Duda Outlasts Nakamura, Caruana
GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Aram Hakobyan took home the victories in Titled Tuesday on May 2, both of them scoring 9.5 points out of the possible 11. Duda won on tiebreaks over higher-rated GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana in the first tournament, and then finished just half a point out of first place in the second tournament.
Early Tournament
In addition to Duda, Nakamura, and Caruana finishing as the top three players in the original field of 538, GM Alireza Firouzja achieved fourth place, showing just how competitive Titled Tuesday has become.
But Duda, who began the tournament scoring 7/7, was in trouble in round 10 after he lost his game against Nakamura.
Still, the Polish super grandmaster recovered from that loss and defeated GM Aleksandr Shimanov in the final round.
The 68-move fighting draw between Nakamura and Firouzja in the same final round ended up being just what Duda needed to score the tournament victory. Meanwhile, Caruana moved into a tie for first as well, with a 28-move demolition of GM Dmitry Andreikin.
All three players were close in the first tiebreak score, but Duda came out on top. For details on how Chess.com breaks ties in Swiss tournaments, see here.
May 2 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 10 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3077 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3174 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3102 | 9.5 | |
| 4 | 4 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3107 | 9 | |
| 5 | 40 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2911 | 9 | |
| 6 | 6 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3069 | 8.5 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3062 | 8.5 | |
| 8 | 37 | GM | @Sam_ChessMood | Samvel Ter-Sahakyan | 2940 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 65 | GM | @Sethu0025 | Sethuraman S.P | 2855 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 19 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 2983 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 13 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3045 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 2 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3089 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 20 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 2982 | 8.5 | |
| 14 | 17 | GM | @crescentmoon2411 | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | 2993 | 8.5 | |
| 15 | 57 | FM | @Zohid6 | Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov | 2848 | 8.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | GM | @BillieKimbah | Maxim Matlakov | 2977 | 8.5 | |
| 17 | 203 | GM | @viditchess | Vidit Gujrathi | 3033 | 8.5 | |
| 18 | 79 | IM | @Eduard_Limonov | Remizov Yaroslav | 2834 | 8.5 | |
| 19 | 3 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3095 | 8 | |
| 20 | 131 | IM | @Fy_Rakotomaharo | Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo | 2732 | 8 | |
| 78 | 1 | WIM | @Srisshhhtea | Srishti Pandey | 2382 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Duda won $1,000 while Nakamura settled for $750 and Caruana for $350. Firouzja earned $200 and GM Vasif Durarbayli, the only other player on nine points, finished in fifth for $100. WIM Srishti Pandey won the $100 women's prize after scoring seven points.
Late Tournament
While the early tournament was a story of frontrunners, the underdogs in the late field of 444 took over. Hakobyan ended up winning on tiebreak over GM Aydin Suleymanli. The two players also showed down in round eight, with Hakobyan winning there as well.
Another win in round nine put Hakobyan in the sole tournament lead. He made draws in his last two games, including a one-move non-game in the last round against his countryman GM Shant Sargsyan. It was enough to keep Hakobyan in first place and Sargsyan in third.
At the same time, Suleymanli won his last two games to get back into a share of first place, but after tiebreaks were applied, it wasn't quite enough to win. Suleymanli's win in the last round also prevented Caruana from returning to the top five, as it came against Caruana himself.
May 2 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | 20 | GM | @Njal28 | Aram Hakobyan | 2996 | 9.5 | |
| 2 | 32 | GM | @LastGladiator1 | Aydin Suleymanli | 2957 | 9.5 | |
| 3 | 23 | GM | @Sargsyan_Shant | Shant Sargsyan | 2974 | 9 | |
| 4 | 14 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3027 | 9 | |
| 5 | 39 | IM | @KhazarBabazada007 | Khazar Babazada | 2912 | 9 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3071 | 9 | |
| 7 | 12 | GM | @Grischuk | Alexander Grischuk | 3048 | 9 | |
| 8 | 4 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3099 | 8.5 | |
| 9 | 13 | GM | @mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 3041 | 8.5 | |
| 10 | 15 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2967 | 8.5 | |
| 11 | 30 | GM | @sergiochess83 | Sergey Grigoriants | 2903 | 8.5 | |
| 12 | 1 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3212 | 8.5 | |
| 13 | 36 | CM | @stollenmonster | Egor Baskakov | 2868 | 8.5 | |
| 14 | 189 | GM | @Marcan2b | Marc-Andria Maurizzi | 2620 | 8.5 | |
| 15 | 3 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3096 | 8 | |
| 16 | 9 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3055 | 8 | |
| 17 | 79 | FM | @AlexPapasimakopoulos | Alexandros Papasimakopoulos | 2754 | 8 | |
| 18 | 56 | IM | @nocnypako | Marcin Sieciechowicz | 2820 | 8 | |
| 19 | 62 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2788 | 8 | |
| 20 | 75 | FM | @Ol_Bilych | Olexiy Bilych | 2763 | 8 | |
| 43 | 362 | WFM | @starplatinum2030 | Elene Tsotsonava | 2297 | 7 |
(Full final standings here.)
Hakobyan won the $1,000 first-place prize while Suleymanli won $750 for second place. Sargsyan's third-place finish earned him $350, while GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac came in fourth for $200 and IM Khazar Babazada in fifth for $100. Duda also scored nine points but finished in sixth. WFM Elene Tsotsonava won the $100 women's prize with a 7/11 score.
Titled Tuesday is a weekly-held 11-round Swiss tournament for titled players on Chess.com, which runs two times every Tuesday. The tournaments begin 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.
