With summer now in full swing (in the northern hemisphere), the July 1 Titled Tuesday events were both heated competitions, each ending in a three-way tie. After tiebreaks, GM Pranav Venkatesh and GM Parham Maghsoodloo emerged as the victors. GM Pranesh M and Denis Lazavik were the near-winners in the early event, and GMs Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son late.
For Pranav, it was his second straight early Titled Tuesday victory and his fourth overall (both early and late). Meanwhile, Maghsoodloo earned his sixth title and fourth just this year, tying him with Lazavik, GM Hikaru Nakamura, and GM Hans Niemann for the second-most in 2025 behind GM Magnus Carlsen‘s nine. In fact, it was Carlsen whom Maghsoodloo defeated in the final round to clinch this week’s late tournament.
Additionally, both women’s prize winners last week, GM Tan Zhongyi and IM Polina Shuvalova, repeated this week (in the opposite order—this time Tan won early and Shuvalova late).
Early Tournament
After the second break in the first event, it seemed GM Sina Movahed would emerge victorious out of the 623-player field. Movahed, one of just three players who has a Freestyle Friday victory but none yet in Titled Tuesday, began with a scorching 8/8 start. (Yes, another summer pun.) After Movahed defeated Pranav in the seventh round, a strong win over GM Nihal Sarin in the eighth gave him a full-point lead with three rounds left.
Niemann would be the one to stop Movahed in the ninth round, but lost his last two games and could not take advantage. Movahed would salvage fourth with a win over GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 10th.
But it was Pranav, who won three in a row after his seventh-round loss, who would end up in first place. Probably most impressive was the first of those three wins, against IM Renato Terry (another player who’s won Freestyle Friday before Titled Tuesday). Pranav used the Trompowsky Attack of all things to pressure Black’s kingside before winning an exchange and then the game, including a rather clever 31st move.
By the time the 11th round rolled around, Pranav, Lazavik, and Movahed were tied on nine points, with Pranesh and GM Adam Kozak behind them on 8.5 points. A 59-move fight out of the Samisch King’s Indian resulted in a draw between Pranav and Lazavik.
Movahed wasn’t able to take advantage, and that was thanks to Pranesh, who won their game for his sixth straight victory to end the tournament and end up in second place.
Pranav’s tiebreaks ended up winning comfortably, while Pranesh barely eked it out over Lazavik. Below them, there ended up being a whopping nine players on nine points, with Movahed and Nihal taking the key fourth and fifth positions.
July 1 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 3 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3247 | 9.5 | 75.5 | |
| 2 | 18 | GM | @artooon | Pranesh M | 3124 | 9.5 | 67 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3206 | 9.5 | 66 | |
| 4 | 7 | GM | @Sina-Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3154 | 9 | 82 | |
| 5 | 6 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3126 | 9 | 81 | |
| 6 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3350 | 9 | 78.5 | |
| 7 | 16 | GM | @Andreikka | Andrey Esipenko | 3136 | 9 | 74.5 | |
| 8 | 22 | GM | @Grandelicious | Nils Grandelius | 3102 | 9 | 74.5 | |
| 9 | 20 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3086 | 9 | 73.5 | |
| 10 | 41 | GM | @Savva_KraSavva | Savva Vetokhin | 3037 | 9 | 69.5 | |
| 11 | 46 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 3006 | 9 | 61 | |
| 12 | 42 | GM | @hansen | Eric Hansen | 3005 | 9 | 60 | |
| 13 | 29 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3055 | 8.5 | 75.5 | |
| 14 | 33 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3025 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 15 | 8 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3144 | 8.5 | 68 | |
| 16 | 32 | IM | @MatthewG-p4p | Matvey Galchenko | 3055 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 17 | 30 | GM | @MrTattaglia | Adam Kozak | 3054 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 18 | 39 | FM | @artin10862 | Artin Ashraf | 2996 | 8 | 75.5 | |
| 19 | 2 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3251 | 8 | 75 | |
| 20 | 26 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 3049 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 81 | 120 | GM | @daika91 | Zhongyi Tan | 2742 | 7 | 59 |
Prizes: Pranav $1,000, Pranesh $750, Lazavik $350, Movahed $200, Nihal $100, Tan $100.
Late Tournament
The shape of the second tournament and its 448 participants was a bit different from the first. Nobody achieved better than 6/6, with Erdogmus and GM Amin Tabatabaei ending each other’s chance at perfection with a draw in the seventh round, and after no round did a player lead the field by a full point. In fact, there was only one half-point lead all tournament, which Erdogmus achieved by reaching 7.5/8 with a win over Maghsoodloo in 28 rather eventful moves.
Erdogmus ended up being the only player to go a full 11 rounds in either tournament without a loss, but he only drew his next two games. Maghsoodloo, meanwhile, went on to win his last three games on his way to the come-from-behind tournament victory. After beating GMs Elham Amar and Sam Shankland in rounds nine and 10, Maghsoodloo faced his toughest challenge in Carlsen in round 11.
Carlsen had gotten to this point without a loss, but had made draws in the second, sixth, and ninth rounds. Still, a win could push him into a tie for first, where his tiebreaks may have prevailed. An 82-move battle ensued, with both players missing rather hidden chances at securing a winning advantage. However, the final mistake was too obvious, and it was Carlsen’s to make.
After drawing each other in the 10th round, Erdogmus and Nguyen were able to return to winning ways for one more round and tie for first. Although his tiebreaks ultimately fell short, Nguyen defeated Niemann in the final round to cross the 3000 Chess.com Blitz rating threshold for the first time. A solid half of the game was known opening territory before Niemann made a thematic but rare 14th move. But it wasn’t until Niemann missed a pin that Nguyen was able to lock up the game.
This time, only two players scored nine points, and they were IMs Erik Gasparyan in fourth and Murad Ibrahimli in fifth.
July 1 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 6 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 3205 | 9.5 | 77.5 | |
| 2 | 13 | GM | @legendisback1 | Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | 3146 | 9.5 | 70 | |
| 3 | 39 | GM | @crescentmoon2411 | Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son | 3002 | 9.5 | 63 | |
| 4 | 38 | IM | @Erebuni_is_back | Erik R. Gasparyan | 3014 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 5 | 31 | IM | @Murad_Ibrahimli | Murad İbrahimli | 2989 | 9 | 56 | |
| 6 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3295 | 8.5 | 77 | |
| 7 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3350 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 8 | 74 | IM | @PiliposyanRobertChess | Robert Piliposyan | 2889 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 9 | 30 | GM | @Shankland | Sam Shankland | 3016 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 10 | 3 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3251 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 11 | 51 | NM | @Little_Skib | Ethan Sheehan | 2921 | 8.5 | 62.5 | |
| 12 | 9 | GM | @amintabatabaei | Amin Tabatabaei | 3148 | 8 | 77 | |
| 13 | 49 | GM | @moro182 | Luca Moroni Jr | 2940 | 8 | 71 | |
| 14 | 17 | GM | @Annawel | Jules Moussard | 3083 | 8 | 71 | |
| 15 | 20 | GM | @frederiksvane | Frederik Svane | 3048 | 8 | 70.5 | |
| 16 | 22 | GM | @Savva_KraSavva | Savva Vetokhin | 3037 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 17 | 37 | FM | @StasSB | Stanislav Bukreev | 2979 | 8 | 68 | |
| 18 | 23 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3020 | 8 | 68 | |
| 19 | 104 | IM | @jwillz14 | Justus Williams | 2755 | 8 | 62.5 | |
| 20 | 62 | GM | @XDPS | Pablo Salinas Herrera | 2875 | 8 | 61.5 | |
| 49 | 100 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2760 | 7 | 57 |
Prizes: Maghsoodloo $1,000, Erdogmus $750, Nguyen $350, Gasparyan $200, Ibrahimli $100, Shuvalova $100.
Grand Prix Qualifiers
The Titled Tuesday Grand Prix concluded on May 27. Congratulations to the Speed Chess Championship qualifiers!
SCC qualifiers:
| Rk | Username | Score | Title | Name |
| 1 | @MagnusCarlsen | 98.5 | GM | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2 | @Hikaru | 95.0 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura |
| 3 | @LiemLe | 93.0 | GM | Liem Le |
| 4 | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | 93.0 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi |
| 5 | @DenLaz | 92.5 | GM | Denis Lazavik |
| 6 | @Jospem | 92.0 | GM | Jose Martinez |
| 7 | @wonderfultime | 92.0 | GM | Tuan Minh Le |
| 8 | @HansOnTwitch | 92.0 | GM | Hans Niemann |
Women’s SCC qualifiers:
| Rk | Username | Score | Title | Name |
| 1 | @ChessQueen | 74.5 | GM | Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 2 | @Flawless_Fighter | 72.5 | IM | Polina Shuvalova |
| 3 | @Goryachkina | 72.0 | GM | Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 4 | @karinachess1 | 70.5 | IM | Karina Ambartsumova |
| 5 | @Meri-Arabidze | 69.0 | IM | Meri Arabidze |
| 6 | @Sanyura | 68.0 | WGM | Aleksandra Maltsevskaya |
| 7 | @anasta10 | 68.0 | FM | Anastasia Avramidou |
| 8 | @jinbojinbo | 67.0 | GM | Jiner Zhu |
Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), juniors (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) did not have SCC places on the line, but there were cash prizes in each of these categories. The winners were:
Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov), 83.5 points (won $2,500)
Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46), 86.5 points (won $2,500)
Girls: WGM Anna Shukhman (@speshka), 66.5 points (won $1,000)
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).
