Nakamura, Nihal Take Tied Tuesday Tournaments
GM Hikaru Nakamura returned to the winner's column in the early Titled Tuesday on April 25, and GM Nihal Sarin followed with his first win of the year in the late tournament. Both scored 9.5 points out of a possible 11 and won on the tiebreak score. GM Oleksandr Bortnyk made the top five in both events.
Early Tournament
The podium in the early tournament was maybe the strongest ever: GM Alireza Firouzja finished second, falling just short of Nakamura on tiebreaks, while GM Fabiano Caruana finished third with the best tiebreaks among players on nine points (actually in the entire field of 531).
Both Nakamura and Firouzja actually lost in round five, to GMs Abhijeet Gupta and Robby Kevlishvili, respectively, while perfection for Caruana lasted until a round-seven loss to Gupta as well. However, Gupta scored just 0.5 in the last three rounds and fell out of contention.
Of the five players who reached an 8/9 score, not one won their 10th-round game. The key player of the round was Firouzja, who began half a point behind, on 7.5 points, and toppled Caruana.
Meanwhile, Nakamura made a draw with GM Wesley So in the 10th round, setting him up for a showdown with GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the final round. Nakamura was ahead in the computer's evaluation by a couple points when he won on time.
Meanwhile, Firouzja did what Nakamura and Caruana could not, defeating Gupta to secure second place.
IM Polina Shuvalova, who scored 7/11 while defeating GM Jorden van Foreest and Vladimir Kramnik in rounds three and four, finished with the highest score among the women playing.
April 25 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3186 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 6 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3095 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3106 | 9 | |
| 4 | 22 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2990 | 9 | |
| 5 | 17 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3044 | 9 | |
| 6 | 5 | GM | @GMWSO | Wesley So | 3095 | 9 | |
| 7 | 31 | GM | @Andreikka | Andrey Esipenko | 2965 | 9 | |
| 8 | 25 | GM | @eljanov | Pavel Eljanov | 2969 | 9 | |
| 9 | 35 | GM | @abhijeetgupta | Abhijeet Gupta | 2974 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 12 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3044 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 63 | GM | @Harsha_Bharathakoti | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2889 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 18 | GM | @GOGIEFF | Anton Korobov | 3025 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 39 | GM | @GukeshDommaraju | Gukesh D | 2928 | 8.5 | |
| 14 | 36 | GM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 2941 | 8.5 | |
| 15 | 53 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2879 | 8.5 | |
| 16 | 21 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 2974 | 8 | |
| 17 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3127 | 8 | |
| 18 | 3 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3078 | 8 | |
| 19 | 89 | IM | @Vuk2000 | Vuk Djordjevic | 2788 | 8 | |
| 20 | 11 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3029 | 8 | |
| 58 | 123 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2721 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 while Firouzja took home $750. Caruana earned $350, Bortnyk $200 in fourth place, GM Bogdan Daniel Deac $100 in fifth, and Shuvalova $100 as well.
Late Tournament
For much of the late tournament, GM Jose Martinez was holding the best performance in the group of 414. After nine rounds, he had conceded just half of a point.
Nihal held him off for a draw in the 10th round before defeating GM Daniel Naroditsky in a battle between currently two of the five highest-rated blitz players on Chess.com.
Martinez had held the sole lead entering the round, but it did not last against GM Alexey Sarana. Sarana improved to a 9.5/11 score but it was not enough to pass Nihal in the tiebreak as he finished in second place. Martinez ended up in fourth.
April 25 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 2 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3168 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 7 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3099 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 35 | GM | @KuzubovYuriy | Yuriy Kuzubov | 2943 | 9.5 | |
| 4 | 14 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3052 | 9 | |
| 5 | 17 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3022 | 9 | |
| 6 | 86 | NM | @Valera_B5 | Valery Sviridov | 2839 | 9 | |
| 7 | 30 | GM | @sergiochess83 | Sergey Grigoriants | 2941 | 9 | |
| 8 | 41 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 2899 | 9 | |
| 9 | 8 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3055 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 27 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2974 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 3 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3121 | 8 | |
| 12 | 46 | GM | @YQPerez | Yasser Quesada Perez | 2853 | 8 | |
| 13 | 16 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 3001 | 8 | |
| 14 | 11 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3032 | 8 | |
| 15 | 10 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3046 | 8 | |
| 16 | 5 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3082 | 8 | |
| 17 | 38 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2909 | 8 | |
| 18 | 89 | IM | @Kubas1010 | Piotr Sabuk | 2724 | 8 | |
| 19 | 9 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3040 | 8 | |
| 20 | 37 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2903 | 8 | |
| 48 | 184 | IM | @gshwbedhkhd | Eline Roebers | 2556 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nihal won $1,000 with Sarana winning $750. GM Yuriy Kuzubov also scored 9.5 points but finished in third for $350. Martinez won $200 for fourth place and Bortnyk $100 for fifth, giving Bortnyk $300 on the day in total. IM Eline Roebers won the women's prize and $100.
Titled Tuesday is an 11-round Swiss tournament held every week for titled players on Chess.com, occurring twice every Tuesday. They begin 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.
