10-Year Old Phenom Makes Podium As Kovalev, Duda Win Titled Tuesday
The victors in Titled Tuesday on May 21, 2024, were GM Vladislav Kovalev in the early tournament and GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the late tournament. FM Faustino Oro, the 10-year-old from Argentina who already has bullet wins against the very best competition on his resume, finished third in the early event, outperforming the world's top three GMs Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Hikaru Nakamura.
The future looks bright for young Fausti! 😎 pic.twitter.com/fmAhj72mIl
— Chess.com (@chesscom) May 22, 2024
Early Tournament
Kovalev, whose previous best finish in a Titled Tuesday was third place on December 19, 2023, got out to a blistering 9/9 start in the early field of 739, toppling opponents such as GMs Levon Aronian, Daniil Dubov, and Caruana. He then completed the ninth straight win by defeating fellow countryman (although Kovalev currently plays under the FIDE flag) GM Denis Lazavik.
Kovalev's bid at perfection was finally ended in the 10th round when he was held to a draw by GM Jose Martinez, but he remained in position for an outright win. Up by half a point on his 11th-round opponent, GM Sergey Drygalov, and leading the rest of the field by a full point, Kovalev needed only a draw to clinch the tournament. He got it very comfortably, taking a draw even when ahead by two pawns in a simple rook ending. For Drygalov, the draw meant a drop from second place to fourth.
Moving ahead of him were Martinez and the prodigious Oro, whose only loss came in the fifth round against Caruana. Meanwhile, he was defeating players like IM Levy Rozman, GM Anton Korobov, and GM Liem Le. Finally, in the 11th round, he reached the podium with this win over GM Narayanan S. L.:
The three highest-seeded players, Nakamura, Carlsen, and Caruana, all finished on nine points. With only one spot available in the top five, it went to Caruana on tiebreaks (the best tiebreaks in the entire field, even).
May 21 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 109 | GM | @vladislavkovalev | Vladislav Kovalev | 2910 | 10 | 65.5 | |
| 2 | 16 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3061 | 9.5 | 78 | |
| 3 | 55 | FM | @FaustinoOro | Faustino Oro | 2956 | 9.5 | 75.5 | |
| 4 | 32 | GM | @sergoy | Sergey Drygalov | 3009 | 9.5 | 60.5 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3182 | 9 | 79.5 | |
| 6 | 15 | GM | @h4parah5 | Jaime Santos Latasa | 3049 | 9 | 72.5 | |
| 7 | 5 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3128 | 9 | 70.5 | |
| 8 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3204 | 9 | 70 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3253 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 10 | 14 | GM | @Indianlad | S.L. Narayanan | 3055 | 8.5 | 77.5 | |
| 11 | 7 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3108 | 8.5 | 74 | |
| 12 | 84 | GM | @Jakhongir-Vakhidov | Jakhongir Vakhidov | 2912 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 13 | 20 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 3030 | 8.5 | 70.5 | |
| 14 | 289 | IM | @KhBegmuratov | Khumoyun Begmuratov | 2681 | 8.5 | 68.5 | |
| 15 | 42 | GM | @Sam_ChessMood | Samvel Ter-Sahakyan | 2955 | 8.5 | 68 | |
| 16 | 10 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3075 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 17 | 23 | GM | @SpeedofLight0 | Andrew Hong | 3013 | 8.5 | 63 | |
| 18 | 36 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2959 | 8.5 | 62 | |
| 19 | 116 | GM | @francyIM | Francesco Sonis | 2845 | 8.5 | 61.5 | |
| 20 | 35 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2958 | 8.5 | 50.5 | |
| 89 | 134 | GM | @ChessQueen | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2768 | 7 | 55 |
(Full final standings here.)
Kovalev earned $1,000 for his outright victory. Martinez won $750, Oro $350, and Drygalov $200 in second place through fourth. The $100 prizes went to Caruana in fifth and GM Alexandra Kosteniuk in the top women's spot.
Late Tournament
The exact same number of players as last week, 544, joined the late tournament this week. Like Kovalev earlier in the day, Duda started on 9.5 points out of 10, but his path there was different, with the draw coming in round six.
Immediately after the draw, Duda took on the Nakamura beast and won, reaching an easily winning rook ending in 42 moves after Nakamura had trouble handling Duda's 14.Ne3 idea.
After three more rounds and three more wins, it seemed Duda would coast to victory thanks to a full-point lead over six players tied in second place as the final round began. Duda had Black against GM Aryan Tari, but was not able to clinch the tournament with a draw, instead losing in just 28 moves. Like Duda had done to Nakamura, Tari prevented Duda from castling to key the victory.
The good news for Duda was that his previous rounds had been so dominant, and his opponents so strong, that his tiebreaks still earned first place by a comfortable margin. The good news for Tari was that beating the tournament winner helped his tiebreaks enough to finish in second place.
Also scoring 9.5 points were CM Egor Baskakov and FM Artin Ashraf, who, despite not being titled as high as the many GMs who were playing in the tournament, were both respectable seeds. Ashraf, the 18th seed, beat GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Caruana to reach an 8/8 start, but Duda took care of him in round nine. The 1.5/2 Ashraf scored after that setback was enough to recover into the top five.
And once again, a tie on nine points for fifth only left room for one prize winner. This time it went to GM Alireza Firouzja, with Nakamura and Dubov yet again sitting on the outside looking in. Martinez also, but he at least had already won some money earlier in the day. (Despite scoring just eight points this time, Caruana again had the highest tiebreaks in the entire tournament. He always seems to attract the strongest opposition. In this tournament, he defeated a top-25 finisher as early as round three.)
May 21 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 10 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3112 | 9.5 | 78.5 | |
| 2 | 16 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 3060 | 9.5 | 71 | |
| 3 | 44 | CM | @stollenmonster | Egor Baskakov | 2935 | 9.5 | 67 | |
| 4 | 18 | FM | @artin10862 | Artin Ashraf | 3055 | 9.5 | 66 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3137 | 9 | 70.5 | |
| 6 | 12 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3091 | 9 | 68.5 | |
| 7 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3220 | 9 | 67.5 | |
| 8 | 6 | GM | @Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 3108 | 9 | 63 | |
| 9 | 4 | GM | @ChessWarrior7197 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 3150 | 8.5 | 76.5 | |
| 10 | 26 | GM | @DominguezOnYoutube | Leinier Dominguez Perez | 2990 | 8.5 | 70.5 | |
| 11 | 19 | GM | @SpeedofLight0 | Andrew Hong | 3001 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 12 | 24 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 3004 | 8.5 | 67 | |
| 13 | 15 | GM | @LiemLe | Liem Le | 3040 | 8.5 | 66.5 | |
| 14 | 22 | GM | @ChristopherYoo | Christopher Woojin Yoo | 3000 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 15 | 8 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3095 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 16 | 3 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3174 | 8 | 80 | |
| 17 | 28 | GM | @dropstoneDP | David Paravyan | 2978 | 8 | 76.5 | |
| 18 | 25 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2992 | 8 | 73 | |
| 19 | 27 | GM | @Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 2968 | 8 | 68 | |
| 20 | 61 | GM | @Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2890 | 8 | 65.5 | |
| 44 | 146 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2687 | 7.5 | 54.5 |
(Full final standings here.)
Duda won $1,000 and Tari $750, while Baskakov claimed $350 and Ashraf $200. Firouzja won $100 for fifth place, while GM Aleksandra Goryachkina earned the $100 women's prize.
Titled Cup Standings
Nakamura still leads the Titled Cup, of course, but it's also looking like a solid second for Duda at this moment, as he is ahead of third by three points. Kosteniuk and Goryachkina, who each won a women's prize this week, are a strong top two in the women's standings. And it's still Lazavik leading the juniors, GM Gata Kamsky the seniors, and WCM Veronika Shubenkova the girls. Lazavik's 15.5-point lead over GM Christopher Yoo from last week fell to 6.5 points, however.
Open
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Hikaru | 194.0 | GM Hikaru Nakamura |
| 2 | @Polish_fighter3000 | 183.5 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
| 3-t | @mishanick | 180.5 | GM Alexey Sarana |
| 3-t | @Jospem | 180.5 | GM Jose Martinez |
| 5 | @jefferyx | 176.0 | GM Jeffery Xiong |
Women
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @ChessQueen | 138.5 | GM Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 2 | @Goryachkina | 136.0 | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 3 | @Meri-Arabidze | 131.5 | IM Meri Arabidze |
| 3 | @karinachess1 | 130.5 | IM Karina Ambartsumova |
| 5 | @Sanyura | 121.0 | IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya |
Other Category Leaders
Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (173.5 points)
Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (164.5 points)
Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (104.5 points)
The Titled Cup fantasy game Chess Prophet continues as well. Current standings can be found here. (Login required.)
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).
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.
