Nakamura And Carlsen Both Win In Day Of Strange Openings
GM Hikaru Nakamura just keeps on winning Titled Tuesday, taking home the early tournament on October 11, his fourth straight week with at least one tournament victory. GM Magnus Carlsen finished in third place despite missing the first round, but made up for it by winning the late tournament. Throughout the day, Carlsen began nearly every game by pushing his g-pawn two squares forward, an opening ploy not recommended for anyone else in the world.
Early Tournament
As now seems inevitable when they both participate, Nakamura and Carlsen faced off directly, this time in round nine. Unlike two weeks ago, however, this game was decisive. Nakamura drew his final two games from there, which was enough to win the tournament outright.
An epic matchup, @GMHikaru vs. @MagnusCarlsen, has a fittingly epic beginning. 😂#TitledTuesday pic.twitter.com/hndiyi1FUv
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) October 11, 2022
Carlsen did not join the event until the second round, which ended up hurting him, almost as much as losing the game against Nakamura. Carlsen scored 90% (9/10) compared to 86% (9.5/11) for Nakamura, but total points are what count.
In between them in the standings was GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who had finished third in both tournaments last week and now added a second-place finish. Duda avoided Carlsen and drew Nakamura in round 10 before going on to defeat IM Renato Terry in the final round, joining a four-way tie for second place. His tiebreaks did the rest.
The list of players with nine points was rounded out by two teenagers, GM-elect Denis Lazavik and GM Daniel Dardha.
October 11 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3218 | 9.5 | 61.75 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3093 | 9 | 60.5 | |
| 3 | 69 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3264 | 9 | 59 | |
| 4 | 11 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3017 | 9 | 52.75 | |
| 5 | 59 | GM | @DanielDardha2005 | Daniel Dardha | 2830 | 9 | 50.5 | |
| 6 | 21 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2953 | 8.5 | 58 | |
| 7 | 50 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2867 | 8.5 | 51.5 | |
| 8 | 108 | FM | @TrickyFortem | Andrii Vachylia | 2713 | 8.5 | 50.25 | |
| 9 | 9 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3019 | 8.5 | 49.25 | |
| 10 | 22 | GM | @Alexander_Donchenko | Alexander Donchenko | 2909 | 8.5 | 48 | |
| 11 | 8 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3024 | 8 | 55.5 | |
| 12 | 3 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3065 | 8 | 52.5 | |
| 12 | 13 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2967 | 8 | 52.5 | |
| 14 | 41 | GM | @ActorXu | Xu Yi | 2873 | 8 | 50 | |
| 15 | 5 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3033 | 8 | 48.75 | |
| 16 | 43 | IM | @Manticore17 | Arystanbek Urazayev | 2834 | 8 | 46.75 | |
| 17 | 18 | GM | @Zkid | Steven Zierk | 2926 | 8 | 46 | |
| 18 | 17 | GM | @Denis_Makhnyov | Denis Makhnev | 2958 | 8 | 45 | |
| 19 | 45 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2837 | 8 | 43.75 | |
| 20 | 85 | GM | @Nikolakis2014 | Stelios Halkias | 2744 | 8 | 41.5 | |
| 29 | 114 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2726 | 7.5 | 41.75 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won the $1,000 first-place prize while Duda won $750 in second place. Carlsen won the $350 third-place prize as Lazavik earned $200 for fourth place and Dardha $100 for fifth. IM Polina Shuvalova earned the $100 women's prize, finishing 29th with 7.5/11.
Late Tournament
The late tournament lost a little bit of pizzazz when then-tournament leader GM Rauf Mamedov resigned from his 10th-round game after one move and then sat out of the final round. His reasons were unclear.
Carlsen was the beneficiary of Mamedov's resignation, and while he is a favorite in that matchup (as he is in essentially every matchup), it certainly didn't make things harder for him. His game in the final round against Lazavik was a little tougher, but again Carlsen won.
Yes, that's a win for Carlsen in the Grob, as he played with all but one of his games with White throughout both tournaments (when he played 1.a4 instead). And his one-move win over Mamedov went 1.e4 g5. Carlsen's scheme was reminiscent of GM Jorden van Foreest winning Titled Tuesday a year ago with nothing but 1.a3 or 1...a6 on move one in the final eight rounds.
Here, as in the early tournament, the winner with 9.5 points was followed by a four-way tie for second place with nine points. GM Vladimir Fedoseev finished in second place with tiebreaks so strong they would have topped Carlsen's as well. His only blemishes were a loss to Carlsen that began 1.g4 Na6—more of that real GM-level opening play—and a couple of draws.
In third was GM Eric Hansen, who was actually the last perfect player in the late field after reaching 6/6. Of the four players who ended up tied on nine points, he was one of two to win in the last round to get there. It came against Duda, helping to break the Polish player's streak of top-three finishes. After a "real" opening, Hansen finished off Duda with a nice rook sacrifice into checkmate.
October 11 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3249 | 9.5 | 62 | |
| 2 | 13 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3012 | 9 | 66.25 | |
| 3 | 37 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2939 | 9 | 54.75 | |
| 4 | 7 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3055 | 9 | 53.25 | |
| 5 | 34 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2931 | 9 | 52 | |
| 6 | 11 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3031 | 8.5 | 54.75 | |
| 7 | 47 | IM | @Manticore17 | Arystanbek Urazayev | 2873 | 8.5 | 47.75 | |
| 8 | 23 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2956 | 8.5 | 44.75 | |
| 9 | 10 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3030 | 8 | 54.5 | |
| 10 | 25 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2940 | 8 | 50.5 | |
| 11 | 29 | GM | @Alexander_Donchenko | Alexander Donchenko | 2920 | 8 | 50 | |
| 12 | 44 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2891 | 8 | 49.5 | |
| 13 | 31 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2905 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 14 | 24 | GM | @Zkid | Steven Zierk | 2932 | 8 | 46 | |
| 15 | 30 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 2901 | 8 | 44 | |
| 16 | 27 | GM | @GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 2931 | 8 | 41.5 | |
| 17 | 42 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2887 | 8 | 36.75 | |
| 18 | 99 | IM | @manitodeplomo | Daniel Barria | 2694 | 8 | 36.5 | |
| 19 | 9 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3009 | 7.5 | 39.75 | |
| 20 | 65 | IM | @DeTimmerman | Mark Timmermans | 2775 | 7.5 | 39.25 | |
| 41 | 90 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2692 | 7 | 27.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Carlsen won $1,000 for first place, totaling $1,350 on the day. Fedoseev claimed the $750 second-place prize with Hansen winning $350 for third place and GM Dmitry Andreikin $200 for fourth place. The $100 prizes went to GM Vugar Rasulov in fifth place and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina in 41st as the highest-scoring woman in the field.
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly event for titled players. Every Tuesday there are two 11-round Swiss tournaments, which start at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European.
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.
