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Nakamura, Niemann Take Turns Taking Titled Tuesday

Nakamura, Niemann Take Turns Taking Titled Tuesday

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NathanielGreen
| 10 | Chess Event Coverage

There was no shortage of name recognition atop this week's Titled Tuesday standings, with GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Hans Niemann claiming victory on April 29. Both won without the need of tiebreaks and without losing a single game, although Nakamura scored 10 points while Niemann had 9.5 points. GMs Sam Sevian and Matthias Bluebaum also had notable days, with Sevian finishing fifth early and second late, while Bluebaum placed third in both events.

Early Tournament

Nakamura didn't have too much trouble in the early field of 571, although he didn't take the outright lead until round eight, when he ended GM Alexey Sarana's perfect 7/7 start. Nakamura started to take control in the middlegame, but Sarana began to fight back and take an edge himself, until an unfortunate blunder after which he was soon checkmated.

Nakamura took down GM Fabiano Caruana next, in another back-and-forth game ending in a blunder, although Caruana's was far subtler than Sarana's, leading to a mate-in-13. 

Another win, against last week's Freestyle Friday winner GM Sina Movahed, gave Nakamura a full-point lead in the tournament. With just one round to go, that meant he only needed a draw to take the event, which he secured with an eventful, 81-move battle against GM Liem Le.

Four other players, besides Le, entered the last round with 8.5 points and a chance at second place. GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Bluebaum won, but Nepomniachtchi's tiebreaks were significantly higher, so his game against GM Jose Martinez earned second place. No blunders in this one, just a gradual turn of the tide during moves 30-45.

After the Nakamura-Nepomniachtchi-Bluebaum podium, the remaining prizes went to Sarana in fourth, Sevian in fifth, and WGM Qianyun Gong with the women's prize in 61st.

April 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Rank Seed Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak
1 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3321 10 79
2 11 GM @lachesisQ Ian Nepomniachtchi 3156 9.5 76
3 21 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 3125 9.5 63
4 10 GM @mishanick Alexey Sarana 3159 9 80.5
5 17 GM @Konavets Sam Sevian 3110 9 74
6 16 GM @LiemLe Liem Le 3135 9 70
7 28 IM @MITerryble Renato Terry 3107 9 68.5
8 27 GM @jefferyx Jeffery Xiong 3077 9 62
9 19 GM @VincentKeymer Vincent Keymer 3109 8.5 78
10 6 GM @Sina-Movahed Sina Movahed 3167 8.5 74
11 75 GM @1stSecond Nikita Meshkovs 2926 8.5 73.5
12 26 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 3090 8.5 70.5
13 53 GM @kingofthenil Mahel Boyer 2967 8.5 69
14 37 FM @Turboplombir Sergey Sklokin 3010 8.5 66
15 108 IM @NodariousBIG Nodar Lortkipanidze 2861 8.5 63.5
16 2 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3252 8 80.5
17 30 GM @Jumbo Rinat Jumabayev 3064 8 73.5
18 5 GM @HansOnTwitch Hans Niemann 3160 8 73
19 56 IM @Kirill_Klukin Kirill Klukin 2935 8 70
20 43 IM @rezamahdavi2008 Reza Mahdavi 3007 8 70
61 204 WGM @SayonaraPonytail Qianyun Gong 2684 7 62

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Nakamura $1,000, Nepomniachtchi $750, Bluebaum $350, Sarana $200, Sevian $100, Gong $100.

Late Tournament

Niemann's path through the late field of 364 was a little more cluttered, but he too would only need a draw in the final round to win outright. He would get it against Sevian, the only player who was within half a point of him.

Niemann had turned a six-way tie on 7/8 into the outright lead by being the only one of those six players to win in both rounds nine and 10. First, he came out ahead against GM Daniel Naroditsky after grinding out an endgame.

GMs Pranav V and Shant Sargsyan both also won in the ninth round, but they would be stopped in the 10th round by Niemann and Sevian, respectively. Sevian won in less than half as many moves as Niemann needed, and even had 47 seconds left when Sargsyan ran out of time (in a position that was also losing).

The relative length of Niemann's game was due in part to a locked center, but Niemann was eventually able to maneuver around it and promote his a-pawn.

Bluebaum once again tied for second but settled for third. Naroditsky and IM Rud Makarian, who both also finished on nine points, rounded out the top five, while IM Karina Ambartsumova took home the women's prize.

April 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Rank Seed Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak 1
1 1 GM @HansOnTwitch Hans Niemann 3191 9.5 77
2 7 GM @Konavets Sam Sevian 3124 9 73
3 4 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 3142 9 72
4 6 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3127 9 71
5 13 IM @Rud_Makarian Rudik Makarian 3082 9 64.5
6 25 GM @Annawel Jules Moussard 3020 8.5 75.5
7 2 GM @mishanick Alexey Sarana 3154 8.5 73.5
8 28 IM @Alexander_Khlebovich Alexander Khlebovich 2981 8.5 64
9 20 GM @Anton_Demchenko Anton Demchenko 3012 8.5 62.5
10 5 GM @Sargsyan_Shant Shant Sargsyan 3125 8 77
11 8 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3097 8 73.5
12 21 GM @baki83 Etienne Bacrot 3017 8 72.5
13 11 GM @vi_pranav Pranav V 3106 8 72
14 16 GM @Jumbo Rinat Jumabayev 3062 8 68
15 37 GM @PeacefulWarrior888 Arman Mikaelyan 2929 8 64
16 35 GM @1stSecond Nikita Meshkovs 2931 8 63.5
17 47 FM @bubeliang Havard Haug 2887 8 59.5
18 2 GM @kingofthenil Mahel Boyer 2986 8 57.5
19 12 GM @jefferyx Jeffery Xiong 3073 7.5 77.5
20 33 GM @vugarrasulov Vugar Rasulov 2961 7.5 73.5
44 72 GM @karinachess1 Karina Ambartsumova 2740 7 56

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Niemann $1,000, Sevian $750, Bluebaum $350, Naroditsky $200, Makarian $100, Ambartsumova $100. (Daily prize leaders: Nakamura $1,000, Niemann $1,000, Sevian $850, Nepomniachtchi $750, Bluebaum $700.)

Grand Prix Standings

With just eight tournaments left in the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix, Bluebaum's strong day got him into the top eight, replacing GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Duda, GM Minh Le, Niemann, and Sarana are all within a point of qualification for the 2025 Speed Chess Championship.

Rk Username Score Title Name
1 @MagnusCarlsen 96.5 GM Magnus Carlsen
2 @Hikaru 95.0 GM Hikaru Nakamura
3 @DenLaz 92.5 GM Denis Lazavik
4 @LiemLe 92.0 GM Liem Le
5 @Jospem 91.5 GM Jose Martinez
6 @Msb2 91.0 GM Matthias Bluebaum
7 @Oleksandr_Bortnyk 91.0 GM Oleksandr Bortnyk
8 @GHANDEEVAM2003 90.5 GM Arjun Erigaisi

There were no changes to the women's standings this week, although a couple of players gained some points, including Goryachkina.

Rk Username Score Title Name
1 @ChessQueen 74.0 GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
2 @Flawless_Fighter 72.0 IM Polina Shuvalova
3 @karinachess1 70.5 IM Karina Ambartsumova
4 @Goryachkina 69.5 GM Aleksandra Goryachkina
5 @Meri-Arabidze 68.5 IM Meri Arabidze
6 @Sanyura 67.5 WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya
7 @jinbojinbo 66.5 GM Jiner Zhu
8 @Fh2411 66.5 IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham

Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), juniors (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) do not have SCC places on the line, but there will be cash prizes in each of these categories. The current leaders are:

Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov), 83.0 points

Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46), 86.5 points

Girls: WFM Kalyani Sirin (@rollercoaster29), 64.0 points

Titled Tuesday

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).

Avatar of NathanielGreen
Nathaniel Green

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.

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