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Nakamura Adds Another Tournament Victory

Nakamura Adds Another Tournament Victory

NathanielGreen
| 11 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Jeffery Xiong, the most successful and one of the most successful players in the history of Titled Tuesday, each added another victory feather to their caps in the September 20, 2022 editions.  

IM Anna Sargsyan swept the women's prizes.


Early Tournament

Of the 397 players who fought for this week's early victory, two tied for first: Nakamura and GM Matthias Bluebaum. Their ninth-round matchup, a 90-move victory for Nakamura against Bluebaum's Dutch Defense, wound up the tournament's key game. It was the only loss for either player in the event.

Bluebaum went on to defeat IM Khazar Babazada (below) and GM Nils Grandelius to reach 9.5 points out of 11.

But Nakamura, after defeating GM Dmitry Andreikin, in round 10, was so far ahead in tiebreaks that he made a draw with IM Renato Terry in the last round without any moves. Also on 9.5/11, Nakamura won the tournament.

The instant draw also made sense for Terry, who had his own significant tiebreak edge against the players on nine points, clinching third place.

September 20 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3225 9.5 66.75
2 11 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 2975 9.5 55
3 20 IM @MITerryble Renato Terry 2952 9 64
4 23 GM @AlexanderL Aleksandr Lenderman 2960 9 51.5
5 24 GM @rasmussvane Rasmus Svane 2918 9 48
6 15 GM @Salem-AR Salem AR Saleh 2915 8.5 51.25
7 13 IM @vi_pranav Pranav V 2935 8.5 50.75
8 3 IM @wonderfultime Tuan Minh Le 3023 8.5 50
9 26 IM @KhazarBabazada007 Khazar Babazada 2885 8.5 47
10 17 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2921 8.5 40.25
11 12 GM @TigrVShlyape Gata Kamsky 2916 8 52.5
12 19 IM @Bulldog167 Leon Livaic 2916 8 52
13 62 IM @CSB7 Balázs Csonka 2768 8 48.25
14 47 IM @Marcus_Harvey Marcus Harvey 2796 8 46.25
15 2 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3047 8 46
16 73 GM @Harry_Rakkel Krzysztof Jakubowski 2655 8 42
17 29 IM @mbojan Bojan Maksimović 2875 8 41.5
18 4 GM @champ2005 Raunak Sadhwani 2968 8 39.5
18 14 GM @Grandelicious Nils Grandelius 2949 8 39.5
20 6 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 2965 7.5 48
70 90 IM @AnotherGrumpy Anna M Sargsyan 2642 6.5 27.25

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura won the $1,000 victor's prize while Bluebaum took $750 for second place. Terry won $350 in third place, GM Aleksandr Lenderman $200 in fourth, and GM Rasmus Svane $100 in fifth, while Sarsgyan won the $100 women's prize on 6.5/11.

Late Tournament

Xiong won for the second time in as many weeks, this time emerging from a field of 321. As in the early tournament, two players tied for first on 9.5/11, with GM Oleksandr Bortnyk being the other this time. However, on this occasion, the winner of the individual matchup only finished in second place.

In the final four rounds, neither player lost, but Bortnyk made two draws while Xiong only made one, producing the tie atop the standings.

Xiong got to experience one of the greatest joys of chess against Lenderman in round 10, sacrificing his queen to deliver a back-rank checkmate on the board.

Once again, the tournament leader entering the final round had enough tiebreak edge to make a draw with the third-place finisher. Unlike Nakamura and Terry, Xiong and GM Eltaj Safarli played a real game but repeated after 29 moves.

September 20 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 8 GM @jefferyx Jeffery Xiong 3002 9.5 72.5
2 9 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3006 9.5 61.25
3 32 GM @Eltaj_Safarli Eltaj Safarli 2922 9 51.5
4 20 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2921 8.5 56.25
4 4 GM @FabianoCaruana Fabiano Caruana 3043 8.5 56.25
6 27 GM @ChessLover0108 Mahammad Muradli 2913 8.5 50.75
7 2 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3118 8.5 48.75
8 17 GM @AlexanderL Aleksandr Lenderman 2960 8.5 43.75
9 55 FM @dragos420 Dragos Ceres 2784 8.5 43.25
10 13 GM @Hrant_ChessMood Hrant Melkumyan 2946 8 55.5
11 25 GM @exoticprincess Baadur Jobava 2919 8 55
12 11 IM @MITerryble Renato Terry 2952 8 48.5
13 31 GM @vugarrasulov Vugar Rasulov 2866 8 45
14 3 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3047 8 43.5
14 41 FM @1800_strength Dachey Lin 2835 8 43.5
16 42 GM @K_A_S_T_O_R Rodrigo Vasquez 2838 8 42.5
17 24 GM @erichansen Eric Hansen 2889 8 40
18 70 FM @MarcoRiehle Marco Riehle 2726 8 38.5
19 113 IM @Arnaldofdelavaramulet Arnaldo Fernandez 2626 8 37.5
20 29 IM @mbojan Bojan Maksimović 2875 7.5 44.75
61 88 IM @AnotherGrumpy Anna M Sargsyan 2642 6 28

(Full final standings here.)

Xiong won $1,000, Bortnyk $750, and Safarli $350 as the top three finishers. GMs Sergei Zhigalko and Fabiano Caruana tied for fourth, each earning $150. Sargsyan was once again the highest-scoring woman, winning another $100 for a total of $200 on the day.

Titled Tuesday

Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly event for titled players. Every Tuesday, the two 11-round Swiss tournaments start at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European.

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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