Young Norwegian FM Havard Haug won his first 3 0 Thursday title June 25, scoring 9.5/11 in the second event of the day. The other winners were more experienced champions. GM Dmitry Andreikin took his second 3 0 Thursday title of the month, defeating GM Magnus Carlsen in the first tournament of the day. GM Jose Martinez capped off the day by winning the final event, his 15th title, catching IM Renato Terry for the most titles in the history of the tournament.
First Tournament: Andreikin Topples Carlsen
The highest-rated players in the world competed in the first 3 0 Thursday tournament, but it was Andreikin who emerged ahead of Carlsen and GM Hikaru Nakamura. Andreikin started well, winning his first five games, before a draw with GM Alexey Sarana. That led to a critical seventh-round matchup with Nakamura, who played an extremely precise game to take the full point.
Nakamura finished the tournament undefeated, but gave up four draws, which opened the door for Andreikin and Carlsen to pass him for first place, as the winner of their last-round matchup could reach sole first with 9.5 points. Carlsen stayed true to his style, sacrificing a pawn for easy play and reached a complicated endgame. He’s won thousands of them in his career, but this time Andreikin calculated his way through the complications and took the full point.
That victory gave Andreikin first place with 9.5 points, half a point ahead of Nakamura and GM Dmitry Gordievsky. The loss relegated Carlsen to fourth place with 8.5 points. IM Meri Arabidze won her final four games to take the women’s prize with seven points.
Second Tournament: Haug Takes First TitleÂ
Haug has been contending in many recent blitz tournaments, but his first title, ahead of GMs and IMs, is a major breakthrough. The event was dominated by teenagers as Haug took clear first with 9.5 points, followed by 16-year-old GM Sina Movahed with nine points. If there were a top adult prize, GM Parham Maghsoodloo would have claimed it with 8.5 points. Another teenager, NM Liudmyla Ivanytska, took the women’s prize with six points.
Haug overcame a third-round loss against GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda to win his next five games, including this well-played battle against GM Emin Ohanyan.
Haug and Maghsoodloo both had 8.5 points entering the last round. However, Maghsoodloo lost to his countryman, Movahed. That left Haug a chance to win the tournament against GM Rasmus Svane. Both sides had winning chances, and Svane made the last mistake in the time scramble.
Third Tournament: Fifteenth Title For Martinez
At first it looked like Martinez was headed for a dominant performance in the third tournament of the day. He won his first seven rounds, including against past tournament winners like GMs Oleksandr Bortnyk and Christopher Yoo. His fifth-round game against the previously undefeated GM Jeffery Xiong was critical for the standings.
GM Alexey Sarana shook up the standings in the eighth round, handing Martinez his first loss. GM Fabiano Caruana defeated Martinez in the ninth round, leaving the fight for first wide open, with just two rounds left. The battle between Caruana and Sarana took a dramatic turn when Caruana played a poorly-timed premove in an otherwise dominant position.
In the position above, Caruana premoved …Bf5, assuming it would only occur if White captured with 24.exf5. However, after Sarana’s 24.gxf6, 24…Bf5 lost a piece and the game.
Sarana finished the tournament with nine points. To keep his hopes of first place alive, Martinez had to win his last game against GM Steven Zierk. Martinez had a small advantage most of the way, but blundered in the time scramble. The closing seconds came down to a race by Zierk to capture the final white pawn before running out of time.
The win brought Martinez to nine points and first place on tiebreaks over Sarana. Xiong finished third with 8.5 points. IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham took the women’s prize with seven 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.