Firouzja Joins Tuesday Sweep Club
GM Alireza Firouzja has become the fourth player to sweep both ends of a Titled Tuesday, joining GMs Hikaru Nakamura, Wesley So, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in accomplishing the feat. Firouzja won the early event on August 29 with 9.5 points, then returned to win the late event with 10 points.
Early Tournament
The early tournament was Firouzja's closer call of the two tournaments, as he wound up in a four-way tie for first place but had the best tiebreaks of the group.
It didn't appear that would be the case after the ninth round, when Firouzja improved to 8.5/9, with a clear half-point lead on the field by defeating GM Alexey Sarana in an endgame.
Things only got better for Firouzja in the 10th, when he increased his lead on the field to a full point with his win over GM Igor Kovalenko in yet another ending, this one with Black.
Now Firouzja found himself only needing a draw in the last round to clinch the whole event, but GM Nihal Sarin threatened to spoil the show. Apparently, the trick to beat Firouzja was to avoid an endgame, as Nihal won in 28 moves.
Nonetheless, Firouzja held on to win the tournament thanks to tiebreaks, while Nihal climbed into third place. GM Jorden van Foreest scooped second with wins in the last three rounds, ending with one over FM Sina Movahed.
August 29 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3105 | 9.5 | 73 | |
| 2 | 33 | GM | @joppie2 | Jorden van Foreest | 2978 | 9.5 | 68.5 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3155 | 9.5 | 68 | |
| 4 | 3 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3138 | 9.5 | 66.5 | |
| 5 | 7 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3067 | 9 | 74.5 | |
| 6 | 9 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3048 | 9 | 68.5 | |
| 7 | 13 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3026 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 8 | 16 | GM | @BrandonJacobson | Brandon Jacobson | 3009 | 8.5 | 77.5 | |
| 9 | 6 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3055 | 8.5 | 77.5 | |
| 10 | 12 | GM | @Andreikka | Andrey Esipenko | 3033 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 11 | 5 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3054 | 8.5 | 71 | |
| 12 | 23 | GM | @rasmussvane | Rasmus Svane | 2982 | 8.5 | 71 | |
| 13 | 32 | GM | @sergoy | Sergey Drygalov | 2958 | 8.5 | 68.5 | |
| 14 | 8 | GM | @BillieKimbah | Maxim Matlakov | 3038 | 8.5 | 68.5 | |
| 15 | 28 | GM | @amintabatabaei | Amin Tabatabaei | 2976 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 16 | 21 | FM | @Sina_Movahed | Sina Movahed | 2988 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
| 17 | 70 | GM | @XDPS | Pablo Salinas Herrera | 2871 | 8.5 | 58.5 | |
| 18 | 101 | FM | @Bauman_Guy | Konstantin Popov | 2845 | 8.5 | 56.5 | |
| 19 | 369 | FM | @FREDERICKtheMATE | Frederick Waldhausen Gordon | 2548 | 8.5 | 56 | |
| 20 | 59 | GM | @Durarbayli | Vasif Durarbayli | 2915 | 8 | 76.5 | |
| 76 | 163 | GM | @Vanina1989 | Valentina Gunina | 2706 | 7 | 58.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
The four-way tie shook out with Firouzja winning $1,000, Van Foreest $750, Nihal $350, and Sarana $200. GM Denis Lazavik finished fifth for $100, and GM Valentina Gunina won the $100 women's prize.
Late Tournament
Firouzja didn't leave the late result to tiebreaks, scoring 10/11 to complete the sweep with an outright victory. But his position entering the final round was actually more precarious than before, with a half-point (not full-point) lead on three opponents.
This time, Firouzja left nothing to chance by beating GM Grigoriy Oparin, in the process obtaining a second queen in less than 35 moves.
GM Aleksandar Indjic was the only of the three players directly behind Firouzja to get a win in the last round, defeating teenage FM Artin Ashraf.
The way the last round turned out, it ended up a big deal that Firouzja was able to beat Indjic in the battle of future top-two finishers back in round six. A surprisingly calm Najdorf Sicilian turned into a 55-move win for Firouzja after he found the sequence beginning with 38.Qg8+.
Indjic never lost again, and Firouzja would need every point he got going forward to outlast him in the standings. But Firouzja did just that, and so joined the exclusive ranks of players who have won both Titled Tuesday tournaments in a single day.
August 29 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3127 | 10 | 71 | |
| 2 | 30 | GM | @Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2984 | 9.5 | 73 | |
| 3 | 15 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3035 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 4 | 26 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2970 | 9 | 67 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3105 | 9 | 64.5 | |
| 6 | 16 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3023 | 9 | 62.5 | |
| 7 | 71 | FM | @artin10862 | Artin Ashraf | 2885 | 8.5 | 75.5 | |
| 8 | 22 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2985 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 9 | 2 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3117 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 10 | 13 | GM | @BogdanDeac | Bogdan Daniel Deac | 3022 | 8.5 | 64.5 | |
| 11 | 21 | GM | @OparinGrigoriy | Grigoriy Oparin | 2983 | 8.5 | 63.5 | |
| 12 | 19 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3000 | 8.5 | 59.5 | |
| 13 | 24 | GM | @sergoy | Sergey Drygalov | 2970 | 8 | 74 | |
| 14 | 6 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3054 | 8 | 72 | |
| 15 | 9 | GM | @BillieKimbah | Maxim Matlakov | 3042 | 8 | 72 | |
| 16 | 70 | FM | @MarcoRiehle | Marco Riehle | 2849 | 8 | 71 | |
| 17 | 63 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 2893 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 18 | 37 | GM | @platy3 | Alan Pichot | 2916 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 19 | 33 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2931 | 8 | 66.5 | |
| 20 | 98 | GM | @cassoulet | Jonathan Dourérassou | 2757 | 8 | 64 | |
| 34 | 121 | GM | @jinbojinbo | Jiner Zhu | 2692 | 7.5 | 57 |
(Full final standings here.)
Firouzja won another $1,000 for a $2,000 total on the day, while Indjic brought home $750. GM Jeffery Xiong won $350 in third place, GM Pranav V $200 in fourth, and GM Daniel Naroditsky $100 in fifth. The $100 women's prize went to GM Zhu Jiner on 7.5 points.
Titled Tuesday is the 11-round Swiss tournament that Chess.com hosts two of every week on Tuesdays. The first tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time, with the second one following 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.
