No CCT, No Problem For Tuesday Winner
The Titled Tuesday of December 12 was somewhat overshadowed by the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) Finals, but GM Denis Lazavik brought the two events together by winning the late Titled Tuesday following his elimination from the CCT. The earlier Titled Tuesday was won by GM Jose Martinez, his third win of the year after sweeping the October 17 events.
Early Tournament
With 518 players, the early Titled Tuesday was not quite as busy as normal, but it was still plenty strong enough. Martinez outlasted GM Tuan Minh Le and GM Dmitry Andreikin in the top three, with GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Jeffery Xiong, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and more also participating and finishing in the top 20. Martinez reached 7/7 to become the last perfect player, which isn't unusual, but what was unusual is that he did not fall into even a tie for first at any point thereafter either.
In between draws against Andreikin and Le in rounds eight and 10, Martinez faced Nepomniachtchi in round nine. Martinez came away with another point in a game full of hallucination and wonder. Both players made some mistakes and both made some great moves (Game Review awarding each player three exclamation marks). In the end, Nepomniachtchi gave Martinez one too many chances.
Martinez defeated GM Vladimir Fedoseev in the final round to maintain his lead over three other players (plus Fedoseev) who had been tied for second place. Of those three, Le was the only one to also win, his lockup of sole second place coming at the expense of GM Alexey Sarana. A very even game turned on a single blunder that lost a piece to a three-move combination.
Because of the results for the players on 8.5 points entering the last round, Andreikin jumped into third after beating Duda, even though he had only been on eight points. As in Le–Sarana, a single lapse of concentration decided the game.
December 12 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 13 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3058 | 10 | 77.5 | |
| 2 | 4 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3090 | 9.5 | 67.5 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3107 | 9 | 76.5 | |
| 4 | 22 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2972 | 9 | 66 | |
| 5 | 62 | IM | @scarabee43 | Marco Materia | 2861 | 9 | 65 | |
| 6 | 11 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3041 | 8.5 | 74.5 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3061 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 8 | 10 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3041 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 9 | 25 | GM | @Sychev_on_YouTube | Klementy Sychev | 2948 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 10 | 49 | GM | @Shankland | Sam Shankland | 2950 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 11 | 12 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3024 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 12 | 7 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3059 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 13 | 36 | GM | @Harsha_Bharathakoti | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2912 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 14 | 45 | GM | @Nitzan_Steinberg | Nitzan Steinberg | 2902 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 15 | 88 | IM | @sokidze | Ihor Samunenkov | 2775 | 8.5 | 52.5 | |
| 16 | 14 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 3006 | 8 | 72 | |
| 17 | 2 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3097 | 8 | 70 | |
| 18 | 103 | GM | @Aygehovit1992 | Nikita Matinian | 2789 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 19 | 5 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3054 | 8 | 69 | |
| 20 | 15 | GM | @sergoy | Sergey Drygalov | 3003 | 8 | 69 | |
| 64 | 102 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2712 | 7 | 55 |
(Full final standings here.)
Martinez won $1,000 for his efforts, while Le earned $750. Tied on nine points, Andreikin claimed $350 in third, GM Sergei Zhigalko $200 in fourth, and IM Marco Materia $100 in fifth after tiebreaks. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the $100 women's prize.
Late Tournament
Lazavik was officially eliminated from the CCT around 2:00 p.m. local Toronto time, with the late Titled Tuesday not starting until 5:00 p.m. Those three hours gave him apparently plenty of time to recover to not only play in Titled Tuesday, but to win it—and not only to win it, but win it outright.
While Martinez permanently separated from the pack in the seventh round, Lazavik did not do so until the 10th round. Like Martinez, Lazavik was the last perfect player, and on a 7/7 score as well. But Lazavik lost his next game, to eventual second-place finisher GM Matthias Bluebaum. Following the pattern set in the earlier Titled Tuesday, it was one blunder and done.
Lazavik won his next two games, which was enough of a recovery to regain sole first place entering the final round. The wins came against GMs Salem Saleh and Daniil Dubov. The game versus Dubov was again decided by a single move, even though on the surface 31...Re8 32.Ke2 looks like a quite harmless sequence.
Meanwhile, Bluebaum didn't lose again after beating Lazavik... but he also didn't win again, making draws in the final three rounds and slipping from sole first after eight rounds into a six-way tie for second after ten. Fortunately for him, his tiebreaks were still the best in that group.
December 12 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 9 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3088 | 9.5 | 73 | |
| 2 | 13 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3064 | 9 | 79 | |
| 3 | 35 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2946 | 9 | 77.5 | |
| 4 | 4 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3122 | 9 | 76 | |
| 5 | 18 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 3034 | 9 | 75.5 | |
| 6 | 15 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 3030 | 9 | 72 | |
| 7 | 43 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 2909 | 9 | 62 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3124 | 8.5 | 72.5 | |
| 9 | 2 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3152 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 10 | 70 | FM | @TanitoluwaAps116 | Tanitoluwa Adewumi | 2793 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 11 | 8 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3077 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
| 12 | 16 | GM | @Angry_Twin | Andrey Drygalov | 2999 | 8 | 73 | |
| 13 | 20 | GM | @Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 3006 | 8 | 72 | |
| 14 | 12 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3044 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 15 | 28 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2922 | 8 | 70 | |
| 16 | 54 | GM | @GMG | Andrey Gorovets | 2862 | 8 | 67 | |
| 17 | 23 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2966 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 18 | 61 | GM | @KaydenTroffChess | Kayden Troff | 2800 | 8 | 63.5 | |
| 19 | 132 | FM | @chessisveryfun1264 | Shaaketh Sivakumar | 2628 | 8 | 58.5 | |
| 20 | 14 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3023 | 8 | 57.5 | |
| 31 | 73 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2769 | 7.5 | 60 |
(Full final standings here.)
Lazavik earned $1,000 with his victory. Bluebaum took $750 with the top tiebreaks in second. GM Hrant Melkumyan, Andreikin, and GM Aram Hakobyan rounded out the top five, winning $350, $200, and $100, respectively. For Andreikin, that meant a total winnings on the day of $550 in combination with his earlier performance. IM Polina Shuvalova won the $100 women's prize, scoring 7.5 points.
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).
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.
