Kamsky, Sevian, Andriasyan Win Giant Titled Tuesday Crash Tournament

A small windstorm touched down in Chess.com's digital offices as IM Daniel Rensch and fellow staff members breathed a massive sigh of relief this Tuesday. We are thrilled to say that the Titled Tuesday CrASH Test Tournament ran perfectly, with no observed errors and no wheezing, coughing, or whining from the Chess.com server faced with lifting the heavy load.

Our two crashed Titled Tuesday tournaments and ensuing Titled Tuesday hiatus have been a black eye and a source of shame for us, but we are excited to say that with this successful test, we will now be offering our largest Titled Tuesday prize fund ever on April 17 along with our sincerest apologies to our fans as we continue to grow the Titled Tuesday event and look forward to passing 300 (and 400?) titled participants!

With so many skilled players, there's lots to look at, but we'll mostly be taking a quick look at the winners' games. GM Gata Kamsky is no stranger to internet blitz chess and tournament victories. He gained his first Titled Tuesday victory in this event despite drawing two games early on in rounds two and three. From there on, he only ceded one draw to GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in a crazy game where both missed wins.

Perhaps Kamsky's prettiest win was his first one. He opened the tournament by defeating giant-slayer CM Artak Manukyan of the playoff-bound Armenia Eagles with a simple but nifty bishop sacrifice.

Much is rightfully being made of Fabiano Caruana being the first American challenger for the uncontested world title since Fischer, but one should not forget that Kamsky battled for the FIDE throne in 1996!

Which eventual tournament winner achieved the prettiest finish? That had to be GM Samuel Sevian who scored a gorgeous two-knight mate that this author had certainly never seen before!

Still only 17, GM Sam Sevian won two beautiful miniatures in this Titled Tuesday.

Sevian also won a second miniature featuring a pretty checkmate against a former world blitz champion, GM Leinier Dominguez.

GM Zaven Andriasyan started the strongest of all tournament players, winning his first six games, but faltered in rounds seven and eight, scoring only 0.5. He had to win his last two, including defeating GM Robert Hess (who at one point lead the field with a stellar 7.5/8) when Hess got into his trademark time trouble.

Is Titled Tuesday victory but a prelude to a PRO Chess League victory for Andriasyan and the Armenia Eagles this weekend?

The pre-tournament favorites, super-GMs and speed-chess legends Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniachtchi, couldn't keep pace with the eventual winners, but they played excellently as always, each catching a share of second and always being among the leaders. Here's one nice win by Nepomniachtchi, who sacrificed his queen for a strong passed d-pawn.

Final Standings | Titled Tuesday CrASH Tournament, April 3, 2018

Find the full Titled Tuesday results and crosstable here!

IM Daniel Rensch insisted on facing the music himself in this test event and provided commentary for the complete Titled Tuesday on Chess.com. Rewatch the whole event on Twitch.tv/chess.

Watch Titled Tuesday! **Crash Party** from Chess on www.twitch.tv

GMs Kamsky, Sevian, and Andriasyan hogged most of the prize money in this event, collecting $292 each. In a six-way tie for the remaining prize money were GMs Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi, Akshat Chandra, Hess, and IMs Minh Le and Maxim Lavrov. Each received $21.