Undefeated Nakamura Sweeps Another Double Tournament
GM Hikaru Nakamura dominated Titled Tuesday on June 7, winning both the early and late tournaments by a full point. He scored nine wins and two draws in both events for a 10/11 score in each.
Nakamura is still the only player to sweep both tournaments on a Titled Tuesday since the February format change, and he's done it twice. He now has three Titled Tuesday wins in a row after taking the late tournament the week before, and he's also won four of the last five.
Not only did Nakamura swipe both first places on Tuesday, but GM Daniil Dubov grabbed both second-place finishes.
Early Tournament
Out of the 380 players in the early tournament, Nakamura and GM Parham Maghsoodloo were the last perfect players and drew their seventh-round game to stay tied. The separation did not occur until round nine, when Maghsoodloo lost to GM Jeffery Xiong while Nakamura defeated GM Oleksandr Bortnyk out of a rather bizarre opening.
A Nakamura-Xiong draw in the tenth round kept things somewhat close entering the final round: Nakamura led with 9/10 while four players with 8.5 were on his tail. By defeating one of them, GM Alexey Sarana, Nakamura locked up the day's first tournament.
The other three players on 8.5/10—Dubov, Xiong, and IM Tuan Minh Le—all made draws to secure top-five finishes but also the full-point win for Nakamura.
June 7 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3191 | 10 | 64.25 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3036 | 9 | 64.5 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3016 | 9 | 60.5 | |
| 4 | 38 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2892 | 9 | 57.5 | |
| 5 | 19 | IM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 2959 | 9 | 55 | |
| 6 | 20 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2949 | 9 | 53 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3005 | 8.5 | 60.25 | |
| 8 | 16 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2950 | 8.5 | 52 | |
| 9 | 11 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2967 | 8.5 | 49 | |
| 10 | 1 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 2957 | 8.5 | 47.25 | |
| 11 | 23 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 2947 | 8.5 | 46.5 | |
| 12 | 12 | GM | @Anton_Demchenko | Anton Demchenko | 2961 | 8 | 53.25 | |
| 13 | 2 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3060 | 8 | 51.5 | |
| 13 | 36 | IM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 2924 | 8 | 51.5 | |
| 15 | 3 | IM | @Mykola-Bortnyk | Mykola Bortnyk | 2987 | 8 | 51 | |
| 16 | 21 | GM | @BillieKimbah | Maxim Matlakov | 2922 | 8 | 44 | |
| 17 | 51 | GM | @ActorXu | Xu Yi | 2829 | 8 | 43.25 | |
| 17 | 24 | GM | @MrTattaglia | Kozak Adam | 2916 | 8 | 43.25 | |
| 19 | 15 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2907 | 8 | 40.25 | |
| 20 | 77 | GM | @GMSrinath | Srinath Narayanan | 2764 | 8 | 39.25 | |
| 27 | 82 | GM | @KaterynaLagno | Kateryna Lagno | 2781 | 7.5 | 41.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $1,000 for first place. In the five-way tie on nine points, Dubov won $750 for second place, Xiong $300 for third, GM Maksim Chigaev $150 for fourth, and Minh Le $100 for fifth while GM Rasmus Svane finished a tough-luck sixth. The $100 prize for the top female player went to GM Kateryna Lagno on 7.5/11.
Late Tournament
Nakamura had even less trouble in the late tournament, outlasting the 291 players with a round to spare.
Once again the last two perfect players met in round seven, this time Nakamura and Dubov. Unlike earlier, the contest was decisive, and naturally it went in Nakamura's favor.
The situation entering the final round was also quite different. This time Nakamura had 9.5/10 and only one player, IM Leon Livaic, was even within a point. Nakamura was far ahead on tiebreaks and they played a quick draw.
Meanwhile, Dubov locked up a second straight second place with a win in the last round over GM Eric Hansen.
June 7 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3191 | 10 | 67.75 | |
| 2 | 6 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3036 | 9 | 63 | |
| 3 | 32 | IM | @Bulldog167 | Leon Livaic | 2907 | 9 | 57 | |
| 4 | 27 | IM | @Arash_Tahbaz | Arash Tahbaz | 2891 | 9 | 55 | |
| 5 | 2 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3060 | 8.5 | 53 | |
| 6 | 40 | GM | @moro182 | Luca Moroni Jr | 2838 | 8.5 | 52.25 | |
| 7 | 25 | IM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 2924 | 8.5 | 49.25 | |
| 8 | 56 | IM | @Niclox | Nicolás Abarca | 2780 | 8.5 | 45 | |
| 9 | 18 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2942 | 8 | 48.75 | |
| 10 | 19 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara | 2947 | 8 | 46.75 | |
| 11 | 31 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2898 | 8 | 42.75 | |
| 12 | 21 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2907 | 8 | 41.5 | |
| 12 | 7 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2993 | 8 | 41.5 | |
| 14 | 14 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2949 | 8 | 40.5 | |
| 15 | 53 | GM | @Mikhail_Bryakin | Mikhail Bryakin | 2758 | 8 | 38 | |
| 16 | 24 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2921 | 7.5 | 52.25 | |
| 17 | 11 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2967 | 7.5 | 46.5 | |
| 18 | 39 | IM | @Manticore17 | Arystanbek Urazayev | 2822 | 7.5 | 41.75 | |
| 19 | 29 | GM | @Annawel | Jules Moussard | 2871 | 7.5 | 41.5 | |
| 19 | 35 | IM | @liczner | Lukasz Licznerski | 2817 | 7.5 | 41.5 | |
| 67 | 77 | WGM | @Sanyura | Aleksandra Maltsevskaya | 2667 | 6 | 24.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura's second thousand-dollar prize gave him $2,000 on the day. Dubov added another $750 for a total of $1,500. Livaic won $300 for third place and IM Arash Tahbaz $150 for fourth. The $100 prizes went to GM Dmitry Andreikin for fifth place and WGM Aleksandra Malsevskaya as the highest-scoring woman in the field.
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.
