Martinez Beats The Crowd, Young IM Wins Again
On a day where several players, including GM Hikaru Nakamura, were preoccupied with the last day of the 2022 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, the August 30, 2022 editions of Titled Tuesday were won by GM Jose Martinez and GM-elect Denis Lazavik.
Early Tournament
Perhaps spurred by GM Magnus Carlsen's surprise appearance last week, 439 players joined the early tournament. It was the highest participation for a single Titled Tuesday event since February 22. (Carlsen was not among them in either.)
Martinez, a.k.a. Jospem, won his fourth Titled Tuesday since the February doubling of events, more than anyone in that time besides Nakamura and GM Dmitry Andreikin. And in fact, it was Andreikin whom Martinez beat on the tiebreaker score in this event.
Martinez was crushing it for most of the tournament, reaching 8.5/9 before a 10th-round hiccup. That result, against GM Aleksandr Lenderman, allowed Lenderman to leapfrog into first place by half a point.
However, none other than Andreikin stopped Lenderman in the final round and passed him in the standings.
Meanwhile, Martinez recovered against GM Etienne Bacrot, winning on time in a position evaluated as equal by the computer, also passing Lenderman.
Thanks to Martinez's faster start, he played stronger opponents and thus won the tiebreak over Andreikin.
August 30 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3023 | 9.5 | 68.25 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3114 | 9.5 | 64.5 | |
| 3 | 12 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2971 | 9 | 61 | |
| 4 | 21 | GM | @penguingm1 | Andrew Tang | 2908 | 9 | 59 | |
| 5 | 29 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2873 | 9 | 58 | |
| 6 | 23 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2909 | 9 | 54 | |
| 7 | 2 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3034 | 9 | 46.5 | |
| 8 | 16 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2913 | 8.5 | 56 | |
| 9 | 17 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2916 | 8.5 | 52.75 | |
| 9 | 14 | IM | @gurelediz | Ediz Gürel | 2955 | 8.5 | 52.75 | |
| 11 | 133 | FM | @peonrojo150 | Gonzalo Navarrete | 2684 | 8.5 | 45.25 | |
| 12 | 2 | IM | @Nimrod_Veinberg | Nimrod Veinberg | 2732 | 8.5 | 43.25 | |
| 13 | 18 | GM | @baki83 | Etienne Bacrot | 2925 | 8.5 | 42.25 | |
| 14 | 6 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2973 | 8 | 57 | |
| 15 | 33 | FM | @TrahtarBelarus | Artiom Stribuk | 2857 | 8 | 55.5 | |
| 16 | 38 | IM | @MetiForce | Mahdi Gholami Orimi | 2840 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 17 | 59 | GM | @KaterynaLagno | Kateryna Lagno | 2800 | 8 | 48.25 | |
| 18 | 31 | IM | @bardiya_Daneshvar | Bardiya Daneshvar | 2873 | 8 | 48 | |
| 19 | 25 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2848 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 20 | 32 | GM | @VerdeNotte | Gawain Jones | 2858 | 8 | 45.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Martinez won $1,000 for his performance while Andreikin earned $750, and Lenderman won $350. GM Andrew Tang won $200 for fourth place, GM Vasif Durarbayli $100 for fifth, and 17th-place GM Kateryna Lagno $100 as the highest-scoring woman in the field, with 8/11.
Late Tournament
Lazavik, in his days as a 15-year-old FIDE Master, was a surprise winner of this tournament all the way back on March 16, 2021. He has since then proved that it was no fluke, currently on his way to his GM title at the next FIDE conference while earning a spot in the Chess.com Global Championship Knockout. Now he adds another Titled Tuesday win to his record sheet.
Like Andreikin a couple of weeks prior, Lazavik flirted with perfection, starting 9/9 before two draws at the end to clinch the half-point victory. His last three wins were all over especially strong opposition: Tang, Andreikin, and GM Daniel Naroditsky. Of these, the one against Naroditsky was the smoothest, in addition to getting Lazavik his ninth point.
A 17-move draw against GM Alexey Sarana ended Lazavik's bid for perfection. Additionally, a surge from GM Sanan Sjugirov kept him on Lazavik's tail, and they faced off in the final round with Lazavik a half-point up. Naturally, they played a full game, but neither player blinked, and Lazavik held on.
August 30 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 13 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2999 | 10 | 60.5 | |
| 2 | 18 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2950 | 9.5 | 65.5 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3102 | 9.5 | 62.5 | |
| 4 | 21 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 2920 | 9 | 57 | |
| 5 | 19 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2936 | 9 | 52.75 | |
| 6 | 44 | IM | @ckgchess | Cem Kaan Gokerkan | 2833 | 8.5 | 50.5 | |
| 7 | 33 | GM | @VerdeNotte | Gawain Jones | 2858 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 8 | 26 | GM | @ChessBrah | Eric Hansen | 2883 | 8 | 52 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3114 | 8 | 51 | |
| 9 | 34 | IM | @Murad_Ibrahimli | Murad İbrahimli | 2856 | 8 | 51 | |
| 11 | 9 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2973 | 8 | 50 | |
| 12 | 30 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2898 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 13 | 17 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2913 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 14 | 35 | GM | @AlexeiShirov | Alexei Shirov | 2832 | 8 | 46.5 | |
| 15 | 6 | GM | @GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 2980 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 16 | 4 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3034 | 8 | 45 | |
| 17 | 11 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2971 | 8 | 44.75 | |
| 18 | 27 | GM | @Ehsan_GhaemMaghami | Ehsan GhaemMaghami | 2887 | 8 | 44.25 | |
| 18 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3107 | 8 | 44.25 | |
| 20 | 31 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2842 | 8 | 43.5 | |
| 35 | 81 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2685 | 7 | 37.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Lazavik's victory earned him $1,000, while Sjugirov claimed the $750 second-place prize. Sarana won $350 for third, GM Aryan Tari $200 for fourth, and GM David Paravyan $100 for fifth place. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina edged out WGM Meri Arabidze for the top woman's prize on a 7/11 score.
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.
