 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Zaven_Andriasyan | Zaven Andriasyan | 8.5 | |
| 3 | 55 | FM | petrpalachev | Petr Palachev | 8.5 | |
| 4 | 14 | GM | TigranLPetrosyan | Tigran Petrosian | 8.5 | |
| 5 | 224 | IM | GadimbayliA | Abdulla Gadimbayli | 8.5 | |
| 6 | 31 | GM | Borsch7 | Maxim Matlakov | 8 | |
| 6 | 15 | GM | Micki-taryan | Haik Martirosyan | 8 | |
| 8 | 11 | GM | Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 8 | |
| 8 | 70 | GM | JaimeSantosLatasa | Jaime Santos Latasa | 8 | |
| 10 | 92 | GM | VitaliyBernadskiy | Vitaliy Bernadskiy | 8 | |
| 11 | 35 | GM | Infernal_XaM | Pavel Ponkratov | 8 | |
| 12 | 6 | GM | OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 8 | |
| 13 | 12 | GM | klounessa | Даниил Линчевский | 7.5 | |
| 14 | 107 | GM | Matibar | Mateusz Bartel | 7.5 | |
| 15 | 186 | IM | maximlavrov | Maxim Lavrov | 7.5 | |
| 16 | 45 | GM | Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 7.5 | |
| 17 | 222 | NM | littleplotkin | Mark Plotkin | 7.5 | |
| 18 | 21 | GM | gkchesstiger | Gata Kamsky | 7.5 |
Find the complete crosstable, standings, and games here.
GM Aman Hambleton streamed coverage of Titled Tuesday. Watch the full stream for his chill and instructive commentary! 
Watch Titled Tuesday! from Chess on www.twitch.tv
GM Pouria Darini wins $500 for clear first prize as well as earning entry, airfare, and accommodations for the Chess.com Isle of Man International. GMs Zaven Andriasyan, Tigran Petrosyan, IM Abdulla Gadimbayli, and FM Petr Palachev each received $225 for shared second place. WGM Mitra Hejazipour was the top-finishing female player and also won airfare, entry, and accommodations for the Chess.com Isle of Man International.
Finally, the $100 streamers' prize goes to GM Ruslan Ponomariov. The former FIDE world champion is now streaming; watch his stream and give him a follow!
Watch Titled Tuesday blitz tournament from RuslanPonomariov on www.twitch.tv
I'm the VP of Chess and Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2014, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
You can find my personal content on Twitch , Twitter , and YouTube where I further indulge my love of chess.
