Xiong Perfects Freestyle Friday
The perfect 11/11 score doesn't exis—well, it's only happened seven times in hundreds of Titled Tuesdays over several years, but in just a few months' time, Freestyle Friday has its first 11/11 performance in the record books. The mark belongs to GM Jeffery Xiong, who not only won his first Freestyle Friday but did so in such fine fashion.
For the first seven rounds, Xiong had company atop the 240-player field, being matched round-for-round by GM Hans Niemann. Xiong was the 20-something American to stay perfect after the contest.
After winning again, against Pranesh M, in the next round to improve to 9/9, Xiong could have coasted to the finish. Instead, he kept his foot on the gas, building a sizeable advantage against GM Artin Ashraf in the 10th round. Unfortunately, Xiong would then make two critical errors, first bringing the game into equality per the engine, and then actually putting himself behind in the evaluation. Xiong refused to give up on the dream of a perfect score, however, and Ashraf would blunder in the time scramble.
The win clinched the tournament for Xiong; not just a share of first, but outright, leaving whether he'd obtain the coveted 11/11 score as the only remaining drama. The circumstances allowed Xiong to go all out for the win (not that inducing a draw in Chess960 is as easy as in a standard game) against GM Ediz Gurel. Xiong already had a decent edge in the position, but nothing determinative, when Gurel hung a rook. That was rather determinative.
Niemann would end up riding his own 7/7 start into second place, dropping another game in the 10th round to GM Yagiz Erdogmus but recovering in the 11th against Ashraf.
Erdogmus tied Niemann on nine points but, despite winning the head-to-head matchup, posted worse tiebreaks and finished third. The remaining prizes went to GM Pranav Venkatesh in fourth place and women's prize winner WGM Anna Shukhman, who scored eight points to finish in 10th place.
June 6 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Buchholz Cut 1 |
| 1 | 7 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 2784 | 11 | 69.5 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 2815 | 9 | 78 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | @legendisback1 | Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | 2760 | 9 | 63 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2759 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 5 | 9 | GM | @Sargsyan_Shant | Shant Sargsyan | 2727 | 8.5 | 68 | |
| 6 | 6 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 2738 | 8.5 | 61.5 | |
| 7 | 15 | GM | @artooon | Pranesh M | 2674 | 8 | 75.5 | |
| 8 | 30 | FM | @artin10862 | Artin Ashraf | 2622 | 8 | 75 | |
| 9 | 21 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 2626 | 8 | 62 | |
| 10 | 67 | WGM | @Speshka | Anna Shukhman | 2441 | 8 | 60 | |
| 11 | 89 | GM | @GM_Huschenbeth | Niclas Huschenbeth | 2352 | 8 | 59 | |
| 12 | 25 | GM | @dalmatinac101 | Ivan Saric | 2615 | 7.5 | 73.5 | |
| 13 | 36 | FM | @KogotBobra17 | Egor Koshulyan | 2559 | 7.5 | 72 | |
| 14 | 18 | IM | @FaustinoOro | Faustino Oro | 2631 | 7.5 | 70 | |
| 15 | 10 | GM | @ChessLover0108 | Mahammad Muradli | 2695 | 7.5 | 69.5 | |
| 16 | 20 | GM | @Jumbo | Rinat Jumabayev | 2617 | 7.5 | 65 | |
| 17 | 5 | GM | @gurelediz | Ediz Gürel | 2726 | 7.5 | 64 | |
| 18 | 48 | IM | @Akewjon | Saidakbar Saydaliev | 2510 | 7.5 | 61.5 | |
| 19 | 112 | CM | @Torosyan_chess | Volodya Torosyan | 2316 | 7.5 | 58.5 | |
| 20 | 75 | CM | @God_speedmove | Dinesh Rajan M | 2392 | 7.5 | 58.5 |
Prizes: Xiong $400, Niemann $250, Erdogmus $150, Pranav $100, Shukhman $100.
Freestyle Friday is Chess.com's weekly tournament dedicated to Freestyle Chess for titled players. The tournament 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.
