Van Foreest Wins October 12 Titled Tuesday

GM Jorden van Foreest took home first place in Titled Tuedsay on October 12, his first-ever win in the event. Van Foreest’s score of 10/11, which he achieved while playing 1.a3 or 1…a6 in eight straight games, was enough to win without the tiebreaker.

Tied for second on 9.5/11 were [perhaps] the world’s two biggest chess streamers, GM Hikaru Nakamura finishing just ahead of GM Eric Hansen on the tiebreak. Four players were tied on 9/11, and IM Denis Lazavik came in fourth place with easily the best tiebreaker score.

468 players joined this week’s Titled Tuesday, which was the usual 11-round Swiss tournament at a 3+1 time control.

Live broadcast of this week’s tournament, hosted by WFM Alessia Santeramo.

The key game of the tournament was van Foreest’s victory over Nakamura in the eighth round, after which the Dutchman cruised to victory in the event.

In the game, Van Foreest converted better minor pieces and extra queenside space into two monster connected passed pawns. Nakamura, unwilling to sacrifice a piece for them (when he would be lost anyway), also got two connected passers, but they were easily stopped.

Nakamura was almost defeated earlier, in round four, but gave a dramatic demonstration of the power of two doubled rooks on the seventh rank. Despite being down four pawns, Nakamura was able to make a draw by perpetual check, and he ended up needing that half-point on top of his nine wins to finish in second, achieved while also playing in the new Chess Super League.

It doesn’t always happen but the winner was also the last perfect player. Van Foreest defeated GM Amin Tabatabaei to achieve that distinction with 7/7. Not many games between two grandmasters begin with 1.b3 a6, but van Foreest’s opening stunt throughout the tournament paid off beautifully with both colors.

This game demonstrated how strong a passed pawn is in queen endings; the pawn count was equal at four, but van Foreest’s passed a-pawn easily won the game.

Entering the final round, van Foreest led the tournament with 9.5/10 and had White against Hansen, the only player on 9/10 after winning in round 10. They agreed to a two-move draw, guaranteeing the tournament for van Foreest and a cash position for Hansen.

October 12 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB Prize

1 25 GM @joppie2 Jorden van Foreest 2924 10 72.5 $750

2 1 GM @Hikaru Hikaru Nakamura 3189 9.5 63 $400

3 17 GM @erichansen Eric Hansen 2928 9.5 62.5 $150

4 35 IM @DenLaz Denis Lazavik 2876 9 63 $100

5 47 IM @c63_amg Artiom Samsonkin 2830 9 59

6 30 GM @xamax2000 Max Warmerdam 2884 9 55.5

7 26 IM @swimmerchess Siva Mahadevan 2874 9 54.5

8 3 GM @BogdanDeac Bogdan Daniel Deac 3011 8.5 53.5

9 24 GM @vugarrasulov Vugar Rasulov 2896 8.5 49.5

10 34 FM @KazakhFighter04 Kazybek Nogerbek 2854 8 53.25

11 6 IM @MITerryble Renato Terry 2954 8 50

12 10 GM @Chopper1905 Mustafa Yilmaz 2945 8 49

13 36 GM @Anton_Demchenko Anton Demchenko 2850 8 48

14 15 GM @Msb2 Matthias Bluebaum 2906 8 47.5

14 40 FM @frederiksvane Frederik Svane 2809 8 47.5

16 4 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 2980 8 47

17 27 GM @dretch Conrad Holt 2863 8 46.5

17 59 GM @XDPS Pablo Salinas Herrera 2761 8 46.5

17 37 GM @MrTattaglia Kozak Adam 2824 8 46.5

20 39 GM @Zhigalko_Sergei Sergei Zhigalko 2837 8 46.25

39 167 IM @sara_khm Sarasadat Khademalsharieh 2617 7.5 38.75 $100

(Full final standings here.)

IM Sarasadat Khademalsharieh won $100 as the top female player.

Titled Tuesday is a Swiss tournament for titled players running on Chess.com every week. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific time/19:00 Central European every Tuesday.