Carlsen Clinches One Of Closest Tuesdays Yet

NathanielGreen

Updated: Mar 20, 2024, 8:49 AM | 18 | Chess Event Coverage

After GM Pranav Venkatesh won the early edition of the March 19 Titled Tuesday with relative ease, GM Magnus Carlsen needed the second tiebreak to earn his first win in the event since January 30. It was little-known Chinese GM Xu Xiangyu who pushed Carlsen to the brink. The wins were Pranav's second (previously on October 31, 2023) and Carlsen's 14th since February 2022.

Early Tournament (Pranav, 10 /11)
Late Tournament (Carlsen 9.5/11)
Titled Cup Standings

Early Tournament

In the early field of 656 players, Pranav lost fairly early in round five, but it ended up the only blemish on his record. The final three rounds were especially impressive for him, with wins over GMs Alireza Firouzja and Denis Lazavik—who had been tied for the tournament lead through eight rounds—sandwiching a 10th-round victory over GM Hikaru Nakamura. Shockingly, it took only 22 moves for Pranav to beat Nakamura.

The tournament thus came down to the final round game between Pranav and Lazavik, who entered as the only two players in the co-lead on 9/10. The computer gave Lazavik the edge for most of the game until he captured the wrong way on move 40.

Lazavik's overall performance—which included a win over Carlsen in round eight—was strong enough to pick up a third-place finish anyway, but he was leapfrogged by GM Luca Moroni Jr., who toppled GM Jose Martinez.

March 19 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number	Rk	Fed	Title	Username	Name	Rating	Score	Tiebreak 1
1	20		GM	@vi_pranav	Pranav V	3092	10	71
2	97		GM	@moro182	Luca Moroni Jr	2907	9.5	68.5
3	13		GM	@DenLaz	Denis Lazavik	3111	9	76.5
4	21		GM	@Oleksandr_Bortnyk	Oleksandr Bortnyk	3075	9	72
5	5		GM	@FairChess_on_YouTube	Dmitry Andreikin	3147	9	71
6	3		GM	@nihalsarin	Nihal Sarin	3178	9	68.5
7	90		GM	@BilodeauA	Kirill Alekseenko	3062	9	64.5
8	9		FM	@Sina_Movahed	Sina Movahed	3104	9	61
9	14		GM	@GM_dmitrij	Dmitrij Kollars	3101	8.5	76.5
10	2		GM	@MagnusCarlsen	Magnus Carlsen	3255	8.5	75.5
11	10		GM	@Firouzja2003	Alireza Firouzja	3100	8.5	72.5
12	6		GM	@mishanick	Aleksei Sarana	3129	8.5	71
13	60		GM	@TigrVShlyape	Gata Kamsky	2935	8.5	69
14	28		GM	@AryanTari	Aryan Tari	3024	8.5	66
15	27		GM	@shimastream	Aleksandr Shimanov	3018	8.5	61
16	7		GM	@jefferyx	Jeffery Xiong	3095	8.5	58.5
17	143		IM	@lamomiajunior	Joaquin Fiorito	2780	8.5	54.5
18	19		GM	@Jospem	Jose Martinez	3058	8	74.5
19	23		GM	@AnishOnYoutube	Anish Giri	3042	8	71.5
20	15		GM	@HansOnTwitch	Hans Niemann	3078	8	69.5
30	138		GM	@Elegance_Riks	Harika Dronavalli	2797	8	62

(Full final standings here.)

Pranav won $1,000 for his efforts while Moroni claimed $750 and Lazavik $350. GM Oleksandr Bortnyk finished fourth for $200 and GM Dmitry Andreikin fifth for $100. GM Harika Dronavalli scored eight points, earning the $100 women's prize in 30th place.

Late Tournament

It was the busiest late tournament of the year to date with 579 participants, and three of them ended up tied at the top: Carlsen, Xu, and GM Arjun Erigaisi. Arjun lost in round three and ended up with the third-best tiebreaks, but Carlsen and Xu were so dead-even the usual tiebreak was not enough. They had the same score after eight of the 11 rounds (all except rounds five through seven). Their final-round showdown, a 25-move draw, didn't move the needle. Ultimately, the difference was that Carlsen's weakest opponent scored half a point more during the tournament than Xu's weakest opponent.

But through eight rounds, it wasn't clear that either of them would win. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda held a slim half-point lead over the field, but Carlsen took him out in round nine after taking an exchange when Duda unwisely grabbed a pawn.

That briefly added to the noise, with a four-way tie for first, but it cleanly broke into a two-way tie after Carlsen beat and Bortnyk while Xu defeated GM Jeffery Xiong in the very back-and-forth game below.

While Carlsen and Xu made their draw in the final round, Arjun, Duda, and GM Fabiano Caruana all had a chance to join them on 9.5 points. Caruana only managed a draw after 73 moves with Nakamura, well after Arjun had won against Duda in an opposite-side castling affair.

March 19 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number	Rk	Fed	Title	Username	Name	Rating	Score	TB1	TB2
1	1		GM	@MagnusCarlsen	Magnus Carlsen	3263	9.5	76	80.5
2	39		GM	@xxysoul6	Xu Xiangyu	3012	9.5	76	80
3	20		GM	@GHANDEEVAM2003	Arjun Erigaisi	3072	9.5	65.5	67.5
4	11		GM	@Oleksandr_Bortnyk	Oleksandr Bortnyk	3095	9	78	84
5	10		GM	@jefferyx	Jeffery Xiong	3105	9	73	77
6	41		GM	@Harsha_Bharathakoti	Harsha Bharathakoti	2973	9	71.5	74.5
7	12		GM	@FabianoCaruana	Fabiano Caruana	3096	9	68	69
8	15		GM	@Jospem	Jose Martinez	3070	9	65	66
9	23		GM	@Sanan_Sjugirov	Sanan Sjugirov	3028	9	62.5	64.5
10	13		GM	@SpeedofLight0	Andrew Hong	3073	9	59.5	60.5
11	6		GM	@Polish_fighter3000	Jan-Krzysztof Duda	3137	8.5	81	83
12	18		GM	@mitrabhaa	Mitrabha Guha	3104	8.5	72	77
13	32		GM	@GMBenjaminBok	Benjamin Bok	2982	8.5	66	70.5
14	16		GM	@Grischuk	Alexander Grischuk	3050	8.5	64.5	65.5
15	1		GM	@Hikaru	Hikaru Nakamura	3259	8.5	60.5	64
16	3		GM	@DanielNaroditsky	Daniel Naroditsky	3142	8	77.5	79.5
17	37		GM	@platy3	Alan Pichot	2974	8	77	79
18	46		GM	@Sargsyan_Shant	Shant Sargsyan	2951	8	73	78
19	55		GM	@KuzubovYuriy	Yuriy Kuzubov	2907	8	69.5	70.5
20	25		IM	@Rud_Makarian	Rudik Makarian	3031	8	69	71
76	177		GM	@Goryachkina	Aleksandra Goryachkina	2680	7	56.5	59

(Full final standings here.)

Carlsen won $1,000, Xu $750, and Arjun $350 at the top. Bortnyk's second-straight fourth-place finish earned him another $200, and $400 in total. The $100 prizes went to Xiong in fifth and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina taking the women's prize on seven points.

Titled Cup Standings

Nakamura retains his lead while Goryachkina pulled ahead of IM Karina Ambartsumova in the women's standings. All other leaders from last week remain in the top spot.

Open

#	Username	Score	Player
1	@Hikaru	183.5	GM Hikaru Nakamura
2	@Polish_fighter3000	174.5	GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda
3	@mishanick	173.5	GM Alexey Sarana
4	@Jospem	170.0	GM Jose Martinez
5	@FairChess_on_YouTube	167.0	GM Dmitry Andreikin

Women

#	Username	Score	Player
1	@Goryachkina	132.0	GM Aleksandra Goryachkina
1	@karinachess1	126.0	IM Karina Ambartsumova
3	@ChessQueen	79.5	GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
4	@Fh2411	75.0	IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham
5	@Sanyura	73.5	IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya
5	@Lady_Nika	73.5	WCM Veronika Shubenkova

Other Category Leaders

Juniors: CM Artem Bardyk (135.0 points)

Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (143.5 points)

Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (73.5 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

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.