GM Arjun Erigaisi followed up his Titled Tuesday victory this week by winning the first 3 0 Thursday on July 9. GM Emin Ohanyan completed a come-from-behind victory in the second tournament of the day. At the end of the day, GM Volodar Murzin won the third event, defeating Arjun in the final round. WGM Savitha Shri took the women’s prize in the first tournament of the day, scoring 6.5 points. WIM Margarita Potapova scored seven points in the second and third tournaments, taking the women’s prize in both.
First Tournament: Arjun Takes Another Blitz Title
Two days after his victory in five-minute chess, Arjun demonstrated his skill with three minutes on the clock as well. He took first place in a field of 231 players. Arjun overcame a second-round loss against FM Michail Vassis to go undefeated the rest of the way. He had a bit of good fortune, overcoming a blunder of a full piece against Murzin in the ninth round.
Arjun entered the final round with 8.5/10, trailing GM Alexey Sarana by half a point. Sarana made one serious mistake against GM Alexander Grischuk, which cost him the full point. Meanwhile, Arjun had Black against the highest-rated played in the field, GM Hikaru Nakamura.Â
That victory brought Arjun to 9.5 points and clear first place. Sarana had to settle for second with nine points, ahead of Grischuk on tiebreaks.
Second Tournament: Ohanyan Take First Title
Ohanyan has often contended in 3 0 Thursday tournaments before, but the second tournament of the day was his first victory. For most of the tournament, it looked like GM Denis Lazavik might cruise to first place. He won the first six rounds, including handing Ohanyan his first defeat of the tournament. However, Lazavik didn’t have a decisive result the rest of the way, finishing with five straight draws. That included a final round against IM Renato Terry, leaving both players frustrated and half point out of first.
That draw gave Ohanya a shot at sole first place if he could defeat GM Parham Maghsoodloo.Â
Behind Ohanyan’s nine points, Sarana took his second, second-place of the day with 8.5, just ahead of Lazavik on tiebreaks.
IM Eric Rosen had a forgettable event by his standards, finishing with 5.5 points. However, he did score one of his patented “Rosen Traps” against no-less an opponent than world number two, GM Fabiano Caruana. Impressively, he outlined his plan on his stream a minute before pulling off the trick.
Third Tournament: Murzin Wins For Second Straight Week
Murzin finished with 8/11 in the first two tournaments of the day, enough to be content, but not to place in the top spots in either event. In the third event he added half a point more and it was good enough for first place on tiebreaks. 8.5 points was the lowest winning score of the day and required a bit of good fortune. GM Jose Martinez held the lead heading into the final round, but couldn’t hold it in the final round against Caruana.
That gave Murzin a chance to catch Martinez with a win against Arjun, who had defeated him earlier in the day. Like their earlier battle, it was a sharp, back and forth contest.
That win brought Murzin into a tie for first. Murzin had the best tiebreaks, followed by Martinez and Caruana.
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.