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Xiong Wins December 7 Titled Tuesday

Xiong Wins December 7 Titled Tuesday

NathanielGreen
| 10 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Jeffery Xiong won his third Titled Tuesday of 2021 on December 7, scoring 10/11. FM Khazar Babazada also made a 10/11 score but finished second on tiebreak; it was his second straight top-three finish. In a rarity, they finished a full point ahead of the field. IM Christopher Yoo and GM Vidit Gujrathi took third and fourth on 9/11 scores, with GM Alexey Kislinsky fifth on tiebreaks.

472 players participated in this Titled Tuesday, which was the normal 11-round Swiss tournament with a 3+1 time control. 

The live broadcast of this week's tournament, hosted by GM Benjamin Bok.

Xiong had a chance at perfection, beginning his tournament with 9/9, including a win over Babazada in round five which turned out to decide the tournament. Xiong ended with two draws in the last two rounds and held on by six tiebreaker points when Babazada caught up. 

Babazada, who is only 16, won all his games except for the Xiong encounter. In the final round, Babazada got matched with GM Hikaru Nakamura but emerged victoriously. Nakamura flagged with a bishop that was powerless anyway against Babazada's three pawns in the final position.

The last game of Xiong's perfect portion of the tournament, round nine against GM Baadur Jobava, was a strong positional effort. After this point, draws in the final two rounds were good enough for Xiong to win the tournament.

December 7 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 2 GM @jefferyx Jeffery Xiong 3068 10 71.5
2 29 FM @KhazarBabazada007 Khazar Babazada 2902 10 65.5
3 12 IM @ChristopherYoo Christopher Woojin Yoo 2979 9 57.75
4 4 GM @viditchess Vidit Gujrathi 3016 9 57.5
5 86 GM @Alexchess1984 Alexey Kislinsky 2769 9 47.5
6 5 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 3020 8.5 63
7 3 GM @mishanick Alexey Sarana 3031 8.5 53.25
7 30 GM @Durarbayli Vasif Durarbayli 2864 8.5 53.25
9 14 GM @rasmussvane Rasmus Svane 2956 8.5 51
10 8 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 2989 8.5 47.75
11 9 IM @vi_pranav Pranav V 2971 8.5 47.5
12 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3129 8 54
13 6 NM @Sviridov_Valery Valery Sviridov 3012 8 51.25
14 20 GM @exoticprincess Baadur Jobava 2934 8 50.5
14 37 GM @dretch Conrad Holt 2861 8 50.5
16 7 GM @Chopper1905 Mustafa Yilmaz 2977 8 46.5
17 107 IM @Undisputed92 Shyaamnikhil P 2703 8 45.25
18 18 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 2934 8 43.5
19 88 IM @Korchmar_Vasiliy Vasiliy Korchmar 2732 8 41.5
20 108 FM @Aradhya2000 Aradhya Garg 2713 8 40
40 201 WFM @AnastassijaSinitsina Anastassia Sinitsina 2532 7.5 37.25

(Full final standings here.)

Xiong won $750 for first place and Babazada $400 for second. Yoo took $150 for third place and Vidit $100 for fourth. The $100 prize for the top-finishing female player went to WFM Anastassia Sinitsina, by tiebreak over GM Alexandra Kosteniuk with both on 7.5/11.

Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players, played every Tuesday on Chess.com starting at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/19:00 Central European.

Titled Tuesday Format

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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