Titled Tuesday Sets Participation Record, Hikaru Joins 2025 Win Column

On January 14, Titled Tuesday cracked 900 participants for the first time since June 2, 2020, with a total of 905 players. It was the second straight week setting the doubles era record (since February 1, 2022). Out of those 905 hopeful winners, the actual winner was GM Arjun Erigaisi, his third straight cash finish to start the year as he has jumped out to an early share of the lead in the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix. Arjun scored 10 points and still needed tiebreaks to overcome GM Hikaru Nakamura, who then won the late event, his first of what are sure to be many victories in 2025. Nakamura, who scored 9.5 points and overcame GM Andrey Esipenko on tiebreaks, now ranks third in the Grand Prix standings, half a point behind Arjun and GM Grigoriy Oparin.

Over 25k watched on Twitch / X. @chesscom truly has the strongest tournament in the world TWICE every Tuesday!! https://t.co/FxDCb6Yj7w

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) January 14, 2025

• Early Tournament (Arjun, 10/11)
• Late Tournament (Nakamura, 9.5/11)
• Grand Prix Standings

Early Tournament

Naturally, both Arjun and Nakamura got off to a hot start in the early tournament, starting 6/6. But only Nakamura would reach 7/7 after he defeated Arjun himself. The game was just beginning when it ended—Arjun had one move in the final position to maintain engine equality, but instead he flagged and lost on time.

It would prove to be Arjun's only setback of the tournament, but at that point he could only hope to catch up to Nakamura. While Nakamura won again in the eight round, his next two opponents were GMs Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, and they both made draws.

That was enough to give Arjun a chance, and he took it with wins against those very same players. First came the matchup against Carlsen, who had built a score of 8/9 behind some crushing performances such as this one against GM Alexsandr Shimanov in the eighth round—played with near-perfect accuracy and culminating in a sacrificial forced checkmate with well over a minute still left on his clock.

Arjun, however, would beat Carlsen at his own game, grinding out a winning endgame.

With one round to go, that set up a four-way tie for first place on nine points between Arjun, Nakamura, Caruana, and GM Rinat Jumabayev. Arjun faced Caruana and, while he had White against him whereas Nakamura had Black, still did what Nakamura could not and won the game.

Meanwhile, Nakamura handled Jumabayev. Despite an excellent tiebreak score, it wasn't as excellent as Arjun's.

The two decisive results averted what could have been a six-way draw on 9.5 points, but instead GM Ian Nepomniachtchi took third and GM Oleksandr Bortnyk fourth, ahead of Caruana, Jumabayev, and six other players on nine points. Only one of those eight players in all could finish fifth, and it turned out to be Carlsen, while IM Meri Arabidze would win the women's prize on 7.5 points.

January 14 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Arjun $1,000; Nakamura $750; Nepomniachtchi $350; Bortnyk $200; Carlsen $100; Arabidze $100.

Late Tournament

The late tournament was joined by a healthy 639 players, and Nakamura would not be denied victory this time, despite a slower start. After eight rounds, he was tied for eighth on 6.5 points, largely courtesy a fifth-round loss to GM Sam Shankland.

A draw in the eighth round against GM Jeffery Xiong was the only other game Nakamura did not win in this tournament, and he ended up the last player in a game of musical chairs that ensued at the top of the leaderboard. GM Jose Martinez led after nine rounds, but GM Benjamin Bok defeated him in round 10 to get the lead for himself. Nakamura then defeated Bok in the final round with the always popular pawn checkmate.

With that, Nakamura had broken past six of the seven players he had trailed just three rounds prior. The last, Esipenko, toppled Martinez to gain a share of first place, but his tiebreak score was well behind Nakamura's.

Behind Nakamura and Esipenko was a seven-way tie on nine points, with GM Hans Niemann, Shankland, and Bok taking the paid places. WGM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya led all women with 7.5 points.

January 14 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Nakamura $1,000 (daily total: $1,750); Esipenko $750; Niemann $350; Shankland $200; Bok $100; Maltsevskaya $100.

Grand Prix Standings

As mentioned at the top, Arjun, Oparin, and Nakamura hold the top three spots. GM Matthias Bluebaum ranks highest among players who have yet to win a Titled Tuesday in this still-nascent year. The standings will no doubt shake up a few times in the next few weeks.

Although GM Aleksandra Goryachkina did not win a women's prize this week, she was in the mix, and this after winning both last week, so she has a fairly significant early lead in the women's standings. This week's prizewinners both reached the top five.

Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), youths (born 2009 or later), and girls (born 2005 or later) do not have SCC places on the line, but there will be cash prizes in each of these categories as well. The current leaders are:

Seniors: GM Alex Rustemov (@alexrustemov), 30.5 points

Youth: CM Alberto Atoyan (@Zeitnot-30), 30.5 points

Girls: WCM Swara Lakshmi Nair (@Mirchi_26), 17.5 points

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).