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Hikaru Nakamura Scores First Perfect 11/11 In Titled Tuesday

Hikaru Nakamura Scores First Perfect 11/11 In Titled Tuesday

NathanielGreen
| 49 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Hikaru Nakamura set an unbreakable Titled Tuesday record on August 17, becoming the first player to score a perfect 11/11. Nakamura won first place by 1.5 points coming on the heels of a victory in the over-the-board Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz.

GM Sergei Zhigalko came in second place with 9.5 points on the tiebreaker over GM David Paravyan. In fourth place was IM Christopher Yoo ahead of three other players scoring 9/11.

The only previous 100% score in any Titled Tuesday came back in October 2016, when GM Oleksandr Bortnyk had a 9/9 performance. Since Titled Tuesday became an 11-round format in October 2020, only one player had even scored 10.5/11 (GM Anton Korobov on June 22, 2021). 

572 titled players played this week, the third straight with an increase in the size of the field. The tournament was the typical 11-round Swiss with a 3+1 time control.

Live broadcast of the tournament, hosted this week by GM Roeland Pruijssers.

Players leading in the last rounds often protect their standing with drawish games, but Nakamura was able to go for perfection without risking the tournament since he was already up 1.5 points entering round 11. Six of his wins came against top-11 finishers.

And yet, Nakamura's perfect run almost ended before it began. In the very first round, FM Sergei Ljukin gave his super-GM opponent all he could handle before Ljukin's rook got trapped in the endgame.

The last game of his run, however, was "about as smooth as they come," as Nakamura himself put it after defeating GM Alexey Sarana.

With Nakamura winning all his games, the only drama in terms of the standings was for second place. Of five players on 8.5 points entering the last round, two won: Zhigalko over GM Dennis Wagner and Paravyan against GM Alex Shimanov. Zhigalko had the tiebreak advantage and won his game using a common checkmating pattern everyone should know.

The star of the day was Nakamura, of course. Now that the 11/11 milestone has been achieved, when (if ever) will we see it again?

All Nakamura Games

August 17 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3220 11 83
2 23 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2909 9.5 61.75
3 49 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 2855 9.5 57
4 9 IM @ChristopherYoo Christopher Woojin Yoo 2956 9 66
5 10 GM @Andreikka Andrey Esipenko 2953 9 57
6 7 GM @GMBenjaminBok Benjamin Bok 2972 9 56.5
7 29 GM @dretch Conrad Holt 2896 9 48.5
8 6 GM @mishanick Aleksey Sarana 2978 8.5 56
9 27 GM @TimofeevAr Artem Timofeev 2880 8.5 54.25
10 79 GM @Rodalquilar Leonardo Tristan 2780 8.5 54
11 42 IM @AlexOstrovskiy Alex Ostrovskiy 2855 8.5 51.5
12 15 GM @rasmussvane Rasmus Svane 2909 8.5 49.75
13 56 GM @ShimanovAlex Aleksandr Shimanov 2806 8.5 48.5
14 53 FM @snowlord Ivan Yeletsky 2804 8.5 48.25
15 77 GM @chessdjw Dennis Wagner 2786 8.5 43
16 203 GM @Rakhmanov_Aleksandr Aleksandr Rakhmanov 2846 8.5 42
17 75 IM @DeTimmerman Mark Timmermans 2774 8 57.5
18 2 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3013 8 56.5
19 16 GM @penguingm1 Andrew Tang 2895 8 51
20 22 GM @TigrVShlyape Gata Kamsky 2873 8 50.75

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura won $750 for first place. Zhigalko earned $400 in second, Paravyan $150 in third, and Yoo $100 for fourth. The $100 prize for the top female player was won by GM Aleksandra Goryachkina on 7.5/11.

Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players that runs weekly on Chess.com. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday. 

Titled Tuesday Format

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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