Nakamura Wins Titled Tuesday On Break, Andreikin Continues Run
On a well-deserved off day in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix after becoming a candidate for the world championship for the first time since 2016, GM Hikaru Nakamura won the early Titled Tuesday tournament on March 29.
Meanwhile, GM Dmitry Andreikin continued his torrid pace with a second-place finish in the early event and a tournament victory in the late. Andreikin has now placed in the top two in five straight Titled Tuesdays spanning three weeks. GM Jeffery Xiong also had a strong showing this Tuesday, finishing in the top three in both events of the day.
Early Tournament
The early tournament saw 341 players join as Nakamura stormed back late to claim victory.
Broadcast of the early tournament hosted by FM James Canty III.
Andreikin actually won the one-on-one showdown with Nakamura in round eight, which threw the tournament into chaos with four players including Andreikin tied for the lead on 7/8, with Nakamura being one of six players just behind on 6.5/8.
After that, however, the tournament was all Nakamura, who won in the last three rounds against GM Jose Martinez, GM Aram Hakobyan, and IM Le Tuan Minh. That final game brought his's overall tournament score to 9.5/11.
Andreikin, meanwhile, drew in the last two rounds against Le and Xiong as no one who held that 7/8 score got more than two points in the last three rounds. And so Nakamura's win in the final round earned him a clear first place.
March 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3221 | 9.5 | 68.25 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3109 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 3 | 10 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3001 | 9 | 58.75 | |
| 4 | 47 | GM | @XDPS | Pablo Salinas Herrera | 2862 | 9 | 57.5 | |
| 5 | 19 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2945 | 9 | 57 | |
| 6 | 17 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2944 | 9 | 54.5 | |
| 7 | 9 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 3013 | 9 | 54 | |
| 8 | 6 | IM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3008 | 8 | 51.75 | |
| 9 | 3 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3039 | 8 | 51.5 | |
| 10 | 24 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2874 | 8 | 49 | |
| 11 | 36 | FM | @Twitch_ElhamBlitz05 | Elham Abdrlauf | 2864 | 8 | 48.75 | |
| 12 | 28 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2875 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 13 | 5 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 2984 | 8 | 48 | |
| 14 | 44 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2842 | 8 | 47.25 | |
| 15 | 15 | GM | @BillieKimbah | Maxim Matlakov | 2951 | 8 | 45.25 | |
| 16 | 20 | GM | @Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2907 | 8 | 44.5 | |
| 17 | 12 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2964 | 8 | 43.25 | |
| 18 | 32 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2868 | 8 | 42.5 | |
| 19 | 18 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2918 | 8 | 42.25 | |
| 20 | 31 | GM | @TimurGareyev | Timur Gareyev | 2900 | 7.5 | 46 | |
| 60 | 64 | WGM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2704 | 6.5 | 32.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 for his victory and Andreikin settled for the $750 second-place prize. Xiong won $300 for third, GM Pablo Salinas $150 for fourth, and GM Vahap Sanal $100 for fifth. WGM Polina Shuvalova was the highest-scoring woman, winning $100.
Late Tournament
Nakamura was not one of the 259 players in the second tournament, presumably preparing for the next day in the Grand Prix. Andreikin took full advantage as, like Nakamura, he won the tournament outright on 9.5/11, although they took different paths to get there. Xiong finished second and GM Vugar Rasulov third, both on nine points.
Broadcast of the late tournament hosted by GM Krikor Mekhitarian.
The interesting games began early for Andreikin, who defeated IM Renato Quintiliano in round two after the Brazilian GM-elect sacrificed a piece for three pawns.
Andreikin toppled GM David Paravyan in round nine, which gave Andreikin 8.5/9 and a full-point lead on the field after Xiong checkmated GM Alexey Sarana in the same round.
Although Andreikin drew his last two rounds just as he had done in the early edition, this time he was just wrapping up an easily winning performance. One of those draws came against Xiong, who went on to defeat Paravyan in the last round to take second place.
March 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3124 | 9.5 | 65.5 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3025 | 9 | 60.25 | |
| 3 | 43 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2825 | 9 | 43 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3064 | 8.5 | 58.25 | |
| 5 | 11 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 2997 | 8.5 | 53.75 | |
| 6 | 70 | IM | @QuintilianoR | Renato Quintiliano | 2745 | 8.5 | 49.25 | |
| 7 | 47 | NM | @Abund | Yuan Qingyu | 2792 | 8.5 | 46.25 | |
| 8 | 12 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2990 | 8.5 | 44.75 | |
| 9 | 33 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2878 | 8 | 49 | |
| 9 | 22 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2910 | 8 | 49 | |
| 11 | 66 | IM | @Kosak12 | Jakub Kosakowski | 2732 | 8 | 46 | |
| 12 | 7 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 3008 | 8 | 44 | |
| 13 | 80 | GM | @eldur16 | Johann Hjartarson | 2708 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 14 | 13 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2960 | 8 | 40.25 | |
| 14 | 85 | FM | @AradNazari | Arad Nazari | 2697 | 8 | 40.25 | |
| 16 | 46 | FM | @TheBigBoss04 | Jose Gabriel Cardoso | 2777 | 8 | 37.5 | |
| 17 | 31 | GM | @Igrok3069 | Alexey Dreev | 2861 | 7.5 | 47.25 | |
| 18 | 27 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2877 | 7.5 | 43 | |
| 19 | 17 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2922 | 7.5 | 39.75 | |
| 20 | 111 | FM | @OriTaichman | Ori Taichman | 2646 | 7.5 | 38.75 | |
| 44 | 57 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2728 | 6.5 | 29.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Andreikin's $1,000 claim for the first tournament gave him a total of $1,750 for the day. Xiong took $750 for second place and $1,050 in total. Rasulov won $300 for third. Sarana took $150 for fourth place and GM Fabiano Caruana was in the mix with $100 for fifth. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk won the $100 prize for top female.
Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players hosted by Chess.com every week. There are two events each Tuesday, starting at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time / 17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time / 23:00 Central European.
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.
