6 Winners In June Titled Tuesday; Minh Tran Repeats

The June Titled Tuesday saw the second largest number of winners on record as six players managed to top the field in the early and late events. The early event especially surprised as two players managed to reach a towering 8.0/9.

Usually, this would be sufficient for clear first place, but GM Evgeny Shaposhnikov and IM Minh Tran had to settle for shared first for their efforts.

This was an especially good Tuesday for Tran who is a fan favorite and regular on Chess.com. He has been in the money before, but this was his first victory. He managed to repeat later in the event as after a chaotic final round, 7.0/9 was the winning score.

Five players, Trần, GMs Jose Ibarra Jerez, Conrad Holt, Alan Pichot, and IM Maksim Chigaev all tallied equal firsts in the late event.

Ibarra Jerez was the only previous winner. Having won last month and one previous month, he has now achieved three first-place finishes and tied GM Dmitry Andreikin, while only GMs Georg Meier, Hikaru Nakamura, and Baadur Jobava have more.

GM David Howell was the surprise top seed in the early event. He got off to a good start with a nice mating net from a symmetrical, but energetic opening.

Howell with his trademark vest and wristband. Perhaps a Howell fashion line is in the works? | Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

GM Eric Hansen , our late event commentator, is always a crowd favorite, and he too got off to a good start with a pleasant back-rank mating combination.

The current record-holder for most Titled Tuesday victories, Meier wasn't able to take home any dough this month, but he did have the satisfaction of the following pleasing Arabianesque mating finish.

Meier just recorded his first videos for Chess.com. Coming soon to a browser near you!

Our two eventual victors played each other in round five. Shaposhnikov was to be the only player to reach 5.0/5 as he earned the following victory over Tran with an opening trap reminiscent of Morphy's opera game.

Despite that disappointment, Tran was in good form. He managed a victory against Chess.com staffer GM Robert Hess with the following trap.

Tran also found time for a nice back-rank mating trap after his opponent erred from a promising opening position.

Andreiken wasn't able to reach the tie for first as he could only draw with Shaposhnikov in round eight. However, he did play strong chess throughout. Perhaps his best game with following rook endgame against GM Alex Lenderman.

Lenderman's thinking face effortlessly blends the thoughtfulness of a tried-and-true GM with the malleability of silly putty.

Entering the last round, Shaposhnikov and Tran both had 7.0/8. Shaposhnikov looked to be in the better position to achieve victory as he gained an exchange against IM Александр Москаленко. However, he could find no way to make progress late in the game and after repeating moves, a draw seemed on the table.

However, in a stunning case of "oops," Москаленко hit the resign button, when he went to hit the draw button! Consequently, Shaposhnikov got the full point and an 8.0/9 score!

This introduced a heated discussion regarding the proximity of the draw button and the resign button on Chess.com. We're sure the discussion will continue in the comments, and we look forward to your thoughts.

In the final round, Tran looked every bit the top seed against actual top seed, Howell. Tran garnered the bishop pair and a kingside pawn majority and soon put it to excellent work against a beleaguered Howellian kingside.

With this victory, Tran caught Shaposhnikov as the two finished in shared first a full point clear of the rest of the field.

Titled Tuesday, Early Event | Final Standings (6.5 Points And Up)

Full V3 tournament tables available here.

For their victory, Shaposhnikov and Tran each collected $375. Six players tied for third and collected $41.67. These were GMs Andreikin, Jaan Ehlvest, and Luka Paichadze and IMs Bachana Morchiashvili, Александр Москаленко, and Nikita Meskovs.

Despite falling short of a record-tieing sixth first place, Andreikin delivered strong, sound chess in the early event.

The late event had a slihtly lower participation than the full early event, but that still meant 62 titled players were vying for a place at the podium.

An IM-with-a-GM rating, Chigaev got a little lucky in round one as his opponent punished an overextension in the opening before forgetting that pins are not always permanent.

Another fine Chigaev victory was the following bishop sac, a classic example of demolition of the pawn structure.

Commentator Eric Hansen's predicted victor, Holt, got a good start with the following sound and sweet drubbing. There's nothing too difficult in the following tactics, but they are certainly pleasing.

Tran was back to up his winnings, but he started a bit coolly when he let his opponent escape in the following knights endgame. Our knowledgeable tablebases inform us that a victory was to be had on the basis of three knights beating one! Perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on Tran for missing what is given as a mate in 39 in a blitz game...

Yet another fan favorite, GM Rogellio Antonio, possessor of the record for most games on the Chess.com server, delivered several pretty victories. The below win was well-earned, but an even prettier earlier mate was available.

Antonio also defeated Howell who seemed in good form, but he dropped key games in both events. Antonio's play may not have been 100 percent correct, but it was certainly entertaining.

Entering the last round, Holt was in clear first place and looked to be in peak form. His results have been steadily improving, and in recent months, he has never been far from the money.

Unfortunately, a small disaster struck in the final round as Holt was felled by convincing kingside pressure from Pichot.

More than just a game? Perhaps when you win! | Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Despite Holt's misfortune, his 7.0/9 proved to be sufficient for the massive shared first, which now included Pichot as Chagaev and Tran drew each other. Ibarra Jerez also settled for a draw in a potentially playable position.

Titled Tuesday, Late Event | Final Standings ( Points And Up)

Full V3 tournament tables available here.

The five-way tie between GMs Ibarra Jerez, Holt, and Pichot and IMs Chigaev and Tran resulted in a mathematically clean $200 money split.

The next Titled Tuesday will take place on Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 11 am and 5 pm Pacific time. See you on Chess.com/tv and Twitch.tv/chess as always!

All of the commentary and action with commentators and GMs Simon Williams and Eric Hansen is available on Twitch. 

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