Niemann Wins Thrilling Titled Tuesday In Broadcast Return
GM Hans Niemann stole the show in September 1's Titled Tuesday at the latest possible moment. For most of the event, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda not only threatened to win his second consecutive Titled Tuesday, but began 10/10, looking to become the first perfect player of the year. Instead, Niemann won their 11th-round matchup and took the tournament on tiebreaks. GM Alexey Sarana also finished on 10/11, a score good enough to outright win this tournament more often than not in 2026, but had to settle for third place.
All three players are in good early shape for the 2027 Esports World Cup, with today's Titled Tuesday beginning the qualification cycle. This tournament also marked the return of a Titled Tuesday broadcast with GM Robert Hess.
Broadcast
Recap
In the first Titled Tuesday to crack 500 participants in over a year, since July 2025, 18 of them began with 4/4, with only Duda among that group making the eventual three-way tie for first. Niemann and Sarana were both on 3/4, Niemann having drawn his games in rounds two and four, and Sarana losing in round four. Both players were perfect the rest of the way.
Duda was one of three players to make 6/6, another being GM Sina Movahed, with Hess proclaiming 26...g5 "sick stuff."
Movahed's perfect score didn't last, with GM Andy Woodward winning their dramatic seventh-round encounter in "a match we may see for decades to come between two of the most talented teenagers in the world." (Hess)
Duda also won in round seven, of course, and about this time is when he started to emerge as the tournament's main storyline, after 41.f6 helped knock down Woodward and lock down an 8/8 start in what Hess called "an unbelievable demonstration of class."
Niemann and Sarana scored all four points possible each in rounds five through eight, but still had to jump not only Duda on 8/8 but GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov on 7.5/8 as well. Duda helped them by taking care of Tsydypov to reach 9/9 in "electric" fashion, posting five brilliant moves in the game of the day.
As Niemann and Sarana also continued to win, so did GMs Wesley So and Vincent Keymer, and the four of them remained in one-point range of Duda.
So was Duda's next challenge, but it wasn't much of one after 20...e5?, which Duda punished ruthlessly to move one step away from 11/11 and a $6,000 payday ($2,500 for first and $3,500 for the perfect score).
Duda could also lock in the outright victory with just a draw, which would get the first 10.5 score since June (which, coincidentally, was achieved by Sarana). But the task was tall, having Black against Niemann, who would of course be in no drawing mood.
In the meantime, Sarana had White against Woodward, and won easily on the board and on the clock to tie Duda at the top, complete with a clinching queen sacrifice.
The Niemann-Duda match was tense all the way through, and only in part due to the standings situation. The maximal central pawn tension on move 15 and Duda's 30...Nxf3—a piece sacrifice he played despite being down a minute on the clock—proved to anyone who still doubted that neither player was happy with a draw. As the game approached move 50 and both players' clocks fell below a minute, it was still anyone's game.
It was Duda who finally cracked, but Niemann needed the second crack to take control. After move 55, he was up two pieces and it was smooth sailing on the board. With 3.4 seconds left on his clock, Niemann clinched the tournament with checkmate.
Heartbreak for Duda who needed a draw in the final round to win #TitledTuesday and a win to claim the $3,500 perfect score bounty as well — but instead Niemann wins the game and the tournament! https://t.co/fvdcWx1v19 pic.twitter.com/6tsSBHB0mS
— chess24 (@chess24com) September 1, 2026
After the three players on 10 points, there were six on nine points, with So and Keymer rounding out the top five.
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 13 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3273 | 10 | 77.5 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3346 | 10 | 73.5 | |
| 3 | 23 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3234 | 10 | 66.5 | |
| 4 | 11 | GM | @GMWSO | Wesley So | 3263 | 9 | 76 | |
| 5 | 12 | GM | @VincentKeymer | Vincent Keymer | 3258 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 6 | 29 | GM | @rednova1729 | Awonder Liang | 3199 | 9 | 70 | |
| 7 | 28 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3194 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 8 | 16 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3215 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 9 | 35 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3156 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 10 | 92 | FM | @puz2010 | Semyon Puzyrevsky | 3073 | 8.5 | 74 | |
| 11 | 21 | GM | @LiemLe | Liem Le | 3194 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 12 | 17 | GM | @Arseniy_Nesterov | Arseniy Nesterov | 3218 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 13 | 40 | GM | @Sargsyan_Shant | Shant Sargsyan | 3142 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
| 14 | 36 | GM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 3156 | 8.5 | 63 | |
| 15 | 1 | GM | @Philippians46 | Andy Woodward | 3389 | 8 | 78.5 | |
| 16 | 4 | GM | @Sina-Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3298 | 8 | 75.5 | |
| 17 | 63 | GM | @Vaathi_Coming | Aravindh Chithambaram | 3115 | 8 | 75.5 | |
| 18 | 93 | GM | @BilodeauA | Kirill Alekseenko | 3055 | 8 | 74.5 | |
| 19 | 9 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3255 | 8 | 74 | |
| 20 | 24 | GM | @NikoTheodorou | Nikolas Theodorou | 3190 | 8 | 73 | |
| 21 | 41 | IM | @carokannlover213 | Patryk Cieslak | 3142 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 22 | 7 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3264 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 23 | 53 | IM | @reevecanada | Aaron Mendes | 3127 | 8 | 70 | |
| 24 | 64 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 3096 | 8 | 69 | |
| 25 | 71 | GM | @tptagain | David Anton Guijarro | 3087 | 8 | 68 |
Prize Table
| Prize | Winner | Amount |
| Perfect Score Bounty | n/a* | $3,500* |
| 1st | GM Hans Niemann | $2,500 |
| 2nd | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | $1,500 |
| 3rd | GM Alexey Sarana | $1,000 |
| 4th | GM Wesley So | $700 |
| 5th | GM Vincent Keymer | $400 |
| 6th | GM Awonder Liang | $400 |
| 7th | GM Oleksandr Bortnyk | $250 |
| 8th | GM Denis Lazavik | $250 |
| 9th | GM David Paravyan | $250 |
| 10th | FM Semyon Puzyrevsky | $250 |
| Top Woman | GM Kateryna Lagno (39th) | $250 |
| Top Senior (50+) | FM Fitzgerald Krudde (95th) | $250 |
| Top Youth (U16) | GM Andy Woodward | $250 |
| Top Girl (U16) | WFM Shubhi Gupta (130th) | $250 |
| Top non-GM | IM Patryk Cieslak | $250 |
| Top non-IM | FM Artin Ashraf (26th) | $250 |
| Best Debut or Return | GM Dmitriy Bocharov | $250 |
| Most Brilliant Move | GM Jeffery Xiong (23.Ng6!!, round 4) | $100 |
| Best Game | Duda (round 9) | $100 |
| Streamer 1st | GM Cem Kaan Gokerkan | $100 |
| Streamer 2nd | GM Aleksandr Shimanov | $100 |
| Woman Streamer | WCM Alba De Lomas Busquets | $100 |
*Bounty grows by $250 per week without a perfect score, and resets once a perfect score has been achieved.
Game And Move Of The Day
These winners are announced by Thursday each week. If you would like to nominate a game or a move (including your own) in this or future weeks, click here!
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players. It begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time.
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.
