Nakamura, Niemann Nab Titled Tuesday Triumphs
GM Hikaru Nakamura won his second straight late Titled Tuesday event after GM Hans Niemann claimed the early tournament on May 31. Niemann was also a Titled Tuesday victor back on February 15.
This week, one player also placed top five in both events—GM Dmitry Andreikin scored a combined 19/22 and did not lose a single game.
Early Tournament
The early tournament was joined by 377 players and underwent a few lead changes. Andreikin started a perfect 7/7, including a win over eventual tournament champion Niemann in round six.
Andreikin didn't actually lose a game in the tournament, but he made a draw in every one of the last four rounds. The draws were enough to tie for second (fourth after tiebreaks) but not to win the day.
It was GM Baadur Jobava in the tournament lead with a 9/10 score entering the 11th round, but Niemann had a chance to leapfrog him in their direct encounter, and that's what happened.
May 31 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 22 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 2965 | 9.5 | 60.5 | |
| 2 | 25 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 2932 | 9 | 59 | |
| 3 | 11 | GM | @viditchess | Vidit Gujrathi | 2992 | 9 | 58 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3070 | 9 | 57.75 | |
| 5 | 13 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3012 | 9 | 57.5 | |
| 6 | 64 | GM | @vladislavkovalev | Vladislav Kovalev | 2857 | 9 | 52 | |
| 7 | 4 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3041 | 9 | 51.5 | |
| 8 | 38 | GM | @platy3 | Alan Pichot | 2854 | 9 | 47.5 | |
| 9 | 80 | GM | @Vanina1989 | Valentina Gunina | 2787 | 8.5 | 53.75 | |
| 10 | 10 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 2982 | 8.5 | 52.75 | |
| 11 | 24 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2946 | 8.5 | 45.25 | |
| 12 | 53 | GM | @ActorXu | Xu Yi | 2845 | 8 | 51.5 | |
| 13 | 62 | FM | @ymoy | Vadym Petrovskyi | 2819 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 14 | 44 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2877 | 8 | 46.5 | |
| 15 | 19 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2939 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 16 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3173 | 8 | 44 | |
| 17 | 35 | GM | @Harsha_Bharathakoti | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2872 | 8 | 43.5 | |
| 18 | 65 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2834 | 8 | 41.25 | |
| 19 | 37 | IM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2869 | 8 | 40.75 | |
| 20 | 9 | GM | @daro94 | Dariusz Swiercz | 2939 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 20 | 41 | GM | @Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2873 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 22 | 91 | GM | @chito89 | Axel Bachmann | 2779 | 8 | 35 |
(Full final standings here.)
Niemann won $1,000 for his efforts. GM Grigoriy Oparin took home $750 for second place and GM Vidit Gujrathi won $300 in third, while Andreikin earned $150 for fourth and GM Oleksandr Bortnyk $100 for fifth. Finishing in ninth place on 8.5/11 was GM Valentina Gunina, who won $100 as the top-scoring woman.
Late Tournament
With 307 players, the late event saw its largest participation since February. As he did last week, Nakamura won with a score of 10/11. This time he was joined at the top by Andreikin, but tiebreaks favored Nakamura. Neither player lost a single game.
They were the last two perfect players, with 6/6, and continued to share the lead after drawing each other in round seven. Nakamura separated himself with a win in the ninth round over Bortnyk, as Andreikin drew with GM Eric Hansen.
That round ended up making just enough difference that Nakamura ended the tournament with a marginally higher tiebreak despite making a 51-move draw with GM Alexey Sarana in the last round, even as Andreikin defeated GM Jose Carlos Ibarra to rejoin the tie for first.
No one else finished within a half-point of the two most successful Titled Tuesday players of 2022.
May 31 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3173 | 10 | 73.25 | |
| 2 | 5 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3070 | 10 | 72.25 | |
| 3 | 25 | GM | @DrVelja | Velimir Ivic | 2973 | 9 | 54 | |
| 4 | 58 | IM | @Bulldog167 | Leon Livaic | 2851 | 9 | 47.5 | |
| 5 | 9 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 2982 | 8.5 | 56 | |
| 6 | 22 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2949 | 8.5 | 53 | |
| 7 | 46 | GM | @AlexeiShirov | Alexei Shirov | 2848 | 8.5 | 51.25 | |
| 8 | 28 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2906 | 8.5 | 47 | |
| 9 | 29 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2917 | 8.5 | 45.5 | |
| 10 | 8 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3012 | 8 | 49.25 | |
| 11 | 47 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2834 | 8 | 46.5 | |
| 12 | 34 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2877 | 8 | 44.5 | |
| 13 | 65 | FM | @MarcoRiehle | Marco Riehle | 2818 | 8 | 42.75 | |
| 14 | 20 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2946 | 8 | 42.25 | |
| 15 | 24 | GM | @Angry_Twin | Andrey Drygalov | 2921 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 16 | 18 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2939 | 7.5 | 45.5 | |
| 17 | 17 | GM | @Anton_Demchenko | Anton Demchenko | 2936 | 7.5 | 45.25 | |
| 18 | 127 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2651 | 7.5 | 44.25 | |
| 19 | 63 | IM | @Niclox | Nicolás Abarca | 2766 | 7.5 | 43.75 | |
| 20 | 14 | GM | @champ2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2979 | 7.5 | 42 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won the first-place prize of $1,000. Andreikin won $750 for a total of $900 on the day. GM Velimir Ivic took home $300 for third place and IM Leon Livaic $150 for fourth. The $100 prizes went to fifth-place Sarana and IM Polina Shuvalova in 18th place, the highest rank among the women in the tournament.
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.
