Nakamura Locks Down 6th Titled Tuesday Sweep
The first Titled Tuesday sweep of 2024 belongs to GM Hikaru Nakamura, who won both tournaments on April 23. It is the 11th time someone has accomplished the feat, and Nakamura's sixth, but his first since February 14, 2023. The last time anyone swept both tournaments was GM Magnus Carlsen on November 7, 2023.
Nakamura scored 10/11 in both events, although he needed tiebreaks over GM Alireza Firouzja to win the early tournament. Carlsen cashed twice, finishing in fifth place early and third place late, but would surely have preferred more.
Early Tournament
The 738 early tournament participants were the most since February, but the all-time leader in Titled Tuesday victories navigated the large field most successfully once again. Nakamura was mostly in control of the field from the get-go, never holding less than a share of first place. Only a share, because he played both Carlsen in round eight and Firouzja in round nine to draws.
Streaming All Day!! Back to Titled Tuesdays - my favorite tournament! https://t.co/8aLBKR31Tx pic.twitter.com/z3aGYIMKrc
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) April 23, 2024
As a result, after nine rounds, the three of them shared the tournament lead with GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda and IM Rud Makarian. Nakamura faced Duda, Firouzja faced Carlsen, and Makarian faced GM Alexey Sarana, half a point below them in the standings.
The Duda-Nakamura game began 1.b3 a5, and things only got crazier from there, but eventually settled into a winning rook endgame for Nakamura.
Firouzja, coming off a disappointing score at the Candidates Tournament, took out some of his frustration on Carlsen and also won an endgame after winning Carlsen's queen.
Makarian won his game against Sarana, but then faced Nakamura in the final round. Nakamura began the game with 1.h4 before winning on time in a better, but not crushing, endgame position.
Firouzja, meanwhile, was about to decisively promote against GM Jeffery Xiong when Xiong resigned. Unfortunately for Firouzja, who made his first draw in round five, his tiebreaks were well short of Nakamura's and the French player had to settle for second place.
April 23 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3311 | 10 | 83.5 | |
| 2 | 16 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3104 | 10 | 73.5 | |
| 3 | 14 | GM | @Grischuk | Alexander Grischuk | 3092 | 9.5 | 72.5 | |
| 4 | 17 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3085 | 9.5 | 71 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3225 | 9 | 80 | |
| 6 | 26 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 3048 | 9 | 75 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3118 | 9 | 70.5 | |
| 8 | 10 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3086 | 9 | 63 | |
| 9 | 6 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3117 | 8.5 | 77.5 | |
| 10 | 4 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3157 | 8.5 | 75.5 | |
| 11 | 32 | GM | @Anton_Demchenko | Anton Demchenko | 2981 | 8.5 | 73.5 | |
| 12 | 11 | GM | @SpeedofLight0 | Andrew Hong | 3067 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 13 | 41 | GM | @DominguezOnYoutube | Leinier Dominguez Perez | 2964 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 14 | 5 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3110 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 15 | 7 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3106 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 16 | 18 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 3055 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 17 | 19 | GM | @Baku_Boulevard | Rauf Mamedov | 3043 | 8.5 | 62.5 | |
| 18 | 98 | IM | @Kirill_Klukin | Kirill Klukin | 2869 | 8.5 | 60.5 | |
| 19 | 24 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3025 | 8.5 | 60.5 | |
| 20 | 150 | IM | @Nimrod_Veinberg | Nimrod Veinberg | 2814 | 8 | 76 | |
| 73 | 140 | GM | @Elegance_Riks | Harika Dronavalli | 2791 | 7 | 66 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 and wasn't done yet, while Firouzja earned $750. GM Alexander Grischuk came out just ahead of GM Tuan Minh Le on tiebreaks, claiming $350 to Le's $200. The $100 prizes went to Carlsen and GM Harika Dronavalli, who won the women's prize on seven points.
Late Tournament
A few hours later, now in a field of 527 players, Nakamura had a deja vu-like experience: a 7/7 start, a draw against Carlsen in round eight...
"I'm pretty sure I was winning!" says Nakamura about his game vs. Carlsen—and he was until he played 51.Kb2? instead of taking a pawn on a5 or e6: https://t.co/TNYS0slDKj pic.twitter.com/CWAWYOJdy3
— chess24 (@chess24com) April 23, 2024
...another draw in round nine (this time against GM Nihal Sarin) and then two straight wins to wrap up the tournament on a leading 10 points. This time, those final two victories came against GMs Jose Martinez and Oleksandr Bortnyk. Martinez, who had just defeated Carlsen in round nine, was down a rook for only three pawns when he threw in the towel against Nakamura—who was still opening with 1.h4 as White—in round 10.
Against Bortnyk, Nakamura switched back to 1.e4. Even though the queenside went into lockdown after Bortnyk had moved his king there in the early middlegame, Nakamura was eventually able to break through and force checkmate anyway—an amazing display of tenacity.
Unlike the early tournament, no one else was tied with Nakamura entering the final round in the late tournament, and so the Bortnyk win locked things up.
Finishing second this time was GM Christopher Yoo, who matched Nakamura in every round except with an extra draw in round five. Yoo secured second place in the final round against GM Matthias Bluebaum.
That result in turn left Carlsen at the top of a pack of five players on nine points. After dropping his ninth-round game against Martinez, Carlsen came out ahead against Xiong (below) and FM Gabriel Arteaga. Xiong was worse anyway when the game ended, but only lost on time.
April 23 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3323 | 10 | 74.5 | |
| 2 | 23 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 3038 | 9.5 | 70 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3227 | 9 | 75 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3163 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 5 | 9 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3106 | 9 | 72 | |
| 6 | 12 | GM | @LiemLe | Liem Le | 3072 | 9 | 65.5 | |
| 7 | 15 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3054 | 9 | 62.5 | |
| 8 | 14 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3066 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 9 | 7 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3108 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 10 | 6 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3127 | 8.5 | 68.5 | |
| 11 | 13 | GM | @Shankland | Sam Shankland | 3001 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 12 | 4 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3141 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 13 | 33 | GM | @sergoy | Sergey Drygalov | 2950 | 8.5 | 64 | |
| 14 | 55 | GM | @topotun | Mikhail Panarin | 2892 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 15 | 27 | GM | @TheSilmarils | Giorgi Margvelashvili | 2965 | 8 | 69 | |
| 16 | 29 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 2972 | 8 | 68.5 | |
| 17 | 50 | FM | @Gravity_Chess | Gabriel Arteaga | 2896 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 18 | 75 | FM | @bascheyaro | Roman Yanchenko | 2842 | 8 | 67 | |
| 19 | 19 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 3017 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 20 | 112 | GM | @Hamisandwich | Vladimir Hamitevici | 2779 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 29 | 1 | WGM | @Sanyura | Aleksandra Maltsevskaya | 2676 | 8 | 47.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura added another $1,000 to his winnings on the day for a total of $2,000. Yoo won $750. Carlsen took home $350 in third place, totaling $450 on the day—equivalent to 0.004% of his lifetime tournament earnings through the end of 2023. Sarana and Martinez finished fourth and fifth, respectively, for $200 and $100. The $100 women's prize went to WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya, who also won last week's late women's prize, on 8/11 points.
Titled Cup Standings
Nakamura is well on his way to the top spot in the Titled Cup. Helping to contribute to what is now an 11-point gap, his 20th-best score of the year is now nine points while Duda, in second place, has only scored nine points 14 times so far.
GM Denis Lazavik not only still leads the juniors but has moved into a tie for fifth in the open standings, while GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, GM Gata Kamsky, and WCM Veronika Shubenkova continue to lead the women, seniors, and girls, respectively.
Open
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Hikaru | 192.0 | GM Hikaru Nakamura |
| 2 | @Polish_fighter3000 | 181.0 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
| 3 | @mishanick | 177.5 | GM Alexey Sarana |
| 4 | @Jospem | 176.5 | GM Jose Martinez |
| 5 | @FairChess_on_YouTube | 171.5 | GM Dmitry Andreikin |
| @DenLaz | 171.5 | GM Denis Lazavik |
Women
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Goryachkina | 133.0 | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 2 | @karinachess1 | 129.0 | IM Karina Ambartsumova |
| 3 | @Meri-Arabidze | 115.0 | IM Meri Arabidze |
| 4 | @ChessQueen | 114.5 | GM Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 5 | @Sanyura | 110.0 | IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya |
Other Category Leaders
Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (171.5 points)
Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (163.5 points)
Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (91.5 points)
The new 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).
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.
