News
Underdog And Favorite Win Tuesday Tournaments

Underdog And Favorite Win Tuesday Tournaments

NathanielGreen
| 8 | Chess Event Coverage

Titled Tuesday on July 19 was won by FM Abtin Atakhan and GM Dmitry Andreikin. The latter tournament ended in a four-way tie on first after Andreikin defeated GM Daniel Naroditsky in the final round, and Andreikin's tiebreaks barely won out over second-place Naroditsky's.

Andreikin has now won seven Titled Tuesdays since February. The only player with more, GM Hikaru Nakamura, was the only player to finish in the top five in both of this week's events.


Early Tournament

The win for Atakhan, a 17-year-old FIDE Master, out of a field of 342 players, came as a shock. The last time a non-GM took Titled Tuesday was November 30 of last year, when Russian NM Valery Sviridov won. But Sviridov's FIDE ratings are 200-300 points higher than Atakhan's.

It was actually a win in the final round over the upcoming winner Andreikin that ended up deciding the tournament in Atakhan's favor.

Second-place GM Aram Hakobyan, who recently qualified for the Knockout round of the Chess.com Global Championship, was the only player to defeat Atakhan on Tuesday. That game came all the way back in round three.

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

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 64 FM @atbenina64 Abtin Atakhan 2779 9.5 52.5
2 12 GM @Njal28 Aram Hakobyan 2978 9 63
3 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3165 9 58.75
4 7 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 3009 9 54
5 23 GM @amintabatabaei Amin Tabatabaei 2931 9 52.75
6 11 IM @MITerryble Renato Terry 2978 8.5 56.75
7 3 GM @mishanick Alexey Sarana 3038 8.5 54
8 2 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3127 8.5 52.25
9 22 GM @Nitzan_Steinberg Nitzan Steinberg 2903 8.5 46.75
10 33 GM @TimofeevAr Artem Timofeev 2844 8.5 46.5
11 84 FM @KononenkoD Dmitry Kononenko 2690 8.5 40.25
12 10 GM @OparinGrigoriy Grigoriy Oparin 2991 8 50.5
13 42 FM @Iball95 Vakhlamov Igor 2819 8 50.25
14 8 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 2971 8 48.25
15 5 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3014 8 48
16 6 GM @Duhless Daniil Dubov 2998 8 46.75
17 44 IM @nikitakhoroshev Nikita Khoroshev 2795 8 46.5
18 9 IM @wonderfultime Tuan Minh Le 2982 8 46.25
19 74 IM @leejunhyeok Jun Hyeok Lee 2693 7.5 45.5
20 66 IM @Legendinunknown Harshavardhan GB 2720 7.5 45
25 100 WGM @Meri-Arabidze Meri Arabidze 2647 7.5 36.75

(Full final standings here.)

Atakhan claimed $1,000 for the win while Hakobyan earned $750 in second place. Nakamura won $300 in third and GM Jose Martinez $150 in fourth place, after each won an event last Tuesday. The $100 prizes went to GM Amin Tabatabaei for fifth place and WGM Meri Arabidze for the highest score among women, 7.5/11.

Late Tournament

Nobody completely differentiated themselves in the late tournament out of the field of 261. Halfway through, there were already no perfect players after Nakamura and GM Eric Hansen drew their round-six game. Hansen took the sole lead after defeating Andreikin in round seven.

In the next three rounds, however, Naroditsky emerged in the lead after defeating Hansen, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, and Nakamura in succession. Impressively, Naroditsky's best-played game of the three came against Nakamura.

The streak guaranteed Naroditsky a share of first place entering the final round, which is what happened after he encountered Andreikin.

Not only were four players now tied on nine points, but their tiebreak scores were all very close, with only a half-point separating first and second and less than two points between first and fourth. Ultimately, however, it was enough for Andreikin to claim the victory in the tournament.

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

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB
1 2 GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3130 9 55
2 3 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3156 9 54.5
3 7 GM @OparinGrigoriy Grigoriy Oparin 3016 9 54
4 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3165 9 53.75
5 22 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2910 8.5 60.5
6 24 IM @Bulldog167 Leon Livaic 2852 8.5 52.75
7 9 GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 2978 8.5 50.75
8 13 GM @erichansen Eric Hansen 2947 8 56.5
9 8 IM @MITerryble Renato Terry 2976 8 49
10 6 GM @Jospem Jose Martinez 2993 8 46
10 82 IM @atigerman Nail Bashirli 2684 8 46
12 112 GM @gmcorrales Fidel Corrales Jimenez 2813 8 43
13 42 FM @sofaceindisguise Dmitry Tatarinov 2741 8 41.5
14 36 IM @ckgchess Cem Kaan Gokerkan 2801 8 37.5
15 47 IM @Legendinunknown Harshavardhan GB 2737 7.5 39.25
16 48 FM @peonrojo150 Gonzalo Navarrete 2701 7.5 38.75
17 55 GM @GMRafpig Rafael Leitao 2689 7.5 37.25
18 37 NM @Abund Yuan Qingyu 2810 7.5 36
19 21 GM @MrTattaglia Kozak Adam 2866 7.5 32.25
20 23 GM @alexrustemov Alexander Rustemov 2824 7 39
48 49 FM @Roachelley Rochelle Wu 2658 6 25.25

(Full final standings here.)

Andreikin won $1,000 for the victory while Naroditsky settled for $750 for second place. Oparin won $300 in third. Nakamura's $150 for fourth place gave him $450 on the day. GM Sergei Zhigalko finished fifth for $100 while FM Rochelle Wu won the $100 women's prize with 6/11.

Titled Tuesday

NathanielGreen
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.

More from NathanielGreen
Decisive Tuesdays Continue As Nakamura Wins Another

Decisive Tuesdays Continue As Nakamura Wins Another

Anand Dominates World In Historic Game

Anand Dominates World In Historic Game