GMs Awonder Liang and Denis Lazavik won Titled Tuesday on June 25, and several more players locked up a spot in the 2024 Speed Chess Championship after their highly successful Titled Tuesday performances this year to date: GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Alexey Sarana,Tuan Minh Le, Jose Martinez, Alexander Grischuk, and Hans Niemann. They will join nine invited players, and one additional qualifier to be determined, for the SCC.

Liang won outright over second-place Grischuk, while Lazavik neededtiebreaks to outlast Niemann and GM Magnus Carlsen.

With 724 players in the early field, three jumped out to a 6/6 start, but Liang wasn't part of that group. Only one of them, GM Anton Korobov, won in the seventh round. Liang didn't join the lead until the next round, when he beat GM Mustafa Yilmaz while Korobov only made a draw.

They showed down in the ninth round, where Liang took control. In an opposite-sides castling affair, Liang's king appeared to be less safe, but Korobov never broke through and eventually the tide turned.

Liang's resulting sole lead didn't last after his draw in the 10th round with GM Arjun Erigaisi, allowing Le to join Liang atop the leaderboard.

The winner of Liang-Le in the final round would thus claim the whole tournament. After a tense early middlegame, Liang broke through tactically in the center and kingside, and afterward converted easily.

Five players entered the round on 8.5 points, giving them a chance to jump Le. Only one of them did, which was Grischuk after he checkmated Carlsen in rare fashion. Revenge for Carlsen's win in the fourth round of the 2013 Candidates Tournament? Okay, probably not. Just a good win to secure second place in a Titled Tuesday.

Meanwhile, eight players tied for third on nine points. Of the three with the best tiebreaksArjun, GM Fabiano Caruana, and Sarananone of them actually won in the final round, all making draws there instead.

June 25 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Liang won $1,000 while Grischuk earned $750. Arjun took home $350, with $200 going to Caruana and $100 to Sarana. WGM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova won the $100 women's prize, scoring 7.5 points.

Unlike in the early tournament, the winner of the late tournament was also the last perfect player. After winning his first seven games, Lazavik coasted to victory with three draws in his last four contests, completing an undefeated performance to win the late tournament for a second straight week.

Lazavik's only win in his last four games came against GM Pranav Venkatesh in round 10...

The win didn't quite allow Lazavik to break free, as Niemann also won in the round. Niemann stormed back from a fourth-round loss against the great GM Alexei Shirov by winning his sixth straight game, this one against GM David Anton.

Lazavik and Niemann played the "Berlin Draw" in the 11th round, securing a share of first. One player joined them: Carlsen, who got a taste of his own medicine (in terms of silly openings) when FM Artin Ashraf began their game with the moves 1.a4 and 2.a5, but also got the last laugh with a victory.

While tiebreaks were setting the podium, they also helped Anton finish fourth as he recovered from his setback by winning in the final round, while GM Andrew Hong took fifth.

June 25 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings here.)

Lazavik earned $1,000 for first place while Niemann managed $750 and Carlsen $350. Anton won $200 and Hong $100 to round out the top five. IM Bibisara Assaubayeva scored eight points to win the $100 women's prize in the 21st overall place.

With the SCC qualification stage complete, attention now returns to the yearlong standings. The top women's scores are even closer now than last week, with a mere six points between first and fifth as IM Polina Shuvalova is now in fourth. Le took over fifth in the open standings from GM Dmitry Andreikin.

Juniors: GM Denis Lazavik (179.0 points)

Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (167.0 points)

Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (113.5 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).

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Titled Tuesday June 25, 2024 - Chess.com