GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Dmitry Andreikin, and Aravindh Chithambaram emerged with the best tiebreaks to win the 3 0 Thursday tournaments on June 11. It was a day of tiebreakers, as both the first and third events finished with five-way ties atop the leaderboard. The second event was relatively decisive, as Andreikin only had to rely on tiebreaks against one other player, IM Renato Terry.Â
First Tournament: Nakamura Claims Fifth Title
Nakamura is the most accomplished player in the history of Titled Tuesdays, but he rarely plays 3 0 Thursday by comparison, and before this week, had not won one since March 5. With 8/10, Nakamura faced long odds heading into the final round. He trailed GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk, Mitrabha Guha, and Jeffery Xiong, who all had 8.5 points.Â
Fortunately for Nakamura, Guha ran into trouble against GM Mamikon Gharibyan and needed some time-pressure errors to hold a draw. Meanwhile, Bortnyk pressed for a win against Xiong, but ran into his own time pressure, leaving both players with some missed opportunities to win the tournament.
The draws on the boards in front of him gave Nakamura a chance to catch up. He took full advantage, winning a smooth game against Avarindh, and finishing with a beautiful queen sacrifice.
That win brought Nakamrua to nine points, catching up with the three GMs in front of him, and surpassing them on tiebreaks. Bortnyk finished in second place, followed by Guha, Xiong and IM Matvey Galchenko, who joined the leaders with a final-round win. WGM Phuong Hanh Luong won the women’s prize for the first time with six points.
Second Tournament: Andreikin Wins His First 3 0 Thursday
On Tuesday, Andreikin won the best game prize in Titled Tuesday. He followed it up with a well-rounded performance to win his first 3 0 Thursday title. Andreikin went undefeated and led throughout the event. His complicated win over one of last week’s winners, GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, proved crucial for the final standings.
Andreikin continued by grinding out a rook endgame win against GM Rasmus Svane in the next round.Â
That game put Andreikin in the sole lead with 6.5/7. He drew three of his four remaining games to reach 9/11, while Terry won his final game to catch up with Andreikin and take second place on tiebreaks. Duda took third with 8.5/11. WIM Melika Mohammadi scored 6.5 points to take the women’s prize for the third time.
Third Tournament: Aravindh Catches Mahajan
CM Bhavesh Mahajan had a fantastic start to the third tournament of the day, scoring eight points in the first ten rounds, defeating top GMs like Bortnyk and Alexander Grischuk along the way. However, his good fortune ran out in the final round, as he dropped a point to GM Tuan Minh Le, leaving both players on 8/11. FM Dincer Tasdogen and IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher both won their last games to also reach eight points, and Aravindh joined the tie as well with a crushing miniature against GM Haowen Xue.
From the carnage, Aravindh emerged with the best tiebreaks among the players on eight points. It was a fully-deserved result, as he faced all of the other leaders, defeating Tadogen, Taher and Mahajan, though losing against Minh Le. His round six game against Taher was an unusual Sicilian with opposite side castling, but not on the sides that one usually sees in that opening.Â
Behind Avarindh, Minh Le took second place, followed by Tasdogen, Mahajan and Taher. WIM Kalyani Sirin took home the women’s prize with six points, her sixth time winning the award.
3 0 Thursday is a set of three weekly Swiss tournaments for verified titled players featuring their favorite time control. Each of the three tournaments is an 11-round Swiss with a 3+0 time control. The combined prize fund is $3,000 every week.