Both Titled Tuesday events of July 22 were close, but in the end, GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Bogdan-Daniel Deac won out. They scored 9.5 points each, beating out GMs Jeffery Xiong and Matthias Bluebaum, respectively, on tiebreaks. Both Nakamura and Deac also finished in the top five in the tournament they did not win.
Early Tournament
With 494 players participating in the early tournament, Nakamura and Xiong both lost a game in the first half of the proceedings, against GM Etienne Bacrot in the fourth round and GM Vahap Sanal in the fifth, respectively. Instead, Deac, along with Georgian IM Nodar Lortkipanidze, were the last players on 6/6 before drawing each other. Two rounds later, 16-year-old Chinese GM Xue Haowen took the sole lead on 7.5/8 by defeating Deac.
His success was short-lived, however, with Nakamura next on Xue’s docket. Nakamura’s win there moved him into a tie for first place with GM Gukesh Dommaraju and IM Renato Terry with two rounds left. Here to explain the ensuing 10th-round matchup between Nakamura and the reigning world champion Gukesh is… Nakamura himself:
While Nakamura was delivering a blow to the world champ, Terry lost in the same round to GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who would ultimately finish in third place just ahead of Terry in fourth.
Nakamura now held the sole lead with a round to go, but an uneventful draw in the last round against Vachier-Lagrave—they exchanged pieces at nearly every opportunity, and each had over a minute on their clocks when the position repeated on move 34—gave the winner of Xiong-Xue the chance to catch up. It was still a reasonable play by Nakamura, with Vachier-Lagrave having better tiebreaks than either Xiong or Xue, while still a half-point behind the three in the main standings.
Xiong had Black in an opposite-sides castling situation, winning a pawn tactically in the middlegame. The extra pawn was on the other side of the board from Xue’s king, and Xiong converted fairly easily.
Nonetheless, Nakamura’s tiebreaks were also better than Xiong’s, giving Nakamura the tournament win. Deac settled into fifth, and WGM Anna Shukhman won the women’s prize on a 7.5/11 score.
July 22 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3400 | 9.5 | 72.5 | |
| 2 | 11 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3095 | 9.5 | 69.5 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | @LyonBeast | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 3236 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 4 | 15 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 3094 | 9 | 69 | |
| 5 | 13 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 3134 | 9 | 69 | |
| 6 | 7 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 3198 | 9 | 68.5 | |
| 7 | 8 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3133 | 9 | 61.5 | |
| 8 | 10 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3149 | 9 | 60 | |
| 9 | 14 | GM | @Dr_Tyger | Xue Haowen | 3087 | 8.5 | 77 | |
| 10 | 38 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2979 | 8.5 | 69.5 | |
| 11 | 35 | GM | @Elsa167 | Leon Livaic | 2963 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 12 | 17 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3031 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 13 | 25 | IM | @NodariousBIG | Nodar Lortkipanidze | 3029 | 8 | 80 | |
| 14 | 6 | GM | @Sina-Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3178 | 8 | 73.5 | |
| 15 | 21 | GM | @mitrabhaa | Mitrabha Guha | 2994 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 16 | 12 | GM | @wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 3076 | 8 | 70.5 | |
| 17 | 41 | GM | @baki83 | Etienne Bacrot | 2991 | 8 | 70.5 | |
| 18 | 19 | GM | @GukeshDommaraju | Gukesh Dommarju | 3048 | 8 | 68 | |
| 19 | 40 | GM | @FGHSMN | Bharath Subramaniyam | 2971 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 20 | 165 | IM | @Trendle | Thomas Rendle | 2748 | 8 | 64 | |
| 41 | 107 | WGM | @Speshka | Anna Shukhman | 2791 | 7.5 | 55.5 |
Prizes: Nakamura $1,000, Xiong $750, Vachier-Lagrave $350, Terry $200, Deac $100, Shukhman $100.
Late Tournament
In a field of 381, Nakamura very nearly won the late event as well, which would have been his ninth sweep. He wound up with the best tiebreaks in the tournament and was part of a four-way tie with one round left, but Bluebaum was able to win their game in the 11th.
Bluebaum’s tiebreaks, on the other hand, were rather unimpressive, and so Deac’s win against last week’s late tournament champion GM Sina Movahed was enough for Deac to secure his seventh Titled Tuesday win. He was never in danger of losing the same-color bishop ending, but there were still some swings in the computer evaluation before Deac put the game away.
On a day where tiebreaks were a theme, GM Igor Kovalenko was able to break up that phenomenon, and took sole third on nine points. He won his last four games, including against GM Daniel Naroditsky in the final round, as a wide-open queenside out of the opening worked completely in Kovalenko’s favor.
Nakamura ended up in fourth, and IM Robert Piliposyan, who placed second in last week’s late tournament, took fifth. IM Polina Shuvalova took home the women’s prize.
July 22 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 9 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 3134 | 9.5 | 74 | |
| 2 | 6 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3149 | 9.5 | 68.5 | |
| 3 | 13 | GM | @igorkovalenko | Igor Kovalenko | 3064 | 9 | 70 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3400 | 8.5 | 76.5 | |
| 5 | 33 | IM | @PiliposyanRobertChess | Robert Piliposyan | 2967 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 6 | 8 | IM | @FaustinoOro | Faustino Oro | 3090 | 8.5 | 70 | |
| 7 | 12 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3031 | 8.5 | 68.5 | |
| 8 | 4 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3133 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 9 | 46 | GM | @Gareth-Bale11 | Mamikon Gharibyan | 2901 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 10 | 27 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2982 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
| 11 | 24 | GM | @baki83 | Etienne Bacrot | 2991 | 8.5 | 60 | |
| 12 | 10 | GM | @GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 3067 | 8 | 75.5 | |
| 13 | 3 | GM | @Sina-Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3178 | 8 | 74 | |
| 14 | 25 | GM | @hansen | Eric Hansen | 3001 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 15 | 42 | GM | @YQPerez | Yasser Quesada Perez | 2898 | 8 | 66 | |
| 16 | 64 | GM | @BirdMaster3000 | Raven Sturt | 2840 | 8 | 66 | |
| 17 | 22 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2979 | 8 | 59.5 | |
| 18 | 52 | FM | @GoltsevDmitry2000 | Goltsev Dmitry | 2842 | 8 | 59 | |
| 19 | 7 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 3098 | 7.5 | 75 | |
| 20 | 37 | GM | @Kosak12 | Jakub Kosakowski | 2931 | 7.5 | 73.5 | |
| 44 | 75 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2796 | 7 | 57 |
Prizes: Deac $1,000, Bluebaum $750, Kovalenko $350, Nakamura $200, Piliposyan $100, Shuvalova $100. (Daily totals: Nakamura $1,200, Deac $1,100.)
Grand Prix Qualifiers
The Titled Tuesday Grand Prix concluded back 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 | Zhu Jiner |
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).
