Nearly 1,000 Join Titled Tuesday As Hikaru Wins Again

Titled Tuesday set a participation record for the third straight week on January 21, with 996 players joining, the most of the doubles era (since February 1, 2022). GM Hikaru Nakamura won his second straight Titled Tuesday in the event with tiebreaks over GM David Paravyan. In the latter tournament, GM Vugar Rasulov won out of a four-way tie that also included Paravyan, as well as GMs Adam Kozak and Fabiano Caruana.

Alas, the expanded prize fund that is to happen when Titled Tuesday does reach 1,000 players must wait at least one more week.

📢 BIG NEWS 📢

Titled Tuesday registrations have been going WAY up lately, with a record 905 last week!

To celebrate, the first Titled Tuesday of 2025 with over 1,000 players will have a DOUBLED prize pool! Let the games begin 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yx9QBFaJWA

— Chess.com (@chesscom) January 20, 2025

This tournament would almost certainly have gotten to four figures were it not for Tata Steel Chess preoccupying 28 GMs and IMs, several of whom are Titled Tuesday regulars. On to the 28th of January for the next chance, but before that, here's what happened on the boards this week as Nakamura took the lead in the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix.

• Early Tournament (Nakamura, 10/11)
• Late Tournament (Rasulov, 9.5/11)
• Grand Prix Standings

Early Tournament

Nakamura started 5/5 before making draws in two of his next three games. In the eighth round, he drew against GM Raunak Sadhwani, ending the latter's chance at a perfect tournament. The same round saw a draw between GM Hans Niemann and IM Rud Makarian, and so no one would reach the coveted 11/11 this day.

Of the three now on 7.5 points, only one won both their next games, which was Niemann. The second of these victories came against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, putting Niemann on 9.5 points and a step away from taking the tournament.

Nakamura also won both rounds nine and 10, staying half a point behind Niemann and setting up their clash in the final round. And what a clash it was, lasting 124 moves (which made the 53 that Niemann took to beat Nepomniachtchi look like a walk in the park). Niemann sacrificed the exchange on move 32 and held some structural advantages to compensate. Nakamura missed a pin-based opportunity on move 74 and again on move 79 and soon ran into trouble against Niemann's connected passed pawns. That didn't last long, however, and after move 100, Nakamura gradually wore Niemann down.

Niemann's loss also opened the door for Paravyan—who had lost his very first game but responded with a perfect 10/10 thereafter—to take second place. Nepomniachtchi was again the victim, and it happened in just 21 moves, a whopping 103 fewer than Nakamura–Niemann.

Niemann settled for third, ahead of Raunak and GM Oleksandr Bortnyk on tiebreaks. WGM Priyanka Nutakki led all women with seven points.

January 21 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Nakamura $1,000; Paravyan $750; Niemann $350; Raunak $200; Bortnyk $100; Priyanka $100.

Late Tournament

Another 638 players joined the late event, and once again, there was a player on 9.5/10 who couldn't quite close the deal. This time, it was Kozak who, along the way, ended Rasulov's perfect bid in the eighth round while retaining his own.

Kozak's bid at 11/11 continued until the 10th round when he held GM Magnus Carlsen to a draw. And then along came Paravyan.

Kozak retained his position over Paravyan, as head-to-head doesn't factor into Swiss tiebreaks. On that same note, he wasn't able to hold his position over Rasulov. Rasulov and Caruana only made draws with each other in the final round, but it was enough for Rasulov to claim victory, while Caruana (who was one of those players busy at Tata Steel earlier in the day) settled for fourth.

Instead, Rasulov climbed to the top by recovering from his eighth-round setback with consecutive wins over GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Ray Robson. Duda fell into a problem-like situation on move 33, which Rasulov took advantage of.

Despite the loss there, Duda would ultimately claim fifth place with nine points and the best tiebreaks out of the six players on that score. WFM Kalyani Sirin scored 7/11 to give India a sweep of this week's women's prizes.

January 21 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Rasulov $1,000; Kozak $750; Paravyan $350 (daily total of $1,100 led all players); Caruana $200; Duda $100; Kalyani $100.

Grand Prix Standings

At this early stage of the qualification process in the Grand Prix, where every tournament is counted in the standings, playing is almost as important as winning. Nakamura, GM Matthias Bluebaum, and GM Grigoriy Oparin now have the top three spots after GM Arjun Erigaisi, playing at Tata Steel, dropped from the top eight completely. But he should be back as the calendar moves forward.

Similarly, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina didn't play this week and is now in fourth place in the women's standings, while IM Karina Ambartsumova leads.

Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), youths (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) do not have SCC places on the line, but there will be cash prizes in each of these categories as well. The current leaders are:

Seniors: GM Alex Rustemov (@alexrustemov), 45.0 points

Youth: IM Ilan Schnaider (@IlanSchnaider), 39.0 points

Girls: WFM Kalyani Sirin (@rollercoaster29), 26.5 points

Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).