Nakamura Wins July 13 Titled Tuesday
GM Hikaru Nakamura won Titled Tuesday for the second consecutive week, scoring 9.5/11 and finishing ahead of GM Giga Quparadze on tiebreakers. There was a tie for third as both GM Sergei Zhigalko and GM Tamir Nabaty finished with 9/11 and the same tiebreaker score, ahead of GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and David Howell.
502 titled players played in this week's Titled Tuesday, which coincided with the first round of the FIDE World Cup. As usual, the tournament was an 11-round Swiss at a 3+1 time control.
Live broadcast of the tournament, hosted by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili this week.
Nakamura did not lose a game but was held to a draw by three well-known strong players: IM Minh Le in round five, Quparadze in round eight, and Howell in round 10. Nakamura's somewhat harder slate of games compared to Quparadze was the difference in the tiebreak.
Nabaty was the last perfect player, with 6/6 entering the seventh round, but that score did not survive the ensuing endgame encounter with Nakamura.
Entering the final round, Quparadze was in the lead by himself, but his game with Abdusattorov ended in a draw. The door was thus open for Nakamura to defeat Winner Stays participant GM Jose Martinez and take the tournament.
A 10th round game between top-20 finishers IM Renato Terry and GM Conrad Holt showed the stress and dangers of blitz. The players were each under 30 seconds by move 30, and the roughly 75 moves in time trouble resulted in a back-and-forth endgame that ultimately ended in lone kings.
July 13 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3224 | 9.5 | 60.25 | |
| 2 | 10 | GM | @GigaQuparadze | Giga Quparadze | 2976 | 9.5 | 56.75 | |
| 3 | 12 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2934 | 9 | 63 | |
| 3 | 8 | GM | @TamirNabaty | Tamir Nabaty | 2978 | 9 | 63 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | @howitzer14 | David Howell | 3024 | 9 | 60 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | @ChessWarrior7197 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2960 | 9 | 57 | |
| 7 | 20 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2879 | 8.5 | 54.5 | |
| 8 | 30 | IM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2844 | 8.5 | 54.25 | |
| 9 | 18 | GM | @kirillshevchenko | Kirill Shevchenko | 2872 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 10 | 55 | GM | @K_A_S_T_O_R | Rodrigo Vasquez | 2784 | 8.5 | 50.25 | |
| 11 | 5 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 2974 | 8.5 | 49.5 | |
| 11 | 6 | IM | @renatoterrylujan | Renato Terry | 2960 | 8.5 | 49.5 | |
| 13 | 11 | IM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 2945 | 8.5 | 45.5 | |
| 14 | 154 | IM | @elohunter1999 | Robert Baskin | 2590 | 8 | 49.5 | |
| 15 | 43 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2790 | 8 | 48 | |
| 16 | 139 | FM | @eduardoperalta | Eduardo Peralta | 2622 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 16 | 25 | GM | @dretch | Conrad Holt | 2862 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 18 | 83 | FM | @mbojan | Bojan Maksimovic | 2694 | 8 | 47 | |
| 19 | 44 | IM | @Rsnr | Arseny Kukhmazov | 2769 | 8 | 46.5 | |
| 20 | 84 | FM | @Borsuk_Konstantin | Konstantin Borsuk | 2682 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 20 | 58 | NM | @Leonid_Starozhilov | Leonid Starozhilov | 2730 | 8 | 45.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Nakamura won $750 for the first-place finish, Quparadze received $400 for second place, and the tie for third meant $125 each for Zhigalko and Nabaty. WIM Dolzhykova Kateryna won the $100 prize for top female player.
Titled Tuesday is a weekly tournament held on Chess.com for titled players. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday.
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.
