Freestyle Friday Comes Down To Tiebreaks On May 22

For GM Haik Martirosyan, last month, it was Titled Tuesday. This month, Freestyle Friday. Martirosyan won the weekly freestyle chess event on May 22, his second following a win on February 13. Martirosyan scored an incredible 10.5 back then, but this time he needed tiebreaks to declare victory over fellow two-time Freestyle Friday winner GM Pranav Venkatesh with their nine points apiece.

Martirosyan’s win over Pranav in the eighth round of the tournament was ultimately both the turning point and decisive in his favor. Pranav had made it all the way to 7/7 with games like this 16-move miniature against GM Parham Maghsoodloo in round four, featuring a devastating last three moves.

Pranav could get no further, however. In the eighth round, his natural 32.Qc6+ against Martirosyan was not the computer’s preference, and Martirosyan punished the move. He joined Pranav in the lead on 7/8, with GM Luca Moroni and GM-elect Faustino Oro half a point behind them, entering the second break.

Upon the resumption of play, neither co-leader started off very well against players chasing them. While Pranav was able to turn things around and even defeat Oro, Martirosyan was not so lucky against GM Sina Movahed, who played an aesthetically pleasing checkmate on just move 32.

Pranav once again had the lead to himself, and only Moroni, whom Pranav had defeated in round six, was within a half-point. Movahed, Martirosyan, and Maghsoodloo (put those 3 “M” names on a Post-It Note) all had 7/9, but it was GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda on 6.5/9 who provided Pranav’s next challenge. As in the previous round, Pranav suffered early, but this time he could not escape a loss. Moroni, too, accepted defeat against Maghsoodloo. That meant that Pranav retained a share of the lead with 8/10, but now he had to share it with Maghsoodloo as well as Martirosyan, who defeated GM Benjamin Bok.

The final round therefore came down to the games Bortnyk vs. Pranav and Martirosyan vs. Maghsoodloo. Maghsoodloo got in trouble by allowing his bishop to get trapped, and he soon had to give up even more material, putting Martirosyan up a whole rook, which he converted.

Pranav, meanwhile, sacrificed a piece for two pawns without the computer’s approval, but the decision paid off. Less than 15 moves later, Pranav ended up with five pawns in exchange for a bishop, a material advantage he converted into victory with ease.

In the end, it was a single tiebreak point that broke first place in Martirosyan’s favor. Moroni had more tiebreak points than either him or Pranav, but only 8.5 total points. That was still enough to earn third place over Oro, the only player tied with him. The women’s prize went to FM Rose Atwell in 14th place.

Even without the victory, Pranav’s performance earned him the top spot on the Freestyle Friday Championship leaderboard, breaking a tie with last week’s tournament winner GM Oleksandr Bortnyk. (Martirosyan’s placement was his first since the FFC began—it started the week after his February 13 victory—so he is not yet in the top 10.) Atwell passed GM Alexandra Kosteniuk for second place in the women’s standings, behind only GM Anna Muzychuk.

May 22 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25)

(Full final standings.)