Former World Champ Roars Back With Big Win In Tuesday Blitz
GM Daniil Dubov and GM Vladimir Kramnik won Titled Tuesday on March 21. Kramnik, 47, was the world chess champion from 2000 to 2007. He retired from over-the-board tournament chess in 2019 but has been active in Chess.com rapid and blitz events in the last year or so.
The late tournament on Tuesday was Kramnik's best showing so far in such events, and he was one flag away from potentially scoring 10.5/11. Dubov, meanwhile, won his third Titled Tuesday of the year in the early event. Both winners scored 9.5 points and claimed the tournament on tiebreaks.
Early Tournament
Round seven was the battle of the undefeated and eventual top two finishers earlier in the day, with Dubov winning against GM Tuan Minh Le to improve to 7/7.
Dubov's perfection did not last long, however, as he was toppled by GM Denis Lazavik in the eighth round.
It was Lazavik who led the entire field with a 9/10 score entering the final round, but he played the Black side of a Four Knights and drew with GM David Paravyan in 31 moves. Both Dubov and Minh Le were able to catch up by winning their games, Dubov checkmating GM Gawain Jones (below) and Minh Le defeating GM Rasmus Svane.
Dubov ended up with better tiebreaks than either Minh Le or Lazavik and thus won the tournament out of a field of 464 players. Paravyan was the only player with nine points, taking fourth place.
March 21 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 6 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3102 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 18 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3040 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 14 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3068 | 9.5 | |
| 4 | 19 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3037 | 9 | |
| 5 | 30 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2953 | 8.5 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | @LOVEVAE | Wei Yi | 3079 | 8.5 | |
| 7 | 45 | GM | @sergiochess83 | Sergey Grigoriants | 2922 | 8.5 | |
| 8 | 26 | GM | @Denis_Makhnyov | Denis Makhnev | 2960 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 15 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3037 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 46 | GM | @chito89 | Axel Bachmann | 2938 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 72 | GM | @VerdeNotte | Gawain Jones | 2883 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 5 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3071 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 111 | IM | @seorobert1971 | Jung Min Seo | 2807 | 8 | |
| 14 | 12 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 3040 | 8 | |
| 15 | 2 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3147 | 8 | |
| 16 | 63 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2898 | 8 | |
| 17 | 17 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 3022 | 8 | |
| 18 | 44 | GM | @jcibarra | José Ibarra | 2898 | 8 | |
| 19 | 20 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 3002 | 8 | |
| 20 | 34 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2943 | 8 | |
| 45 | 114 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2765 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Dubov earned $1,000, while Minh Le won $750 in second place and Lazavik $350 in third. Jones scored $200 for fourth place. The $100 prizes went to GM Benjamin Bok in fifth and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk with the highest women's score.
Late Tournament
Kramnik started out 9.5/10, giving him enough margin for error to retain his tournament lead despite losing to second-place GM Alireza Firouzja in the final round. In third came GM Magnus Carlsen, with the best tiebreak scores of the five players who ended on nine points.
It took until the end of round nine for Kramnik to enter the sole lead, when he defeated the co-leader after eight rounds, GM Sanan Sjugirov.
Kramnik's advantage only expanded in round 10, when he developed a full-point lead on the field of 430 entering the last cycle.
No one was able to defeat the champion until the last round. Even then, Kramnik was better on the board—he simply ran out of time. Yet by then, it was too late to dethrone him anyway. Firouzja still ensured the second-place payday with the win.
March 21 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 34 | GM | @VladimirKramnik | Vladimir Kramnik | 2963 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 7 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3057 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3163 | 9 | |
| 4 | 6 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 3057 | 9 | |
| 5 | 21 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2966 | 9 | |
| 6 | 14 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3017 | 9 | |
| 7 | 33 | IM | @MetiForce | Mahdi Gholami Orimi | 2943 | 9 | |
| 8 | 32 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2956 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 58 | GM | @Vladimir_Zakhartsov | Vladimir Zakhartsov | 2869 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 23 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2971 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 60 | GM | @jlucasvf | Lucas van Foreest | 2862 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 31 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2932 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 10 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3032 | 8 | |
| 14 | 9 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3036 | 8 | |
| 15 | 16 | GM | @joppie2 | Jorden van Foreest | 2977 | 8 | |
| 16 | 40 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2896 | 8 | |
| 17 | 42 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2908 | 8 | |
| 18 | 17 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 2954 | 8 | |
| 19 | 25 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 2957 | 8 | |
| 20 | 3 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3061 | 8 | |
| 52 | 166 | WFM | @Varvara_Poliakova | Varvara Poliakova | 2602 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Kramnik earned $1,000 for his performance, while Firouzja settled for the $750 second-place prize. Carlsen won $350 for third place, Svane $200 for fourth, and GM Gata Kamsky emerged in fifth place for $100. WFM Varvara Poliakova won the $100 women's prize with a 7/11 finish.
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, played in two 11-round Swiss tournaments each Tuesday 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.
