Magnus Crashes Titled Tuesday Again

GM-elect Tuan Minh Le won the early Titled Tuesday on August 23 with 9.5/11 and the best tiebreaks ahead of GMs Dmitry Andreikin and Aleskandr Lenderman. In the late event, GM Daniil Dubov finished first in the late event ahead of GM Jeffery Xiong on tiebreaks after they agreed to a zero-move draw in the final round.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen made an unexpected appearance in Titled Tuesday for the second time this year. Although he started with a seven-game winning streak, he finished the late event in ninth place.

• Early Tournament
• Late Tournament

Early Tournament

Out of 369 players in the early tournament, Le reached 6/6 by defeating everyone's toughest opponent, GM Hikaru Nakamura.

The sailing was not smooth, however, and entering the final round, the co-leaders were instead Andreikin and Lenderman on 9/10, with Le and GM Alexey Sarana on 8.5 points. Several confluences of factors happened at this point to produce a victory for Le.

Andreikin and Lenderman had played already and thus did not face each other in the final round, and yet both drew their games independently. Not only that, but Lenderman did so against Sarana. That gave Le the chance to catch up with or pass all of them, which he did against GM Artem Timofeev in a wild game.

The result of that earlier Andreikin-Lenderman game was a win for Andreikin, which ended up helping to decide second place.

Andreikin and Le were both perfect at that point, which ended in the following round after their draw against each other. But they met back up at the top of the standings once all was said and done.

August 23 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Le took home $1,000 for winning the tournament and Andreikin $750 for second place. Lenderman earned $350 for third and GM Sergei Zhigalko $200 for fourth—these places earn an extra $50 moving forward. The $100 prizes went to Sarana for fifth place and WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii as the highest-scoring woman in the tournament field.

Late Tournament

Carlsen's presence was a pleasant surprise in the late tournament with 315 participants. However, it was his first time ever finishing in a spot other than first place in this event. Dubov proved to be the most consistent against the toughest opposition. He leapfrogged Xiong, who had a fantastic second half of the tournament, on tiebreaks.

The world champion started the first seven rounds of the event on an absolute rampage, leading the event ahead of Dubov by a full point. He also hit a 3248 Chess.com blitz rating—his highest ever.

GM Robert Hess, who began to stream the event impromptu after Carlsen joined, covered this streak with his usual gusto:  "That is mate, that is a perfect score for Magnus Carlsen, this is Titled Tuesday!" 

In the following round, Xiong held the world champion to a draw. In round nine, the true showstopper was GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, who legitimately outplayed the world's best player with the black pieces in the Philidor Defense featuring the aggressive 6.g4. 

Carlsen went on to lose another game to GM Dmitry Andreikin in a quadruple rook endgame with little time on the clock. He finished in ninth after a draw with GM David Paravyan.

After losing to Carlsen in round five, Dubov went on a five-game winning streak, notably defeating GMs Daniel Naroditsky, Benjamin Bok, and none other than Bortnyk in rounds eight through 10, consecutively. Although he was winning anyway, his last victory featured a cute and rare self-mate.

Xiong was toe-to-toe with Dubov until the end, also on 9/10 going into the last round. The second half of his tournament was particularly awe-inspiring. After his draw with Carlsen, he defeated GMs Maksim Chigaev in round nine and Hikaru Nakamura in round 10.

The anticipated faceoff between the two leaders ended without a single move played as the players agreed to a draw. Dubov ultimately won with the best tiebreaks.

August 23 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Full final standings here.

Dubov won $1000 for first place, while Xiong received $750 for second. GM Fabiano Caruana made $350 for finishing third and Bortnyk $200 in fourth—again, these places earn an extra $50 moving forward. The $100 prizes were awarded to Chigaev for fifth place and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk as the woman player with the highest score.