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Nepomniachtchi Takes On Nakamura, Carlsen, Wins Titled Tuesday

Nepomniachtchi Takes On Nakamura, Carlsen, Wins Titled Tuesday

NathanielGreen
| 11 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won the early edition of Titled Tuesday on September 10 with a 9/9 start and 10/11 overall score after defeating both GMs Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura, who finished second and third in the strongest Titled Tuesday podium in recent memory. 

Then, in the late tournament, Carlsen and Nakamura flipped positions, but this time were outdone by GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, whose 9.5 points beat out Nakamura on tiebreaks. All three of them cashed in both events.


Early Tournament

Despite a technical hiccup at the outset, which resulted in a half-hour delayed start and five extra paid places in the early tournament, 712 players participated. Nepomniachtchi strongly threatened a perfect tournament until GM Nihal Sarin finally beat him in the 10th round.

Before that, however, Nepomniachtchi was unstoppable. Four players remained perfect through six rounds, and while Carlsen was beating GM Fabiano Caruana, Nepomniachtchi toppled Nakamura as Black:

With the battle of perfect sevens next, Nepomniachtchi continued his streak after a bizarre error from Carlsen. Not much more to say about that one:

Although the eventual setback to Nihal left Nepomniachtchi in a tie with Carlsen and Bortnyk entering the last round, the latter two played to a 35-move draw, and Nepomniachtchi took advantage of the opportunity by defeating GM Denis Lazavik. It was a good thing for Nepomniachtchi, too, as Carlsen had the better tiebreak score.

September 10 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak 1
1 6 GM @lachesisQ Ian Nepomniachtchi 3181 10 79.5
2 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3285 9.5 80.5
3 2 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3229 9.5 68
4 9 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3166 9.5 63.5
5 3 GM @nihalsarin Nihal Sarin 3159 9 80
6 27 GM @Fandorine Maksim Chigaev 3003 9 69.5
7 40 FM @Eagle_2019 Mamedov Edgar 2960 9 67.5
8 33 GM @Vaathi_Coming Aravindh Chithambaram 2973 9 67
9 12 IM @Rud_Makarian Rudik Makarian 3068 9 66
10 62 IM @the_chess_child Ilamparthi A R 2914 9 63.5
11 38 IM @scarabee43 Marco Materia 2988 8.5 76
12 7 GM @NikoTheodorou Nikolas Theodorou 3115 8.5 73.5
13 15 GM @spicycaterpillar Ray Robson 3072 8.5 73.5
14 28 IM @pheonixking2000 David Gorodetzky 3001 8.5 70
15 22 FM @rezamahdavi2008 Reza Mahdavi 3014 8.5 69.5
16 14 GM @DenLaz Denis Lazavik 3072 8.5 66
17 30 IM @Zohid6 Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov 3005 8.5 65
18 21 GM @OparinGrigoriy Grigoriy Oparin 3049 8.5 64
19 8 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3103 8.5 62
20 269 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 3083 8.5 60.5
53 269 WIM @Speshka Anna Shukhman 2662 7.5 63

(Full final standings here.)

Nepomniachtchi earned the $1,000 first-place prize while the three players below him—Carlsen, Nakamura, and Bortnyk—won $750, $350, and $200, respectively, for their second through fourth-place finishes. Due to the one-off extra prizes, several players won $100: Nihal, GM Maksim Chigaev, FM Mamedov Edgar, GM Aravindh Chithambaram, and IMs Rud Makarian and Ilamparthi AR. Conveniently, they all scored nine points before a drop-off to 8.5 points at 11th place. WIM Anna Shukhman also won $100 for the best women's score.

Late Tournament

Another 521 players joined late, with Bortnyk starting 8/8 but then earning just half a point in the next two rounds before recovering at the last second to keep first place.

Like Nepomniachtchi hours earlier, Bortnyk got his eighth win against Carlsen—and he didn't need a blunder to do it.

Unlike Nepomniachtchi, however, Bortnyk wasn't able to beat both Carlsen and Nakamura nor did he extend his streak to nine games. Nakamura's 51.Nh8, bringing the knight temporarily into the corner, induced the losing move.

After a draw against GM David Paravyan in the 10th round, Bortnyk brought his tournament back on track just in time, surviving a difficult middlegame against GM Andrew Hong to eventually turn the tables and get the W.

Nakamura also won in the final round, against GM Jose Martinez, to secure second, but his fifth-round loss to GM Grigoriy Oparin was too much for first. 

September 10 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak 1
1 4 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3166 9.5 76.5
2 2 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3229 9.5 73.5
3 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3285 9 77.5
4 17 GM @OparinGrigoriy Grigoriy Oparin 3049 9 71
5 19 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 3042 9 71
6 5 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3103 9 65.5
7 49 FM @GoltsevDmitry2000 Goltsev Dmitry 2904 9 62.5
8 22 GM @Annawel Jules Moussard 3006 9 55
9 11 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 3083 8.5 79
10 9 GM @DenLaz Denis Lazavik 3072 8.5 72
11 38 GM @TigrVShlyape Gata Kamsky 2914 8.5 66.5
12 90 NM @Abund Qingyu Yuan 2814 8.5 63.5
13 94 GM @Gabrielian_Artur Artur Gabrielian 2801 8 75.5
14 24 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 2992 8 74
15 27 GM @Shankland Sam Shankland 2962 8 71
16 6 GM @SpeedofLight0 Andrew Hong 3106 8 71
17 28 GM @jcibarra José Carlos Ibarra Jerez 2959 8 70.5
18 29 FM @artin10862 Artin Ashraf 2974 8 70.5
19 42 GM @GMKrikor Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian 2900 8 69
20 67 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2876 8 69
68 138 GM @Goryachkina Aleksandra Goryachkina 2658 7 51.5

(Full final standings here.)

Bortnyk added $1,000 to his final total for the day of $1,200. Nakamura's $750 for second and Carlsen's $350 for third in the late tournament gave both $1,100 on the day. Oparin and Paravyan rounded out the top five for $200 and $100, respectively. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina won the $100 women's prize in the late tournament for the second straight week.

Titled Cup Standings

There were no changes to the top five in either the open or women's standings, just Carlsen and Goryachkina gaining half a point. Goryachkina now has a full-point lead in the women's standings, but there's probably not enough time left in the year for Carlsen to challenge Nakamura in the open.

Open

# Username Score Player
1 @Hikaru 198.5 GM Hikaru Nakamura
2 @MagnusCarlsen 191.0 GM Magnus Carlsen
3-t @Jospem 186.0 GM Jose Martinez
3-t @mishanick 186.0 GM Alexey Sarana
5 @Polish_fighter3000 185.5 GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda

Women

# Username Score Player
1 @Goryachkina 142.0 GM Aleksandra Goryachkina
2-t @Flawless_Fighter 141.0 IM Polina Shuvalova
2-t @ChessQueen 141.0 GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
4 @Meri-Arabidze 138.0 IM Meri Arabidze
5 @Sanyura 136.0 IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya

Other Category Leaders

Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (182.5 points)

Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (169.5 points)

Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (119.0 points)

The Titled Cup fantasy game Chess Prophet continues as well. Current standings can be found here. (Login required.)

Titled Tuesday


Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).

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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