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1st-Time Winner Crushes Titled Tuesday Field By Full Point

1st-Time Winner Crushes Titled Tuesday Field By Full Point

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NathanielGreen
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| 5 | Chess Event Coverage

The first Titled Tuesdays of March were decided in two quite different ways: GM Alexey Sarana won the early event out of a three-way tie on 9.5 points, while GM Benjamin Bok won the late event by a full point with a score of 10/11. After several podium finishes, it was Bok's first Titled Tuesday victory ever, and he beat GM Magnus Carlsen along the way to do it.

GM Hikaru Nakamura continues to lead the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix standings, with Carlsen and GM Jose Martinez just a half-point behind, while Bok is now in striking distance of the top eight that will qualify for the Speed Chess Championship.

Early Tournament

The early tournament, in general, is likelier to be close, as it is always the busier event, naturally giving more players a chance to score big. This week, 755 hopefuls joined the day's first tournament. At first, it seemed like GM Alireza Firouzja might win his second straight event following last week, as he defeated Sarana in the seventh round to become the last perfect player on the day.

In a shock, Firouzja didn't win another game. His eighth-round loss to GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda put Duda and GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave into a tie for first, and the ensuing ninth-round draw between those two led to chaos atop the standings: a five-way tie on eight points.

Sarana was not one of those five, but he won both of his last two games while not a single one of the five ahead of him did. In the 10th round, Sarana outplayed GM Andy Woodward in a back-and-forth endgame that finally ended with a pawn checkmate several moves after Woodward had missed a pin and dropped a piece. 

Sarana's 11th-round game was even more of a shock, as GM Sergei Zhigalko had him on the ropes but lost on time. But tiebreaks only care about results, not how they occurred, and Sarana's ended up being plenty good enough to win out over GMs Nihal Sarin and Minh Le.

Sarana also had Nihal to thank for beating Vachier-Lagrave in the final round. Vachier-Lagrave, who was the only player on 9/10 entering the final round, had to settle for fourth place. Nihal's impressive 21st and 22nd moves helped lead to a relatively quick win.

Le was the other player besides Sarana to jump from 7.5 points to 9.5 points in the last two rounds. Like Sarana, Le won on time in the final round, but unlike Sarana, was dominating the game at that point too.

The final prizes went to GM Rinat Jumabayev in fifth place and the tournament's top woman, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. Goryachkina scored 8.5 points and placed 20th. Her second-round win needed only 23 moves to produce checkmate and included a Bd6 sacrifice—both reminiscent of a 19th-century brilliancy—and she later won her final three games.

March 4 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Rank Seed Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak
1 9 GM @mishanick Aleksei Sarana 3156 9.5 76
2 7 GM @nihalsarin Nihal Sarin 3181 9.5 70.5
3 26 GM @wonderfultime Tuan Minh Le 3063 9.5 69
4 5 GM @LyonBeast Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 3197 9 74
5 75 GM @Jumbo Rinat Jumabayev 2953 9 73
6 17 GM @Philippians46 Andy Woodward 3118 9 69.5
7 18 GM @howitzer14 David Howell 3103 9 69
8 79 IM @Chessmissile07 Suresh Harsh 2939 9 68.5
9 4 GM @Polish_fighter3000 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 3198 8.5 77.5
10 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3256 8.5 74.5
11 12 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3134 8.5 74
12 43 GM @Volodar_Murzin Volodar Murzin 3016 8.5 71.5
13 41 GM @GMBenjaminBok Benjamin Bok 3026 8.5 71.5
14 50 IM @Kacparov Kacper Drozdowski 3002 8.5 70.5
15 58 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2958 8.5 68.5
16 56 FM @carokannlover213 Patryk Cieslak 2959 8.5 67
17 47 GM @Sam_ChessMood Samvel Ter-Sahakyan 2987 8.5 66
18 256 FM @puz2010 Semyon Puzyrevsky 2693 8.5 62.5
19 57 GM @jcibarra José Carlos Ibarra Jerez 2959 8.5 59.5
20 121 GM @Goryachkina Aleksandra Goryachkina 2854 8.5 57

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Sarana $1,000, Nihal $750, Le $350, Vachier-Lagrave $200, Jumabayev $100, Goryachkina $100.

Late Tournament

Now came the late tournament and its 493 participants, and Bok did not need much help to claim victory. A fifth-round loss to Nihal (who also beat Bok in the early tournament) was the only blemish on his score. The tournament was still similar to the earlier one in that there was somewhat of a mess atop the standings for much of it, but differentiated itself when, instead of a three-way tie for first place at the end of everything, only Bok stood at the top, and by a full point at that.

Once again, two players (in this case, Firouzja and GM Awonder Liang) led after eight rounds with 7.5 points before drawing each other in the ninth round to create an even larger first-place tie. The biggest game of the round was Bok vs. Carlsen, which was a mostly even endgame, but Carlsen made two major mistakes: one which Bok did not punish, the other of which he very much did.

Four players on eight points after that round became two players on nine points after Bok defeated Liang and GM Cristobal Henriquez defeated Firouzja in the 10th round. Two players on nine points then became Bok alone on 10.

It was an important win for Bok, whose tiebreaks were relatively low and would have given Henriquez the tournament had they drawn their game since both players who had been on 8.5/10 (Duda and GM Daniel Naroditsky) lost in the final round.

Instead, the last round became a battle for second place, out of which GM Javokhir Sindarov emerged from a five-way tie. Sindarov was the other player to victimize Carlsen in this tournament, back in round six.

Sindarov only scored a combined one point in the next three rounds, but his recovery in the final two was enough for second place. Carlsen wound up taking third, defeating Duda in the last round. Both of Carlsen's losses in this tournament came with White—both of which he played the London System in—so to win this one with White, also with the London, was no doubt a relief to himself and to London fans.

Henriquez, Firouzja, and WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya rounded out the prize winners. GM Volodar Murzin, despite scoring nine points, could only finish sixth.

March 4 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Rank Seed Fed Title Username Name Rating Score Tiebreak
1 23 GM @GMBenjaminBok Benjamin Bok 3073 10 68.5
2 6 GM @Javokhir_Sindarov05 Javokhir Sindarov 3169 9 78
3 1 GM @MagnusCarlsen Magnus Carlsen 3256 9 74.5
4 35 GM @HVillagra Cristobal Henriquez 2994 9 71.5
5 4 GM @Firouzja2003 Alireza Firouzja 3199 9 69
6 25 GM @Volodar_Murzin Volodar Murzin 3026 9 68
7 2 GM @nihalsarin Nihal Sarin 3211 8.5 80.5
8 5 GM @GHANDEEVAM2003 Arjun Erigaisi 3174 8.5 77
9 24 GM @rednova1729 Awonder Liang 3047 8.5 75.5
10 3 GM @Polish_fighter3000 Jan-Krzysztof Duda 3200 8.5 72.5
11 16 GM @BogdanDeac Bogdan Daniel Deac 3062 8.5 71
12 10 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3023 8.5 71
13 59 GM @AlexeiShirov Alexei Shirov 2936 8.5 67.5
14 42 IM @DeGrootteZ Nico Zwirs 2961 8.5 67
15 12 GM @Parhamov Parham Maghsoodloo 3100 8.5 67
16 57 GM @ChessSharkz Kayden Troff 2921 8.5 61.5
17 99 GM @krzyzan94 Marcin Krzyżanowski 2836 8 72.5
18 113 GM @bocah_sakit Novendra Priasmoro 2788 8 69
19 39 GM @SPEEDSKATER Nicolas Checa 2951 8 68
20 44 GM @MarkusRagger Markus Ragger 2942 8 67.5
42 104 WGM @Sanyura Aleksandra Maltsevskaya 2766 7.5 52.5

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Bok $1,000, Sindarov $750, Carlsen $350, Henriquez $200, Firouzja $100, Maltsevskaya $100.

Grand Prix Standings

With his extra activity of late, Carlsen has played enough events this year to reach the top three in the Grand Prix standings. Sarana also joined the top eight this week. Out for now are GMs Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Christopher Yoo, although both Deac and Bok would be tied for eighth without tiebreaks.

Rk Username Score Title Name
1 @Hikaru 90.5 GM Hikaru Nakamura
2 @Jospem 90.0 GM Jose Martinez
3 @MagnusCarlsen 90.0 GM Magnus Carlsen
4 @Msb2 89.5 GM Matthias Bluebaum
5 @mishanick 87.0 GM Alexey Sarana
6 @Oleksandr_Bortnyk 87.0 GM Oleksandr Bortnyk
7 @HansOnTwitch 87.0 GM Hans Niemann
8 @OparinGrigoriy 86.5 GM Grigoriy Oparin

There was also a change to the women's standings this week, with GM Jiner Zhu joining the top eight, bumping WIM Maria Teresa Jimenez Salas. IMs Polina Shuvalova and Karina Ambartsumova retain the top two spots, with Maltsevskaya still in third.

Rk Username Score Title Name
1 @Flawless_Fighter 71.0 IM Polina Shuvalova
2 @karinachess1 70.5 IM Karina Ambartsumova
3 @Sanyura 67.5 WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya
4 @Meri-Arabidze 66.0 IM Meri Arabidze
5 @anasta10 64.5 FM Anastasia Avramidou
6 @jinbojinbo 64.0 GM Jiner Zhu
7 @Fh2411 62.5 IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham
8 @rollercoaster29 61.5 WFM Kalyani Sirin

Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), juniors (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) do not have SCC places on the line, but there will be cash prizes in each of these categories. Woodward's performance this week grabbed the top youth spot from IM Ilan Schnaider. 

Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov), 79.0 points

Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46), 72.0 points

Girls: WFM Kalyani Sirin (@rollercoaster29), 60.0 points

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).

The next Titled Tuesday to hit 1,000 participants will award prizes to the top 30 players.

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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