Carlsen Returns And Wins After Dubov Dominance
GMs Daniil Dubov and Magnus Carlsen won the November 29 editions of Titled Tuesday. Dubov scored 10.5/11 in the early tournament, winning by 1.5 points, while Carlsen scored 9.5 and outlasted GM Vladimir Fedoseev on tiebreaks.
Also making an impact was GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, who finished in third place in both events.
Early Tournament
It was the second time in three weeks that a player scored 10.5 points in Titled Tuesday, after GM Fabiano Caruana did it on November 15. This time, Dubov's only half-point missing from a shot at perfection came against GM Alireza Firouzja in the eighth round.
Already leading the field by half a point (both entering and exiting round eight), Dubov followed up with a win as Black against Caruana in round nine.
Dubov then effectively put the tournament away, finally extending his lead to a full point by defeating Bortnyk and his Alekhine Defense in round 10.
Dubov's lead only increased by defeating Fedoseev in the final round while Firouzja and Xiong drew their game.
In a five-way tie on nine points, Firouzja emerged with the best tiebreak score. He didn't lose a game but made four draws, including three in the final four rounds. The only exception was a ninth-round win over GM Dmitry Andreikin in a wild opposite-side castling affair.
November 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 5 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3091 | 10.5 | 69 | |
| 2 | 1 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3144 | 9 | 63 | |
| 3 | 8 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3054 | 9 | 59 | |
| 4 | 17 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3018 | 9 | 57.75 | |
| 5 | 21 | GM | @AbasovN | Nijat Abasov | 2976 | 9 | 55.5 | |
| 6 | 25 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2944 | 9 | 52.5 | |
| 7 | 10 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3037 | 8.5 | 58.5 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3033 | 8.5 | 54.75 | |
| 9 | 43 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2891 | 8.5 | 53.5 | |
| 10 | 11 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3016 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 11 | 19 | GM | @RaunakSadhwani2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2983 | 8 | 51.75 | |
| 12 | 4 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3071 | 8 | 50.5 | |
| 12 | 39 | GM | @gmcorrales | Fidel Corrales Jimenez | 2888 | 8 | 50.5 | |
| 12 | 52 | GM | @TimofeevAr | Artem Timofeev | 2869 | 8 | 50.5 | |
| 15 | 28 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2900 | 8 | 49 | |
| 16 | 6 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3047 | 8 | 48.5 | |
| 17 | 92 | FM | @SALVA-DALI | Alen Yeremyan | 2727 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 17 | 165 | FM | @Hope_6 | Airat Sadubayev | 2612 | 8 | 47.5 | |
| 19 | 9 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3027 | 8 | 47 | |
| 20 | 23 | GM | @jcibarra | José Carlos Ibarra Jerez | 2932 | 8 | 45.25 | |
| 36 | 189 | WFM | @Yurasova_Daria | Daria Yurasova | 2564 | 7 | 39.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Dubov earned $1,000 with the crushing performance. Firouzja won $750 in second place and Bortnyk $350 in third. Also winning prizes were Xiong with $200 in fourth place, GM Nijat Abasov $100 in fifth, and WFM Daria Yurasova $100 as the highest-scoring woman performer with 7/11.
Late Tournament
Dubov ended up with the day's more dominant victory, but a Carlsen win will always grab attention.
In comparison to Dubov's, Carlsen's victory was by no means guaranteed. After nine rounds, the tournament leaders were GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Bogdan Daniel Deac, but their 10th-round draw allowed a group of three players to catch up. Carlsen was a part of that group with his win over GM Vincent Keymer.
For the ultimate round, Carlsen was matched with Deac while Fedoseev faced Nakamura. Both leaders from just two rounds before were ousted, Carlsen for his part winning despite a difficult middlegame.
Fedoseev's win over Nakamura, meanwhile, was his sixth straight of the tournament, catapulting him into the tie for first. But his tiebreak was insufficient in part due to having lost in round four. In the final round, Fedoseev emerged slightly better out of a tactical sequence on moves 16-18 and survived a quick hiccup at move 30.
Bortnyk and GM Benjamin Bok, meanwhile, tied for third with the same tiebreak score and thus split the prizes.
November 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3235 | 9.5 | 65 | |
| 2 | 10 | GM | @Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 3058 | 9.5 | 59.75 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3069 | 9 | 52 | |
| 3 | 32 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2926 | 9 | 52 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3055 | 8.5 | 56.25 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3201 | 8.5 | 53.25 | |
| 7 | 33 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2910 | 8.5 | 51.75 | |
| 8 | 18 | GM | @RaunakSadhwani2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2990 | 8.5 | 50.25 | |
| 9 | 22 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2979 | 8.5 | 48.75 | |
| 10 | 26 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2942 | 8.5 | 43.5 | |
| 11 | 8 | GM | @exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 3071 | 8.5 | 42.5 | |
| 12 | 61 | IM | @Eduard_Limonov | Remizov Yaroslav | 2823 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 12 | 16 | GM | @Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 3025 | 8 | 45.5 | |
| 14 | 37 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 2910 | 8 | 45 | |
| 15 | 19 | GM | @AbasovN | Nijat Abasov | 2971 | 8 | 42 | |
| 16 | 46 | GM | @Azeryahu | Gyula Pap | 2866 | 7.5 | 49.75 | |
| 17 | 35 | GM | @gmcorrales | Fidel Corrales Jimenez | 2880 | 7.5 | 48.25 | |
| 18 | 56 | GM | @Byniolus | Zbigniew Pakleza | 2842 | 7.5 | 47.75 | |
| 19 | 24 | GM | @erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2950 | 7.5 | 42.75 | |
| 20 | 30 | GM | @VincentKeymer | Vincent Keymer | 2926 | 7.5 | 42.25 | |
| 57 | 143 | WFM | @Varvara_Poliakova | Varvara Poliakova | 2568 | 6.5 | 29 |
(Full final standings here.)
Carlsen took home $1,000 for the victory while Fedoseev settled for $750 for second place. Bortnyk and Bok each won $275, giving Bortnyk a $625 total for the day. Deac won $100 with the best tiebreak out of seven players on 8.5 points to finish fifth, while WFM Varvara Poliakova won the $100 women's prize with a 6.5/11 score.
Titled Tuesday is a Chess.com tournament held for titled players every week. There are two 11-round Swiss tournaments played each Tuesday, starting 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.
