Nepomniachtchi Wins, Shevchenko Nearly Sweeps Titled Tuesday
GM Kirill Shevchenko, who also won Titled Tuesday on June 15, 2021, won the early tournament on February 8 and finished third in the late tournament. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi won the late tournament.
Both players won outright, Shevchenko with 10/11 early and Nepomniachtchi with 9.5/11 late. The two players agreed to a draw before their game in the final round of the second tournament, preventing Shevchenko from duplicating GM Hikaru Nakamura's two wins last week but guaranteeing him a cash position in both events.
Early Tournament
485 players joined the early tournament, including GM Alexander Grischuk on a rest day at the FIDE Grand Prix. Nakamura, who is also at the Grand Prix, decided not to play.
Live broadcast of the early tournament, hosted by IM David Pruess.
Shevchenko survived a third-round loss to keep it his only blemish of the tournament on the way to victory with 10 points of 11. Tied on 9/10 with GM Nils Grandelius and GM Arjun Erigaisi, Shevchenko defeated Erigaisi in the final round while Grandelius drew Chess.com's own and fifth-place finisher GM Robert Hess.
Shevchenko won but Grandelius was undefeated with +8 =3 for sole second place on 9.5/11 after drawing Erigaisi and Hess in the final two rounds. Grandelius played a nearly flawless game in round eight against GM Vladimir Dobrov.
February 8 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 22 | GM | @kirillshevchenko | Kirill Shevchenko | 2987 | 10 | 67.5 | |
| 2 | 32 | GM | @Grandelicious | Nils Grandelius | 2952 | 9.5 | 60 | |
| 3 | 60 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2912 | 9 | 61.25 | |
| 4 | 62 | GM | @VerdeNotte | Gawain Jones | 2888 | 9 | 59 | |
| 5 | 44 | GM | @GMHess | Robert L. Hess | 2899 | 9 | 57.5 | |
| 6 | 11 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3022 | 9 | 57 | |
| 7 | 20 | GM | @Micki-taryan | Haik Martirosyan | 2973 | 9 | 54.5 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3038 | 8.5 | 59.25 | |
| 9 | 52 | GM | @VladDobrov | Vladimir Dobrov | 2885 | 8.5 | 56.75 | |
| 10 | 1 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3049 | 8.5 | 55.25 | |
| 11 | 106 | GM | @tdf98pantani | pawel jaracz | 2779 | 8.5 | 53.5 | |
| 12 | 39 | GM | @Anton_Demchenko | Anton Demchenko | 2897 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 13 | 45 | GM | @Indianlad | S.L. Narayanan | 2889 | 8.5 | 51.5 | |
| 14 | 18 | GM | @ChessWarrior7197 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2987 | 8.5 | 45.25 | |
| 15 | 38 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2901 | 8 | 53 | |
| 15 | 19 | GM | @champ2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2971 | 8 | 53 | |
| 17 | 35 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2919 | 8 | 52 | |
| 18 | 78 | IM | @blitzking1729 | Srihari L R | 2812 | 8 | 51 | |
| 19 | 5 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3009 | 8 | 48.25 | |
| 20 | 136 | CM | @Brave_spirit12 | Eldiar Orozbaev | 2794 | 8 | 46.5 | |
| 51 | 88 | GM | @Elegance_Riks | Harika Dronavalli | 2724 | 7 | 38 |
(Full final standings here.)
Shevchenko won $1,000 for the victory. Grandelius took home $750 for second place while Erigaisi claimed $300 for third. GM Gawain Jones finished in fourth for $150 while Hess earned $100 in fifth. GM Harika Dronavalli took home the $100 prize for highest-scoring female player.
Late Tournament
340 players participated in the late tournament, which represented (as did the early tournament) a small climb from the previous week as players adjust to the new format and times.
Live broadcast of the late tournament, hosted by GM Aman Hambleton.
Nepomniachtchi only drew against his first-round opponent, but by round seven he would only face eventual top-10 finishers. He drew Shevchenko and GM Raunak Sadhwani, but Nepomniachtchi defeated fourth-place GM Jeffery Xiong in round nine and second-place NM Valery Sviridov in round 10.
The 10th round game was a 132-move marathon, with Nepomniachtchi on the brink for most of it before pulling off the win.
Places two through five all scored nine points and were settled on tiebreaks. Sviridov recovered from his difficult round 10 to defeat GM Dmitry Andreikin in 104 moves in round 11 and take second.
February 8 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 9 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3038 | 9.5 | 60 | |
| 2 | 13 | NM | @Sviridov_Valery | Valery Sviridov | 3016 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 3 | 14 | GM | @kirillshevchenko | Kirill Shevchenko | 3009 | 9 | 60.25 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3025 | 9 | 57.75 | |
| 5 | 74 | FM | @littleplotkin | Mark Plotkin | 2827 | 9 | 50.5 | |
| 6 | 2 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3058 | 8.5 | 58.75 | |
| 7 | 18 | GM | @Konavets | Sam Sevian | 2974 | 8.5 | 50.75 | |
| 8 | 6 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3002 | 8.5 | 49.75 | |
| 9 | 17 | GM | @champ2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2996 | 8.5 | 46.25 | |
| 10 | 24 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2946 | 8 | 54.5 | |
| 11 | 34 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2904 | 8 | 54 | |
| 12 | 7 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3001 | 8 | 51.5 | |
| 13 | 45 | FM | @KazakhFighter04 | Kazybek Nogerbek | 2884 | 8 | 47.75 | |
| 14 | 33 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2911 | 8 | 47 | |
| 15 | 10 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 2987 | 8 | 46 | |
| 16 | 4 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3034 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 17 | 21 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2941 | 8 | 44 | |
| 18 | 59 | IM | @DoHoChess | Dominik Horvath | 2831 | 8 | 41 | |
| 19 | 61 | GM | @moro182 | Luca Moroni Jr | 2854 | 7.5 | 49.75 | |
| 20 | 28 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2899 | 7.5 | 48.25 | |
| 30 | 130 | IM | @AnotherGrumpy | Anna M Sargsyan | 2617 | 7.5 | 35.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nepomniachtchi won $1,000 for the first-place finish. Sviridov got $750 for second and Shevchenko tacked on another $300 to his day with the third-place finish. Xiong earned $150 for fourth place and IM Mark Plotkin took in $100 for fifth. IM Anna Sargsyan won the $100 women's prize.
Titled Tuesday consists of two tournaments held each Tuesday by Chess.com for titled players. They are Swiss tournaments beginning 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.
