Nakamura Wins Another Tuesday
GM Hikaru Nakamura was victorious in another Titled Tuesday on January 24, his second in a row. Nakamura started 6/6, went undefeated, and scored 9.5/11 to defeat GMs Baadur Jobava and Matthias Bluebaum on tiebreaks.
There was only one tournament this week as the early event was cancelled, but it will be made up with a doubled prize fund (including $2,000 for first place) in the early event on January 31.
Nakamura wasn't the only big name of the 386 participants. GM Magnus Carlsen, who is currently playing in the Tata Steel Chess Masters tournament, made time in his schedule for Titled Tuesday as well.
Carlsen scored 8/11, and one of his losses came against Nakamura in the ninth round. Nakamura-Carlsen matchups used to be a rare special occasion in Titled Tuesday, but they should be rather common in 2023. That won't make them any less interesting. This time, Nakamura used the surprisingly sound 1.a3 and 2.c4 to earn a victory.
Bluebaum also defeated Carlsen, in the 11th and final round, bringing the 25-year-old German player into third place. GM Ray Robson was the other player to get the best of Carlsen, and he also defeated the second-place Jobava, but a tough back half of the tournament (0.5/5 after a 6/6 start) kept the four-time puzzle champion out of contention. Bluebaum's key victory was decided by a very late exchange sacrifice, on move 79!
Nakamura's ninth-round win allowed him to make draws with both Jobava and Bluebaum in the last two rounds while still retaining the pole position. Jobava had moved into a tie with Nakamura in round 10 prior to their 11th-round armistice. Jobava did so by defeating super GM Yu Yangyi, who was making a rare Titled Tuesday performance, but one that ended with a prize-winning fourth-place finish.
In the end, Nakamura joined GM Daniil Dubov as the multiple-time winners of Titled Tuesday in 2023 so far, with one tournament still left in the first month of the year.
January 24 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3228 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 14 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3041 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 9 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3068 | 9.5 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | @chesspanda123 | Yu Yangyi | 3087 | 9 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3099 | 9 | |
| 6 | 3 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3124 | 9 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | @Konavets | Sam Sevian | 3098 | 8.5 | |
| 8 | 52 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2878 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 18 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2989 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 28 | GM | @Alexandr_Predke | Alexandr Predke | 2920 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 23 | GM | @aquarium76 | Nodirbek Yakubboev | 2967 | 8 | |
| 12 | 40 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 2910 | 8 | |
| 13 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3230 | 8 | |
| 14 | 30 | IM | @Twitch_ElhamBlitz05 | Elham Abdrlauf | 2934 | 8 | |
| 15 | 31 | IM | @Manticore17 | Arystanbek Urazayev | 2913 | 8 | |
| 16 | 46 | GM | @Vladimir_Zakhartsov | Vladimir Zakhartsov | 2873 | 8 | |
| 17 | 133 | IM | @Thjop | Thore Perske | 2662 | 8 | |
| 18 | 21 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 2979 | 8 | |
| 19 | 39 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2874 | 8 | |
| 20 | 4 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3091 | 8 | |
| 48 | 145 | WFM | @Varvara_Poliakova | Varvara Poliakova | 2586 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won the $1,000 first-place prize with Jobava taking $750 for second and Bluebaum $350 for third. There was also a three-way tie for fourth through sixth, where tiebreaks won $200 for Yu Yangyi and $100 for GM Dmitry Andreikin but left out Chess.com star GM Daniel Naroditsky in a tough luck finish. WFM Varvara Poliakova won the $100 women's prize, scoring 7/11.
Titled Tuesday is a tournament for titled players hosted by Chess.com every Tuesday. There are two 11-round Swiss tournaments each week 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.
