Carlsen, Firouzja Again Share Tuesday Glory
It was a good Titled Tuesday for the greats on October 29, with GM Magnus Carlsen and GM Alireza Firouzja claiming victory, each scoring 10 points and avoiding tiebreaks in their win.
The two stars also won Titled Tuesday back on July 30 (in the opposite order). Carlsen now has 11 tournament victories this year, second-most, and Firouzja five, tied for third-most.
Early Tournament
As the continents continue to disagree on when Daylight Saving Time should end, 664 players found their way to the early tournament on time. There were also some technical issues and so prizes for next week's early tournament will increase.
Today, our site went down for a couple minutes during Titled Tuesday, leading to 80 players being disconnected or receiving 0 point byes. We know this is frustrating and apologize to all players and fans. Next week's early Titled Tuesday prize fund will be increased to $5,000.
— Chess.com Support (@chesscomsupport) October 29, 2024
In the end, Carlsen held a share of the lead through the first eight rounds, then emerged from the ninth round with an outright lead that he would not relinquish. The game that separated him from the pack was a win over GM Benjamin Bok.
Carlsen retained his advantage with a draw in the 10th round against the only player half a point behind him, GM Dmitry Andreikin, which led to a five-way tie for second place entering the final round. None of the five won their last game. Carlsen personally handled GM Liem Le to end up with a full-point tournament victory.
Meanwhile, because no one in the second-place tie won in the last round, the final second and third places went to two players who were outside of that position entering the final round. Firouzja beat FM Artem Bardyk with the unusual Center Game opening, while GM Hikaru Nakamura utilized his pet Modern Defense to neutralize GM David Paravyan.
The difference between the two ended up being the second tiebreak instead of the first tiebreak. Finally, Bok and GM Bogdan Daniel Deac rounded out the top five by drawing each other in the round. For Bok, it was a successful tournament that included a win over Nakamura.
4th in Titled Tuesday! Managed to beat Hikaru, and also had the opportunity to play Magnus, but lost that one. Thanks everyone who came to support! pic.twitter.com/Jrdb0H4sOr
— Benjamin Bok (@GMBenjaminBok) October 29, 2024
October 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3310 | 10 | 78.5 | |
| 2 | 5 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3206 | 9 | 75 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3272 | 9 | 75 | |
| 4 | 30 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 3032 | 9 | 74.5 | |
| 5 | 11 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3103 | 9 | 70 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | @NikoTheodorou | Nikolas Theodorou | 3193 | 9 | 69.5 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3157 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 8 | 12 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3115 | 8.5 | 75.5 | |
| 9 | 22 | GM | @LastGladiator1 | Aydin Suleymanli | 3044 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 10 | 21 | GM | @LiemLe | Liem Le | 3050 | 8.5 | 70.5 | |
| 11 | 7 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3105 | 8.5 | 69 | |
| 12 | 89 | FM | @BardArtem | Artem Bardyk | 2887 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 13 | 34 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2999 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 14 | 53 | GM | @lilleper1 | Jonas Bjerre | 2964 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 15 | 28 | IM | @Kacparov | Kacper Drozdowski | 3010 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
| 16 | 48 | GM | @Sam_ChessMood | Samvel Ter-Sahakyan | 2902 | 8.5 | 61.5 | |
| 17 | 13 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3070 | 8.5 | 57 | |
| 18 | 10 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3106 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 19 | 26 | GM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 2975 | 8 | 69 | |
| 20 | 20 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2960 | 8 | 68 | |
| 42 | 218 | IM | @karinachess1 | Karina Ambartsumova | 2675 | 7.5 | 58 |
(Full final standings here.)
Carlsen won $1,000 in first place. Firouzja took home $750 in second, and he wasn't done. Nakamura won $350 in third, Bok $200 in fourth, and Deac $100 in fifth. IM Karina Ambartsumova won the $100 women's prize, scoring 7.5/11.
Late Tournament
Firouzja got off to an even faster start late, in the field of 513, than Carlsen did early. Firouzja's initial 8/8 run was finally stopped by GM Jeffery Xiong, but that only turned into a small hiccup on Firouzja's path to victory. Both of his final two opponents, GMs Nikolas Theodorou and Matthias Bluebaum, played all the way to checkmate.
While Firouzja was convincingly locking up first place, GM Andrew Hong pulled into outright second place by winning against GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda and leapfrogging the Polish star in the standings in the process.
Duda's only previous setback had come when he lost on time in a slightly better position against Firouzja in round eight, and so he was still able to take third place. GMs Raunak Sadhwani and Igor Lysyj also ended up on nine points to round out the top five.
October 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 2 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3206 | 10 | 69 | |
| 2 | 23 | GM | @SpeedofLight0 | Andrew Hong | 3010 | 9.5 | 73 | |
| 3 | 14 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3059 | 9 | 73 | |
| 4 | 21 | GM | @champ2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 3021 | 9 | 68 | |
| 5 | 57 | GM | @Igor_Lysyj | Igor Lysyj | 2915 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 6 | 11 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3077 | 8.5 | 80.5 | |
| 7 | 1 | GM | @NikoTheodorou | Nikolas Theodorou | 3193 | 8.5 | 71 | |
| 8 | 6 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3115 | 8.5 | 68 | |
| 9 | 26 | GM | @Sargsyan_Shant | Shant Sargsyan | 2985 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 10 | 27 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2978 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 11 | 36 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2942 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 12 | 19 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3005 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
| 13 | 7 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3093 | 8 | 73.5 | |
| 14 | 24 | GM | @eljanov | Pavel Eljanov | 2983 | 8 | 72 | |
| 15 | 10 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3070 | 8 | 70 | |
| 16 | 5 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3105 | 8 | 67 | |
| 17 | 88 | NM | @Chessgodisback2008 | Ethan Sheehan | 2803 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 18 | 13 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 3032 | 8 | 66 | |
| 19 | 30 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2960 | 8 | 66 | |
| 20 | 28 | GM | @DrVelja | Velimir Ivic | 2943 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 67 | 213 | IM | @TatjanaVasilevich | Tatjana Vasilevich | 2658 | 7 | 50.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Firouzja won the $1,000 first-place prize and a total of $1,750 adding in his early performance. Hong won $750 in second place. Duda won $350 in third, Raunak $200 in fourth, and Lysyj $100 in fifth, while IM Tatjana Vasilevich won the $100 women's prize.
Titled Cup Standings
Carlsen is making a run at overtaking Nakamura in first place but still has work to do. He currently trails by four points with 18 tournaments to go. Nakamura's top 20 performances currently contain 12 tournaments of 10+ points, while Carlsen has just eight, giving the latter more chances to gain standings points. But enough chances? We just have to watch and see.
Open
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Hikaru | 198.5 | GM Hikaru Nakamura |
| 2 | @MagnusCarlsen | 194.5 | GM Magnus Carlsen |
| 3-t | @Jospem | 187.0 | GM Jose Martinez |
| 3-t | @jefferyx | 187.0 | GM Jeffery Xiong |
| 5-t | @mishanick | 186.5 | GM Alexey Sarana |
| 5-t | @jefferyx | 186.5 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
Women
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Goryachkina | 143.5 | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 2-t | @Flawless_Fighter | 142.0 | IM Polina Shuvalova |
| 2-t | @ChessQueen | 142.0 | GM Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 4 | @Meri-Arabidze | 139.0 | IM Karina Ambartsumova |
| 5-t | @Meri-Arabidze | 138.5 | IM Meri Arabidze |
| 5-t | @annasargsyan_m | 138.5 | IM Anna M. Sargsyan |
Other Category Leaders
Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (185.0 points)
Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (171.0 points)
Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (123.0 points)
The Titled Cup fantasy game Chess Prophet continues as well. Current standings can be found here. (Login required.)
Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, with two tournaments held each Tuesday. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, and the second at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/23:00 Central European/2:30 Indian Standard Time (next day).
Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.
