Korobov Wins June 22 Titled Tuesday With Record-Setting Performance
While others have come close, GM Anton Korobov became the first player to score 10.5/11 in Titled Tuesday, earning him a full-point tournament victory on June 22. GM Aryan Tari came in second with 9.5/11 on a tiebreak over GM Oleksandr Bortnyk. Rounding out the top five was GM David Howell in fourth with 9/11 on the tiebreak over GM Aleksandar Indjic.
583 titled players participated in this week's Titled Tuesday, the exact same number as last week. The tournament was the typical 11-round Swiss with a 3+1 time control.
The live broadcast of the tournament, hosted this week by GM Aman Hambleton.
Korobov started with 9/9, including wins over GM Hikaru Nakamura in round six, GM Daniil Dubov in round eight, and Tari in round nine. He was finally held to a draw by Bortnyk in the 10th round.
Korobov's win over Dubov in the battle of 7/7 scores was perhaps his best game of the event. He obtained a strong position out of the Exchange Grunfeld and found a Puzzle Rush-like checkmate, which he got to play on the board for a 31-move win.
In the 11th and final round, Korobov only needed a draw to clinch outright tournament victory. His opponent, GM Vladimir Onischuk, needed a win to move up in the standings, however. Korobov won as Black from a drawish position to set the Titled Tuesday scoring record.
Also in the final round, Tari defeated Dubov and Bortnyk took down Nakamura to lock up their top-three finishes. Bortnyk's win was particularly impressive, as he built up up a winning attack without much time on the clock.
There was also an interesting positional game in round six that Hambleton called a "really, really nice game" on the live broadcast. Argentina's GM Federico Perez Ponsa defeated FM Roman Yanchenko.
June 22 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 23 | GM | @GOGIEFF | Anton Korobov | 2972 | 10.5 | 77.75 | |
| 2 | 17 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 2961 | 9.5 | 62 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3015 | 9.5 | 56.75 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 2975 | 9 | 64.5 | |
| 5 | 37 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2860 | 9 | 50 | |
| 6 | 46 | GM | @Alexander_Donchenko | Alexander Donchenko | 2832 | 8.5 | 57.5 | |
| 7 | 2 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksey Sarana | 3006 | 8.5 | 55.75 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3006 | 8.5 | 54.25 | |
| 9 | 65 | GM | @Izoria123 | Zviad Izoria | 2817 | 8.5 | 54 | |
| 10 | 64 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2820 | 8.5 | 49.75 | |
| 11 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3167 | 8.5 | 49.5 | |
| 12 | 25 | GM | @vladislavkovalev | Vladislav Kovalev | 2908 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 13 | 34 | IM | @nrvignesh | Vignesh N.R | 2872 | 8.5 | 48.5 | |
| 14 | 38 | IM | @ChessLover0108 | Mahammad Muradli | 2860 | 8.5 | 45 | |
| 15 | 8 | GM | @ChessWarrior7197 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2978 | 8.5 | 43.25 | |
| 16 | 78 | GM | @MarkParagua | Mark Paragua | 2727 | 8.5 | 42.75 | |
| 16 | 60 | GM | @Onischuk_V | Vladimir Onischuk | 2854 | 8.5 | 42.75 | |
| 18 | 59 | GM | @Gabrielian_Artur | Artur Gabrielian | 2819 | 8 | 54.75 | |
| 19 | 26 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2867 | 8 | 51 | |
| 20 | 28 | GM | @crescentmoon2411 | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | 2865 | 8 | 49.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Korobov won $750 for first place, Tari $400 for finishing second, Bortnyk $150 for third place, and Howell taking $100 for fourth. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, who scored 8/11, took the $100 prize for the top female player.
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players. It begins at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday.
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.
