Mamedyarov, Bortnyk Latest Tuesday Winners
GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Oleksandr Bortnyk found the keys to victory in Titled Tuesday on May 16. Mamedyarov won on tiebreaks over GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Nitzan Steinberg, while Bortnyk won outright by half a point over GM Matthias Bluebaum.
Early Tournament
580 players tried their hand at the day's first tournament, the highest participant count in Titled Tuesday since January 10. Interestingly, none of the three players who tied for first on 9.5 points played against each other.
After the last two perfect players, GMs Tuan Minh Le and Daniil Dubov, drew their seventh-round game, the standings were a mess, with a six-way tie for first. Mamedyarov was one of them but lost to Le in the eighth round.
From there, Mamedyarov never lost again. Entering the final round, he faced GM Aleksandr Lenderman, who by then was the sole leader with nine points.
Nakamura, meanwhile, hit a rough patch in rounds five and six, scoring only 0.5/2 in that frame. But he was perfect outside of it, including wins in the final five rounds, concluding with a victory over GM Parham Maghsoodloo.
Maghsoodloo, who, after nine rounds, had been the sole leader with 8.5 points, wound up in 10th place.
May 16 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak |
1 | 6 | GM | @Azerichess | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 3075 | 9.5 | 77.5 | |
2 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3237 | 9.5 | 72.5 | |
3 | 47 | GM | @Nitzan_Steinberg | Nitzan Steinberg | 2932 | 9.5 | 61.5 | |
4 | 12 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3026 | 9 | 73.5 | |
5 | 35 | GM | @AlexanderL | Aleksandr Lenderman | 2968 | 9 | 72 | |
6 | 58 | GM | @platy3 | Alan Pichot | 2899 | 9 | 67.5 | |
7 | 43 | FM | @snowlord | Ivan Yeletsky | 2928 | 9 | 65 | |
8 | 19 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2989 | 9 | 60 | |
9 | 21 | GM | @amintabatabaei | Amin Tabatabaei | 2979 | 8.5 | 75 | |
10 | 26 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2974 | 8.5 | 74 | |
11 | 22 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 2983 | 8.5 | 72.5 | |
12 | 46 | GM | @VincentKeymer | Vincent Keymer | 2913 | 8.5 | 68 | |
13 | 42 | GM | @DrVelja | Velimir Ivic | 2918 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
14 | 10 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3006 | 8.5 | 62.5 | |
15 | 17 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2992 | 8.5 | 61 | |
16 | 49 | GM | @sergoy | Sergey Drygalov | 2908 | 8.5 | 60 | |
17 | 41 | GM | @TenisMaster | Yuniesky Quesada | 2914 | 8.5 | 52.5 | |
18 | 85 | GM | @Cayse | Martyn Kravtsiv | 2827 | 8 | 72.5 | |
19 | 11 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3021 | 8 | 72 | |
20 | 55 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2883 | 8 | 69.5 | |
52 | 112 | GM | @Vanina1989 | Valentina Gunina | 2787 | 7 | 71 |
(Full final standings here.)
Mamedyarov earned $1,000 for his victory. Nakamura finished in second on the tiebreak for the second tournament in a row, winning another $750. Steinberg won $350 in third place. GM Jose Martinez climbed all the way into fourth with the best tiebreaks on nine points, winning $200, while Lenderman settled for fifth place and $100. GM Valentina Gunina won the $100 women's prize with seven points out of 11.
Late Tournament
The second tournament saw 449 players join, also a strong number. Unlike in the earlier tournament, one player jumped out into the lead and held it the rest of the way.
That was Bortnyk, who began a perfect 7/7 before making draws in rounds eight and 10. In between, he defeated GM Fabiano Caruana in round nine with a checkmate on the board after 43 moves.
Bortnyk's round-eight draw had come against Bluebaum, and they were tied again in the 10th round: Bluebaum joined a share of first with a 20-move miniature as Black against IM Sebastian Mihajlov.
Bluebaum went on to be held to a draw against third-place GM Aram Hakobyan in the final round, and Bortnyk ensured the result would not come down to a tiebreak score with his 11th-round victory.
The tournament victory was also Bortnyk's ninth top-five finish of the year in Titled Tuesday, more than anyone in 2023 to date except Nakamura.
May 16 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak |
1 | 9 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3047 | 10 | 69.5 | |
2 | 8 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3038 | 9.5 | 67.5 | |
3 | 14 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 2999 | 9 | 73.5 | |
4 | 7 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3036 | 9 | 73 | |
5 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3173 | 9 | 70 | |
6 | 56 | IM | @Eduard_Limonov | Yaroslav Remizov | 2837 | 9 | 69.5 | |
7 | 3 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3096 | 8.5 | 75 | |
8 | 38 | IM | @c63_amg | Artiom Samsonkin | 2854 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
9 | 32 | GM | @VladimirKramnik | Vladimir Kramnik | 2883 | 8.5 | 61 | |
10 | 26 | GM | @sergiochess83 | Sergey Grigoriants | 2902 | 8.5 | 61 | |
11 | 13 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2984 | 8.5 | 60.5 | |
12 | 23 | GM | @Azeryahu | Gyula Pap | 2923 | 8.5 | 59 | |
13 | 12 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 2980 | 8 | 79.5 | |
14 | 34 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 2886 | 8 | 73.5 | |
15 | 29 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2902 | 8 | 71 | |
16 | 10 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3003 | 8 | 68.5 | |
17 | 6 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3004 | 8 | 68.5 | |
18 | 99 | IM | @CaptainCasanova | Sebastian Mihajlov | 2732 | 8 | 67.5 | |
19 | 36 | GM | @iturrizaga | Eduardo Iturrizaga | 2878 | 8 | 67 | |
20 | 45 | GM | @krzyzan94 | Marcin Krzyżanowski | 2826 | 8 | 64.5 | |
69 | 108 | WGM | @Meri-Arabidze | Meri Arabidze | 2637 | 6.5 | 59 |
(Full final standings here.)
Bortnyk won $1,000 for his efforts. Bluebaum claimed $750. Only three of the four players on nine points could place, and they were Hakobyan in third for $350, GM Dmitry Andreikin in fourth for $200, and GM Daniel Naroditsky in fifth for $100. WGM Meri Arabidze won the $100 women's prize with 6.5/11.
Chess.com hosts Titled Tuesday, an 11-round Swiss tournament, for titled players every week. Each Tuesday there are two tournaments, which begin at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/17:00 Central European and 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time/23:00 Central European.