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Titled Tuesday belonged to GMs Dmitry Andreikin and Hikaru Nakamura on July 2, although both needed tiebreaks after scoring 9.5 points. GM Arjun Erigaisi pulled off the impressive but unenviable feat of finishing in second place in both events, while Nakamura also tied for first in the early tournament but wound up in third by the tiebreaks.

Out of the 692 players earlier in the day, Andreikin was the last perfect player, reaching a 7/7 score after defeating GM Javokhir Sindarov with a double fianchetto and exchange sacrifice.

After that, however, Andreikin made three straight draws, including against GM Arjun Erigaisi in the eighth round. It was Arjun's second draw of the tournament, while Nakamura had already made two himself in previous rounds. Andreikin's next two games were drawn as well, with Arjun catching up after round nine and Nakamura after round 10.

But they weren't the only ones, with a seven-way tie occurring on 8.5 points entering the final round. In that round, Andreikin faced GM Alexey Sarana, Arjun GM Tuan Minh Le, and Nakamura GM Vincent Keymer. The last co-leader, GM David Paravyan, faced GM Alexander Zubov in what turned out to be the only draw in the four games.

The first game to end was Andreikin's, although it still took 54 moves. But on move 54, Andreikin checkmated Sarana with a pawn.

With the tiebreak scores the way they were, this effectively ended proceedings. Arjun was the next player to win, demonstrating the strength of two bishops over two knights, and with it, ended up in second place.

For Andreikin, who has won more Titled Tuesdays than anyone besides Nakamura, it was his first victory since October of 2023. GM Magnus Carlsen has been on Andreikin's tail since he started regularly playing in 2022, but Andreikin put some space between them, 17-15, with the result.

One other notable result from the early tournament was IM Levy Rozman's third-round win against GM Hans Niemann. Niemann scored 8.5 points anyway but would have been in the first-place mix had it not been for that game.

July 2 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Andreikin claimed the $1,000 first-place prize, with Arjun winning $750 and Nakamura $350. Zubov led tiebreaks among the players with nine points and earned $200. GM Fabiano Caruana pulled into fifth place for $100, and the last $100 went to women's prize winner WFM Sachi Jain (who was born in 2009) on eight points.

Andreikin, Arjun, and Nakamura would all again finish in the top seven (now out of 515 players) in the late tournament, but now it was time for Nakamura's first Titled Tuesday victory since June 11 and second since May 14about the only player for whom such a spread could be considered any degree of slump.

And yet teenaged Argentinian IM Joaquin Fiorito was a surprise last perfect player, starting 6/6. But he would lose four of his last five games, beginning against Nakamura in round seven.

The win was Nakamura's only one from rounds six through nine, with his other three games drawn, including against Arjun in the ninth round. With two rounds left, Nakamura's 7.5 points put him half a point back of Arjun and three other co-leaders. No matter.

Nakamura's opening began when only one of those four leaders, GM Daniel Naroditsky, won his game, defeating GM Matthias Bluebaum, while Arjun and GM David Anton drew. Meanwhile, Nakamura beat GM Jose Martinez to stay a half-point behind Naroditsky.

The resulting 11th-round clash between Naroditsky and Nakamura would thus decide the victor. For much of the game, a draw seemed the most likely result, but the engine saw Naroditsky lose the thread on moves 43-45 as he dropped a piece on move 46. Naroditsky could reasonably have resigned then but fought on another 23 moves before throwing in the towel.

Arjun, meanwhile, faced Le again and won again but, with his tiebreaks several points behind Nakamura's again, had to settle for runner-up... again.

July 2 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Nakamura won $1,000 to bring his total on the day to $1,350, while Arjun took another $750 for a daily total of $1,500. Sindarov finished third for $350, Anton fourth for $200, and Naroditsky did manage to hold onto fifth for $100. IM Tatjana Vasilevich claimed the $100 women's prize with seven points.

The rather low scores meant little movement in the standings, although Andreikin joined a tie for fifth. The women's standings continue to be extremely close.

Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (179.0 points)

Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (167.0 points)

Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (113.5 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 July 2, 2024 - Chess.com