Nakamura Chases Down Friday Field In Triumphant Return

On a Halloween edition of Freestyle Friday, GM Hikaru Nakamura scored a victory on October 31 after missing the past few tournaments with prior engagements. Nakamura was 1.5 points behind the lead after five rounds, but with the tenacity akin to a horror movie antagonist, won every following game, including several in which he came back from near-dead (or scarier) positions. The win was Nakamura’s eighth in Freestyle Friday, now twice as many as anyone else.

Two other of Freestyle Friday’s most prolific players, GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Oleksandr Bortnyk, entered play today with four tournament wins each. They were also the last ones on 100%, each reaching 5/5, but a draw between them in round six mutually assured that no one would score 11 points this week. Bortnyk built a decent position but took a lot of time in doing so, and although he would end up a pawn ahead in the final position, could not avoid a repetition.

In that same sixth round, Nakamura recovered from a loss and draw in his previous two games with the first of what became a six-game winning streak. In the seventh, Bortnyk was able to hold a share of first place, but Arjun wasn’t so lucky after a loss to Tang, and now lurking a half-point back was the seemingly inevitable Nakamura. In the eighth, Bortnyk was lucky to take the first sole lead in the tournament after a win on time over FM Artin Ashraf despite a much worse position. Nakamura, Arjun, and GM Jules Moussard all also won in the round to stay half a point behind.

And so here came the all-important Bortnyk-Nakamura game. Bortnyk had his chance to put Nakamura away on move 23, but was low on time, missed it, and dropped a knight and the game a few moves later. Admitting his luck on stream afterward, Nakamura demonstrated the main lines of the moves Bortnyk had missed.

Meanwhile, Arjun beat Moussard in a massacre that lasted only 13 moves, a number fitting for the date.

That set up the next key game, between Arjun and Nakamura. Once again, Nakamura wasn’t better from start to finish, but by the time the full proceedings were concluded, had demonstrated he was the better player that game.

Ashraf was now the last player with a chance to make a stand, and like Bortnyk and Arjun he was doing well for much of the game, but time control got him in the end. It also turned out that Nakamura only needed a draw for outright victory, with GM Mitrabha Guha taking second place on 8.5 points after defeating Bortnyk (below).

Bortnyk, who won Titled Tuesday earlier this week, still managed third place with his 8/11 score ahead of fourth-place GM Tuan Minh Le and fifth-place Alexei Sarana on tiebreaks. IM Polina Shuvalova won her second-straight Freestyle Friday women’s prize, finishing in 10th place with 7.5 points.

October 31 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 20)