GM Alexey Sarana was your winner in Titled Tuesday on May 19, scoring 9.5 points and coming out ahead of GM Christopher Yoo in tiebreaks. GM Hikaru Nakamura finished third for a second straight week, while GM Arjun Erigaisi took fourth place, having needed second or better to stay alive in Esports World Cup qualification with one week left in the Titled Tuesday Spring Split.
Nakamura started 2/2, which was enough to reach a 3455 Chess.com blitz rating, the new highest mark in site history; he ended the event at 3442. GM Magnus Carlsen played for the first time in weeks and began 6/6 but left the tournament during the post-eighth-round break.
CCT Standings
With three of the top four players this week already in the spring split top 10, there were some shakeups near the top, although not in the first two spots.
| Rank | Fed | Player | Score | Week 12 |
| 1 | GM Sina Movahed | 36 | 0 | |
| 2 | GM Nihal Sarin | 29 | 0 | |
| 3 | GM Arjun Erigaisi | 27 | 4 | |
| 4 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 26 | 0 | |
| 5 | GM Hikaru Nakamura | 24 | 5 | |
| 6 | GM Alexey Sarana | 23 | 10 | |
| 7 | GM Hans Niemann | 21 | 0 | |
| 8 | GM Tuan Minh Le | 15 | 3 | |
| 9 | GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov | 14 | 0 | |
| 10 | GM Parham Maghsoodloo | 12 | 0 |
Full Standings | Titled Tuesday Info | CCT Info | CCT Standings
Arjun and GM Vincent Keymer needed second place or better today to stay alive in the CCT standings. Keymer did not play, and Arjun’s finish was not worth enough to points to put him in range of GM Wesley So with one Tuesday left.
| Rank | Fed | Player | Status/Points |
| 1 | GM Magnus Carlsen | Qualified | |
| 2 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Qualified | |
| 3 | GM Denis Lazavik | Qualified | |
| 4 | GM Alireza Firouzja | Qualified | |
| 5 | GM Hikaru Nakamura | 182 | |
| 6 | GM Nihal Sarin | 134 | |
| 7 | GM Ian Nepomniachtchi | 121 | |
| 8 | GM Sina Movahed | 121 | |
| 9 | GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 103 | |
| 10 | GM Hans Niemann | 92 | |
| 11 | GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 91 | |
| 12 | GM Fabiano Caruana | 87 | |
| 13 | GM Wesley So | 81 | |
| 14 | GM Arjun Erigaisi | 69 | |
| 15 | GM Alexey Sarana | 66 | |
| 16 | GM Vincent Keymer | 65 |
Sarana was already eliminated via the CCT/Titled Tuesday path, but over the previous weekend became an EWC qualifier anyway via DreamHack Atlanta.
Tournament Recap
A draw in round three for Nakamura and a loss for Arjun in round four put them both behind the ball after four rounds. Carlsen didn’t have such issues until the seventh round, when he came across GM Sam Sevian and entered the sequence 28.gxh5 Bf5 29.hxg6 fxg6 missing 30.Rh4. Sevian went on to win, and his 7/7 score left him the last player on 100 percent.
But Sevian was not able to hold onto the lead into the break, losing a pawn and then the eventual rook endgame to GM Pranesh M.
At the same time, Nakamura was able to get a winning bishop-and-two-pawns versus opposite-color-bishop-and-one-pawn ending against GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov, while Carlsen handled GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov in 32 moves. Pranesh was now in the sole lead, with six players—Sevian, Nakamura, and Carlsen joined by Sarana, Yoo, and GM Vladislav Artemiev—on 7/8.
But Carlsen was never seen in the event again, much to Nakamura’s disappointment on his stream. Somewhat distracted, Nakamura fell way down on the clock against Pranesh, but was winning on the board and completed the victory, demonstrating the even greater advantage passed pawns carry in queen endings.
Meanwhile, Yoo delivered Sevian’s second consecutive loss, while the computer expected a draw for the last 30 moves of Sarana-Artemiev before that game was decided on the clock.
Neither game on the top boards in the 10th round, Yoo vs. Nakamura or GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. Sarana, looked like they would be decisive at the outset, but Yoo and Sarana ended up pulling out wins to set up a final round showdown. Sarana fell way behind in between, but he turned the ship around went from winning to losing within just a few moves.
Yoo-Nakamura was drawn for longer, with Nakamura debating whether to take the draw or play for more. He chose the latter option, and came to regret his decision by the end of the proceedings.Â
In the all-important final game between co-leaders, Sarana got White against Yoo. Dubov was alone in third on 8.5/10 and took White against Nakamura’s 8/10. Arjun, on 8/10 and needing a second place finish to keep his EWC hopes alive, had White against GM Bardiya Daneshvar.
Nakamura, unable to focus on stream after dropping the Yoo game, still stayed competitive, while Sarana and Yoo were very equal into an endgame, and Arjun claimed an advantage. Sarana-Yoo ended in a draw first, securing paid finishes for them while locking Arjun out of his top-two finish, and thus ending his chances in the CCT standings. Dubov would end up losing on time in a drawn rook ending for Nakamura to finish third, while Arjun went on to win regardless to finish fourth. GMs Tuan Minh Le and Rasmus Svane rounded out the top six, while GM Bibisara Assaubayeva finished with 7.5 points to claim the women’s prize.
May 19 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 25)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 6 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3304 | 9.5 | 76 | |
| 2 | 20 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Yoo | 3204 | 9.5 | 72.5 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3445 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3335 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 5 | 30 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3172 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 6 | 33 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 3160 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 7 | 17 | IM | @Dolphin_2010 | Aleksandr Usov | 3198 | 9 | 66 | |
| 8 | 19 | GM | @artooon | Pranesh M | 3195 | 8.5 | 80 | |
| 9 | 26 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3175 | 8.5 | 76.5 | |
| 10 | 34 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 3163 | 8.5 | 76 | |
| 11 | 52 | GM | @GOGIEFF | Anton Korobov | 3084 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 12 | 14 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3201 | 8.5 | 64 | |
| 13 | 35 | GM | @Angry_Twin | Andrey Drygalov | 3127 | 8.5 | 63 | |
| 14 | 5 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3284 | 8 | 75 | |
| 15 | 10 | GM | @Sibelephant | Vladislav Artemiev | 3224 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 16 | 16 | FM | @artin10862 | Artin Ashraf | 3198 | 8 | 70.5 | |
| 17 | 9 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3242 | 8 | 70 | |
| 18 | 25 | GM | @Bardiya06 | Bardiya Daneshvar | 3150 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 19 | 53 | GM | @aquarium76 | Nodirbek Yakubboev | 3068 | 8 | 69 | |
| 20 | 44 | GM | @Rikikits | Maxime Lagarde | 3114 | 8 | 68.5 | |
| 21 | 13 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3204 | 8 | 68.5 | |
| 22 | 94 | FM | @NikitaShandrygin | Nikita Shandrygin | 2956 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 23 | 36 | IM | @ChessFighter_2011 | Dau Khuong Duy | 3129 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 24 | 42 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 3101 | 8 | 64.5 | |
| 25 | 24 | GM | @sokidze | Ihor Samunenkov | 3148 | 8 | 64 | |
| 32 | 82 | GM | @SaraBlackPanther | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 2961 | 7.5 | 66 |
Full final standings.
Prizes: Sarana $1,000, Yoo $750, Nakamura $350, Arjun $250, Le $150, Svane $100, Assaubayeva $100. Streamers’ prizes to be posted on the Events page.
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com’s weekly tournament for titled players. It begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time.