Lazavik Outlasts Fellow Teens On Tiebreaks

A week after GM Jeffery Xiong scored the first 11/11 in Freestyle Friday history, this week's 960 event on Chess.com ended in a three-way tie on nine points. GM Denis Lazavik pulled ahead in the ninth round, but then allowed IMs Eytan Rozen and Marco Materia to catch up before the end of the event. Still, Lazavik's tiebreaks held by a wide margin, giving him the tournament victory. Worth noting: none of the top three finishers have even turned 20 yet.

No player, of any age, made it more than five rounds without a loss or draw. GM Dmitry Andreikin was thus able to move into the sole lead with 6.5 points after seven rounds, defeating IM Renato Terry in just 25 moves after an impressive sequence on moves 12-15, followed by checks on seven of the last eight turns.

Andreikin extended his score to 7.5 points in the next round, but then in the ninth round he faced the eventual tournament winner, and it was here the winds shifted. A long tactical sequence ended with Lazavik ahead by a pawn, which eventually proved enough.

Lazavik, who had made draws in rounds five and seven, now held the tournament lead by himself, but he would also make two more draws the rest of the way, allowing Rozen and Materia to catch up. Materia defeated GM Hans Niemann in same ninth round that featured the Andreikin-Lazavik turning point, then beat Andreikin himself in the 10th, bringing him all the way back into a tie for first despite having lost all the way back in the second round. Andreikin built a big lead in this game but could not sustain the advantage.

With one round to go, there was a three-way tie for first on 8.5/10 between Lazavik, Rozen, and not Materia but Terry. Materia and FM Rustam Rustamov had eight points each. Andreikin would defeat Rustamov and so, despite the consecutive setbacks in rounds nine and 10, was able to take fourth place. Materia, who like Rozen also lost early on (round three), would end up in third by leapfrogging Terry (the April 18 tournament winner) after taking their game.

Because of Terry's loss, either Lazavik or Rozen could have won the tournament outright with a decisive result. Instead, they played 69 moves until nothing but the kings were left, which was a good result for Lazavik thanks to his overwhelming tiebreak advantage.

The final prize, the women's prize, went to IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham in 21st place. With several players busy at the 2025 World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships, 196 players participated in this week's Freestyle Friday, a number that should rebound in the coming weeks.

June 13 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Lazavik $400, Rozen $250, Materia $150, Andreikin $100, Le $100.

Freestyle Friday is Chess.com's weekly tournament dedicated to Freestyle Chess for titled players. The tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time.