GM Alexander Grischuk, two weeks removed from the best second-place finish in Titled Tuesday history (or most painful, depending how you look at it), won the early edition of the tournament on May 28. That was followed by a win for GM Minh Le in the late tournament. Grischuk scored 9.5 points and won on tiebreaks ahead of GMs Vasif Durarbayli and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, while Le won outright with 10 points after receiving some help from his top-seeded final-round opponent.
Norway Chess was also ongoing during the early tournament, resulting in slightly lower turnout than past weeks, but there were still a robust 671 participants.
While Grischuk finished undefeated, he made three draws in rounds five through nine, after which he was in an 11-way tie for second place behind three leaders. One of those leaders, GM Sam Sevian, was Grischuk's opponent in the 10th round. Just 29 moves later, Grischuk had turned his half-point deficit into a share of first.
But Grischuk was hardly the only person to join the lead, and with one round to go, seven players were tied on 8.5 points. Three of them won their games: Grischuk, Durarbayli, and Duda. Durarbayli somehow turned a listless-looking endgame into a win against GM Denis Lazavik, who had led the tournament outright through eight rounds but now ended up outside the top five.
May 28 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
(Full final standings here.)
Grischuk claimed $1,000 for the victory while Durarbayli earned $750 and Duda $350. IM Renato Terry finished fourth for $200 while Sevian earned $100, and GM Bella Khotenashvili $100 as the top-scoring woman.
The late field saw 509 players join, including GMHikaru Nakamura following the completion of action in Norway. When Nakamura beat Le in a rook ending in round seven and stayed perfect, it seemed he would coast to another Titled Tuesday victory.
From that point on, however, Nakamura made three draws in the last four rounds while Le never lost again, despite facing only top-15 finishers in those games.
And neither of them led the field after nine rounds. Instead, Sevian did, but that did not last the encounter with Le in round 10.
Now Le and Nakamura were again tied atop the standings, but they could not play each other again. Le ended up with GM Nihal Sarin as his opponent while Nakamura took on IM Rudik Makarian. Despite the nearly 100-point rating difference between them, Makarian held the draw, while Nihal tried trading queens in the endgame and instead fell into a mate-in-one.
And with that, Le won the tournament, and Nihal's blunder was integral, too. With a draw, Nakamura's tiebreaks would have won out, as they did over Sevian, who recovered from the round 10 setback to join Nakamura on 9.5 points.
May 28 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
(Full final standings here.)
Le won $1,000 for his efforts, while Nakamura took home $750 and Sevian $350. GMs Daniel Naroditsky and Oleksandr Bortnyk rounded out the top five, winning $200 and $100, respectively. IM Karina Ambartsumova was the $100 women's prize winner.
With their performances, Le joined a tie for fifth place in the Titled Cup, while Ambartsumova is tied for third in the women's standings, as Nakamura and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk still lead. Lazavik continues to lead the juniors, GM Gata Kamsky the seniors, and WCM Veronika Shubenkova the girls.
Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (174.5 points)
Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (164.5 points)
Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (108.5 points)
The Titled Cup fantasy game Chess Prophet continues as well. Current standings can be found here. (Login required.)
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).
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Titled Tuesday - May 28, 2024 - Chess.com