Nakamura Stops Movahed’s Freestyle Friday Streak At Last Moment

GM Hikaru Nakamura won Freestyle Friday on September 19, his seventh, reaching his final score of nine points with a win in the final round against GM Sina Movahed. Movahed, who was attempting to win the event for the third straight week, retained third place instead, with GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda moving into second in the final round.

Nakamura was also in first place through seven rounds on 6.5 points, but the tournament seemed to take a turn in the eighth round when he lost to GM Parham Maghsoodloo, who took over sole first place. In the same round, Movahed defeated GM Vincent Keymer, which would be the first of two straight wins for him against past Freestyle Friday victors. Keymer looked on his way to winning the game, with Movahed’s queen looking ridiculous on h1, but lost the thread before falling into checkmate with under three seconds on his clock.

At the same time, Duda was knocking Maghsoodloo off his perch while Nakamura defeated GM Andrew Tang. The 10th round Nakamura-Duda matchup that resulted ended in a draw, giving Movahed the opportunity to move into sole first place with a round to go, which he took against GM Sergei Zhigalko.

Like Maghsoodloo, however, it was not to last for Movahed. At first, his game against Nakamura seemed to mirror the Keymer contest, with a big advantage for Black turning into a position the computer evaluated as equal. This time, unfortunately for Movahed, he was not able to convert the momentum shift into victory and, like Keymer, allowed checkmate.

In Duda’s successful go at second place in the last round against IM Renato Terry, the fireworks started early. Terry came out of them with a piece for two pawns, but Duda clawed his way back, and eventually won on time with a decisive material advantage.

The tiebreaks were not close between Nakamura and Duda, preventing the latter player from achieving what would have been his second Freestyle Friday win and first since February. Instead, Nakamura extended his lead with his seventh, while GM Arjun Erigaisi remains the only player to win three straight Freestyle Fridays after Movahed’s effort fell just short.

The remaining prizes in the field of 129 went to GM Arseniy Nesterov (who also won a prize last week) in fourth place and IM Anastasia Bodnaruk, who finished in 13th place to win the women’s prize.

September 19 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25)