Martinez Beats The Crowd, Young IM Wins Again

On a day where several players, including GM Hikaru Nakamura, were preoccupied with the last day of the 2022 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, the August 30, 2022 editions of Titled Tuesday were won by GM Jose Martinez and GM-elect Denis Lazavik.

Early Tournament

Perhaps spurred by GM Magnus Carlsen’s surprise appearance last week, 439 players joined the early tournament. It was the highest participation for a single Titled Tuesday event since February 22. (Carlsen was not among them in either.)

Martinez, a.k.a. Jospem, won his fourth Titled Tuesday since the February doubling of events, more than anyone in that time besides Nakamura and GM Dmitry Andreikin. And in fact, it was Andreikin whom Martinez beat on the tiebreaker score in this event.

Martinez was crushing it for most of the tournament, reaching 8.5/9 before a 10th-round hiccup. That result, against GM Aleksandr Lenderman, allowed Lenderman to leapfrog into first place by half a point.

However, none other than Andreikin stopped Lenderman in the final round and passed him in the standings.

Meanwhile, Martinez recovered against GM Etienne Bacrot, winning on time in a position evaluated as equal by the computer, also passing Lenderman.

Thanks to Martinez’s faster start, he played stronger opponents and thus won the tiebreak over Andreikin.

August 30 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number	Rk	Fed	Title	Username	Name	Rating	Score	SB
1	4		GM	@Jospem	Jose Martinez	3023	9.5	68.25
2	1		GM	@FairChess_on_YouTube	Dmitry Andreikin	3114	9.5	64.5
3	12		GM	@AlexanderL	Aleksandr Lenderman	2971	9	61
4	21		GM	@penguingm1	Andrew Tang	2908	9	59
5	29		GM	@Durarbayli	Vasif Durarbayli	2873	9	58
6	23		GM	@Zhigalko_Sergei	Sergei Zhigalko	2909	9	54
7	2		GM	@Oleksandr_Bortnyk	Oleksandr Bortnyk	3034	9	46.5
8	16		GM	@TigrVShlyape	Gata Kamsky	2913	8.5	56
9	17		GM	@TimofeevAr	Artem Timofeev	2916	8.5	52.75
9	14		IM	@gurelediz	Ediz Gürel	2955	8.5	52.75
11	133		FM	@peonrojo150	Gonzalo Navarrete	2684	8.5	45.25
12	2		IM	@Nimrod_Veinberg	Nimrod Veinberg	2732	8.5	43.25
13	18		GM	@baki83	Etienne Bacrot	2925	8.5	42.25
14	6		GM	@BogdanDeac	Bogdan Daniel Deac	2973	8	57
15	33		FM	@TrahtarBelarus	Artiom Stribuk	2857	8	55.5
16	38		IM	@MetiForce	Mahdi Gholami Orimi	2840	8	48.5
17	59		GM	@KaterynaLagno	Kateryna Lagno	2800	8	48.25
18	31		IM	@bardiya_Daneshvar	Bardiya Daneshvar	2873	8	48
19	25		GM	@exoticprincess	Baadur Jobava	2848	8	47.5
20	32		GM	@VerdeNotte	Gawain Jones	2858	8	45.75

(Full final standings here.)

Martinez won $1,000 for his performance while Andreikin earned $750, and Lenderman won $350. GM Andrew Tang won $200 for fourth place, GM Vasif Durarbayli $100 for fifth, and 17th-place GM Kateryna Lagno $100 as the highest-scoring woman in the field, with 8/11.

Late Tournament

Lazavik, in his days as a 15-year-old FIDE Master, was a surprise winner of this tournament all the way back on March 16, 2021. He has since then proved that it was no fluke, currently on his way to his GM title at the next FIDE conference while earning a spot in the Chess.com Global Championship Knockout. Now he adds another Titled Tuesday win to his record sheet.

Like Andreikin a couple of weeks prior, Lazavik flirted with perfection, starting 9/9 before two draws at the end to clinch the half-point victory. His last three wins were all over especially strong opposition: Tang, Andreikin, and GM Daniel Naroditsky. Of these, the one against Naroditsky was the smoothest, in addition to getting Lazavik his ninth point.

A 17-move draw against GM Alexey Sarana ended Lazavik’s bid for perfection. Additionally, a surge from GM Sanan Sjugirov kept him on Lazavik’s tail, and they faced off in the final round with Lazavik a half-point up. Naturally, they played a full game, but neither player blinked, and Lazavik held on.

August 30 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

Number Rk Fed Title Username Name Rating Score SB

1 13
IM @DenLaz Denis Lazavik 2999 10 60.5

2 18
GM @Sanan_Sjugirov Sanan Sjugirov 2950 9.5 65.5

3 3 GM @mishanick Alexey Sarana 3102 9.5 62.5

4 21 GM @AryanTari Aryan Tari 2920 9 57

5 19
GM @dropstoneDP David Paravyan 2936 9 52.75

6 44 IM @ckgchess Cem Kaan Gokerkan 2833 8.5 50.5

7 33 GM @VerdeNotte Gawain Jones 2858 8.5 48.75

8 26 GM @ChessBrah Eric Hansen 2883 8 52

9 1
GM @FairChess_on_YouTube Dmitry Andreikin 3114 8 51

9 34 IM @Murad_Ibrahimli Murad İbrahimli 2856 8 51

11 9 GM @BogdanDeac Bogdan Daniel Deac 2973 8 50

12 30 GM @dretch Conrad Holt 2898 8 48.5

13 17 GM @TigrVShlyape Gata Kamsky 2913 8 47.5

14 35 GM @AlexeiShirov Alexei Shirov 2832 8 46.5

15 6 GM @GM_dmitrij Dmitrij Kollars 2980 8 45.5

16 4 GM @Oleksandr_Bortnyk Oleksandr Bortnyk 3034 8 45

17 11 GM @AlexanderL Aleksandr Lenderman 2971 8 44.75

18 27 GM @Ehsan_GhaemMaghami Ehsan GhaemMaghami 2887 8 44.25

18 2 GM @DanielNaroditsky Daniel Naroditsky 3107 8 44.25

20 31 GM @jcibarra José Carlos Ibarra Jerez 2842 8 43.5

35 81 GM @Goryachkina Aleksandra Goryachkina 2685 7 37.75

(Full final standings here.)

Lazavik’s victory earned him $1,000, while Sjugirov claimed the $750 second-place prize. Sarana won $350 for third, GM Aryan Tari $200 for fourth, and GM David Paravyan $100 for fifth place. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina edged out WGM Meri Arabidze for the top woman’s prize on a 7/11 score.