Since GM Jose Martinez won the inaugural 3 0 Thursday tournament in November, GM Fabiano Caruana has been the only player to win more than one of the three weekly events on the same day. Martinez joined him in impressive fashion on Thursday, March 26, winning the first two tournaments and contending in the third. GM Oleksandr Bortnyk ensured that there would be no clean sweep, as his 10.5/11 score handily won the third tournament.
1st Tournament: Martinez Wins By Half A Point
The first tournament of the day was also the closest. That was largely thanks to CM Roman Al Nosach, who defeated Martinez in the sixth round, on his way to winning his first seven games!
Nosach couldn’t keep up that amazing pace, dropping points in rounds eight and nine to GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Bortnyk, and having to settle for second place with nine points. Meanwhile Martinez defeated Bortnyk, in their final-round battle, to claim first place.
IM Khuong Duy Dau had nine points and took third on tiebreaks. The women’s prize went to IM Polina Shuvalova, who had an impressive 7.5/11, defeating three 3100-rated opponents along the way, including this effort against GM Vladimir Fedoseev.
Shuvalova kept playing well after the tournament, becoming the first woman to ever break 3000 blitz on Chess.com!
Polina Shuvalova is INCREDIBLE! 👏 Congrats! pic.twitter.com/OgxxWlJEDJ
— Chess.com (@chesscom) March 26, 2026
2nd Tournament: Martinez Repeats
After a narrow win in the first event, Martinez had a little more breathing room in the second event. He scored critical wins early on, starting 6-0. Round five and six were critical, as he defeated two of the top 25 players in the world.
Both of the opponents above, GMs, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Parham Maghsoodloo ended on 8.5/11 in a four-way tie for second. Maghsoodloo had the best tiebreaks, while GM Sina Movahed took third. The women’s prize went to WFM Veronika Shubenkova, with seven points.
3rd Tournament: Bortnyk Dominates, Prevents A Hat Trick
No one has ever won all three Thursday tournaments on the same day, but Martinez tried his best. He won his first four games in the third event, before losing to GM Magnus Carlsen, a player who has historically preferred to play in the first tournament. Martinez remained in the running, with a chance to catch up to Bortnyk in the seventh round, yet he wasn’t able to convert a slight advantage on the board and clock, eventually settling for a draw. Finally, Martinez ran out of steam at the end, dropping his final three games, and finishing with 6.5/11.
Carlsen’s tun against Bortnyk came in the sixth round. The former world champion sacrificed two pawns in the opening and built a winning advantage, but squandered it with a time-pressure blunder, allowing Bortnyk to take the full point.
Carlsen eventually finished with eight points, having to settle for third place. His other loss came against a fellow Norwegian, the teenage FM Havard Haug, who caught Carlsen in two different knight forks. Carlsen fought back from the first one to reach a drawn endgame, only to allow another fork, deciding the game!
While Martinez and Carlsen struggled, Bortnyk just kept going. Defeating Haug, Maghsoodloo, IM Renato Terry, and others. His round-five game against Movahed was a good example of his strong, practical play.
Terry took second place with 8.5 points, drawing Carlsen along the way. WGM Qianyun Gong claimed the women’s prize with six points.
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.