Nakamura, 22-Year-Old Dominate Tuesday
GM Hikaru Nakamura claimed another Titled Tuesday victory early on July 26 and then finished fourth in the late event. GM Alexey Sarana, who finished just behind Nakamura on tiebreaks early, won the late tournament.
Early Tournament
Nakamura won the first tournament of the day on the back of the last perfect start, at 6/6, defeating IM (GM-elect) Tuan Minh Le with an exchange sacrifice in the sixth round.
But round nine was the key moment in the early tournament as Nakamura delivered Sarana's first and only loss of the day.
The win put Nakamura in the sole lead with two rounds to go. He drew his last two games, including a moveless final round against third-place finisher GM Hrant Melkumyan. Sarana returned to second place with wins in his last two games, against GMs Alex Shimanov and Jose Martinez.
The early field consisted of 380 players.
July 26 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3154 | 9.5 | 69.25 | |
| 2 | 12 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3010 | 9.5 | 65.25 | |
| 3 | 21 | GM | @Hrant_ChessMood | Hrant Melkumyan | 2932 | 9.5 | 54.75 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2991 | 9 | 61 | |
| 5 | 84 | IM | @Nikolas1408 | Nikolas Lubbe | 2729 | 8.5 | 56.25 | |
| 6 | 4 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3018 | 8.5 | 54.75 | |
| 7 | 7 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 2997 | 8.5 | 52.75 | |
| 8 | 2 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3118 | 8.5 | 52.5 | |
| 9 | 27 | IM | @OhanyanEminChess | Emin Ohanyan | 2925 | 8.5 | 49 | |
| 10 | 17 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2900 | 8.5 | 42.25 | |
| 10 | 34 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2862 | 8.5 | 42.25 | |
| 12 | 14 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 2940 | 8 | 49.75 | |
| 13 | 43 | IM | @seorobert1971 | Jung Min Seo | 2837 | 8 | 48.75 | |
| 14 | 16 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2925 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 15 | 36 | IM | @MolecularChemist | Dimitar Mardov | 2864 | 8 | 47 | |
| 16 | 45 | GM | @ActorXu | Xu Yi | 2822 | 8 | 42.75 | |
| 17 | 61 | IM | @Legendinunknown | Harshavardhan GB | 2750 | 8 | 41 | |
| 17 | 153 | IM | @korason34 | Ariel Erenberg | 2642 | 8 | 41 | |
| 19 | 67 | FM | @Chessmissile07 | Suresh Harsh | 2743 | 8 | 38.25 | |
| 20 | 172 | GM | @lukas_111111 | Lukasz Jarmula | 2570 | 8 | 37.5 | |
| 24 | 35 | GM | @Vanina1989 | Valentina Gunina | 2824 | 7.5 | 40.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 as Sarana took home $750 and Melkumyan $300. GM Oleksandr Bortnyk earned $150 in fourth, IM Nikolas Lubbe $100 for fifth, and GM Valentina Gunina $100 for the best women's score, 7.5/11 in 24th place.
Late Tournament
Sarana and Nakamura continued their strong play in the late tournament, both reaching the top five yet again, in a field of 301 players. But while Nakamura needed a comeback to get there after starting 3/5 with two losses, Sarana never lost despite four draws.
Round nine once again featured the eventual one-two finishers, this time Sarana and GM Dmitry Andreikin. They drew their game, however, helping to create a six-way tie for first on 7.5/9 points. Of that group, Andreikin and IM Pranav V won in round 10. Andreikin defeated GM Christopher Yoo from a Catalan Opening.
The standings changed in the last round as Sarana came through with a round 11 checkmate over Pranav, giving the 15-year-old Indian lad a tough-luck sixth-place finish.
Meanwhile, Andreikin's draw with GM David Howell ended up costing him the first-place finish by just one quarter of a tiebreak point.
July 26 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | . | SB |
| 1 | 11 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3010 | 9 | 59.75 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3118 | 9 | 59.5 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | @Grischuk | Alexander Grischuk | 3055 | 8.5 | 56.5 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3154 | 8.5 | 53.75 | |
| 5 | 43 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2844 | 8.5 | 52 | |
| 6 | 25 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2917 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | @Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 2979 | 8.5 | 49.75 | |
| 8 | 1 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 2940 | 8.5 | 46 | |
| 9 | 26 | GM | @sergiochess83 | Sergey Grigoriants | 2898 | 8.5 | 40.5 | |
| 10 | 15 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 2947 | 8 | 52.5 | |
| 11 | 10 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 3003 | 8 | 49.75 | |
| 12 | 18 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2900 | 8 | 46.75 | |
| 12 | 21 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2929 | 8 | 46.75 | |
| 14 | 33 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2851 | 8 | 43 | |
| 15 | 46 | FM | @siciliannaga | Arif Abdul Hafiz | 2824 | 8 | 39 | |
| 16 | 31 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2841 | 7.5 | 43.25 | |
| 16 | 41 | NM | @Abund | Yuan Qingyu | 2786 | 7.5 | 43.25 | |
| 18 | 6 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2991 | 7.5 | 42.75 | |
| 18 | 22 | GM | @BrandonJacobson | Brandon Jacobson | 2904 | 7.5 | 42.75 | |
| 20 | 53 | FM | @xinzhaooo | Anish Vivekananthan | 2810 | 7.5 | 42.25 | |
| 44 | 76 | WGM | @jinbojinbo | Jiner Zhu | 2670 | 6.5 | 36.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
Sarana's $1,000 prize gave him the day's highest total with $1,750. Andreikin earned $750 for his second-place finish. GM Alexander Grischuk ended up in third to claim $300, while Nakamura won $150 by finishing in fourth, for a daily total of $1,150. Finally, $100 prizes went to GM Rodrigo Vasquez for fifth place and WGM Jiner Zhu as the highest-scoring woman (6.5/11).
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.
