After GM Pranav Venkatesh won the early edition of the March 19 Titled Tuesday with relative ease, GM Magnus Carlsen needed the second tiebreak to earn his first win in the event since January 30. It was little-known Chinese GM Xu Xiangyu who pushed Carlsen to the brink. The wins were Pranav’s second (previously on October 31, 2023) and Carlsen’s 14th since February 2022.
Early Tournament
In the early field of 656 players, Pranav lost fairly early in round five, but it ended up the only blemish on his record. The final three rounds were especially impressive for him, with wins over GMs Alireza Firouzja and Denis Lazavik—who had been tied for the tournament lead through eight rounds—sandwiching a 10th-round victory over GM Hikaru Nakamura. Shockingly, it took only 22 moves for Pranav to beat Nakamura.
The tournament thus came down to the final round game between Pranav and Lazavik, who entered as the only two players in the co-lead on 9/10. The computer gave Lazavik the edge for most of the game until he captured the wrong way on move 40.
Lazavik’s overall performance—which included a win over Carlsen in round eight—was strong enough to pick up a third-place finish anyway, but he was leapfrogged by GM Luca Moroni Jr., who toppled GM Jose Martinez.
March 19 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | Tiebreak 1 |
| 1 | 20 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3092 | 10 | 71 | |
| 2 | 97 | GM | @moro182 | Luca Moroni Jr | 2907 | 9.5 | 68.5 | |
| 3 | 13 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3111 | 9 | 76.5 | |
| 4 | 21 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3075 | 9 | 72 | |
| 5 | 5 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3147 | 9 | 71 | |
| 6 | 3 | GM | @nihalsarin | Nihal Sarin | 3178 | 9 | 68.5 | |
| 7 | 90 | GM | @BilodeauA | Kirill Alekseenko | 3062 | 9 | 64.5 | |
| 8 | 9 | FM | @Sina_Movahed | Sina Movahed | 3104 | 9 | 61 | |
| 9 | 14 | GM | @GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 3101 | 8.5 | 76.5 | |
| 10 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3255 | 8.5 | 75.5 | |
| 11 | 10 | GM | @Firouzja2003 | Alireza Firouzja | 3100 | 8.5 | 72.5 | |
| 12 | 6 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3129 | 8.5 | 71 | |
| 13 | 60 | GM | @TigrVShlyape | Gata Kamsky | 2935 | 8.5 | 69 | |
| 14 | 28 | GM | @AryanTari | Aryan Tari | 3024 | 8.5 | 66 | |
| 15 | 27 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 3018 | 8.5 | 61 | |
| 16 | 7 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3095 | 8.5 | 58.5 | |
| 17 | 143 | IM | @lamomiajunior | Joaquin Fiorito | 2780 | 8.5 | 54.5 | |
| 18 | 19 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3058 | 8 | 74.5 | |
| 19 | 23 | GM | @AnishOnYoutube | Anish Giri | 3042 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 20 | 15 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3078 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 30 | 138 | GM | @Elegance_Riks | Harika Dronavalli | 2797 | 8 | 62 |
(Full final standings here.)
Pranav won $1,000 for his efforts while Moroni claimed $750 and Lazavik $350. GM Oleksandr Bortnyk finished fourth for $200 and GM Dmitry Andreikin fifth for $100. GM Harika Dronavalli scored eight points, earning the $100 women’s prize in 30th place.
Late Tournament
It was the busiest late tournament of the year to date with 579 participants, and three of them ended up tied at the top: Carlsen, Xu, and GM Arjun Erigaisi. Arjun lost in round three and ended up with the third-best tiebreaks, but Carlsen and Xu were so dead-even the usual tiebreak was not enough. They had the same score after eight of the 11 rounds (all except rounds five through seven). Their final-round showdown, a 25-move draw, didn’t move the needle. Ultimately, the difference was that Carlsen’s weakest opponent scored half a point more during the tournament than Xu’s weakest opponent.
But through eight rounds, it wasn’t clear that either of them would win. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda held a slim half-point lead over the field, but Carlsen took him out in round nine after taking an exchange when Duda unwisely grabbed a pawn.
That briefly added to the noise, with a four-way tie for first, but it cleanly broke into a two-way tie after Carlsen beat and Bortnyk while Xu defeated GM Jeffery Xiong in the very back-and-forth game below.
While Carlsen and Xu made their draw in the final round, Arjun, Duda, and GM Fabiano Caruana all had a chance to join them on 9.5 points. Caruana only managed a draw after 73 moves with Nakamura, well after Arjun had won against Duda in an opposite-side castling affair.
March 19 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | TB1 | TB2 |
| 1 | 1 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3263 | 9.5 | 76 | 80.5 | |
| 2 | 39 | GM | @xxysoul6 | Xu Xiangyu | 3012 | 9.5 | 76 | 80 | |
| 3 | 20 | GM | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3072 | 9.5 | 65.5 | 67.5 | |
| 4 | 11 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3095 | 9 | 78 | 84 | |
| 5 | 10 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3105 | 9 | 73 | 77 | |
| 6 | 41 | GM | @Harsha_Bharathakoti | Harsha Bharathakoti | 2973 | 9 | 71.5 | 74.5 | |
| 7 | 12 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3096 | 9 | 68 | 69 | |
| 8 | 15 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3070 | 9 | 65 | 66 | |
| 9 | 23 | GM | @Sanan_Sjugirov | Sanan Sjugirov | 3028 | 9 | 62.5 | 64.5 | |
| 10 | 13 | GM | @SpeedofLight0 | Andrew Hong | 3073 | 9 | 59.5 | 60.5 | |
| 11 | 6 | GM | @Polish_fighter3000 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 3137 | 8.5 | 81 | 83 | |
| 12 | 18 | GM | @mitrabhaa | Mitrabha Guha | 3104 | 8.5 | 72 | 77 | |
| 13 | 32 | GM | @GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2982 | 8.5 | 66 | 70.5 | |
| 14 | 16 | GM | @Grischuk | Alexander Grischuk | 3050 | 8.5 | 64.5 | 65.5 | |
| 15 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3259 | 8.5 | 60.5 | 64 | |
| 16 | 3 | GM | @DanielNaroditsky | Daniel Naroditsky | 3142 | 8 | 77.5 | 79.5 | |
| 17 | 37 | GM | @platy3 | Alan Pichot | 2974 | 8 | 77 | 79 | |
| 18 | 46 | GM | @Sargsyan_Shant | Shant Sargsyan | 2951 | 8 | 73 | 78 | |
| 19 | 55 | GM | @KuzubovYuriy | Yuriy Kuzubov | 2907 | 8 | 69.5 | 70.5 | |
| 20 | 25 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 3031 | 8 | 69 | 71 | |
| 76 | 177 | GM | @Goryachkina | Aleksandra Goryachkina | 2680 | 7 | 56.5 | 59 |
(Full final standings here.)
Carlsen won $1,000, Xu $750, and Arjun $350 at the top. Bortnyk’s second-straight fourth-place finish earned him another $200, and $400 in total. The $100 prizes went to Xiong in fifth and GM Aleksandra Goryachkina taking the women’s prize on seven points.
Titled Cup Standings
Nakamura retains his lead while Goryachkina pulled ahead of IM Karina Ambartsumova in the women’s standings. All other leaders from last week remain in the top spot.
Open
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Hikaru | 183.5 | GM Hikaru Nakamura |
| 2 | @Polish_fighter3000 | 174.5 | GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda |
| 3 | @mishanick | 173.5 | GM Alexey Sarana |
| 4 | @Jospem | 170.0 | GM Jose Martinez |
| 5 | @FairChess_on_YouTube | 167.0 | GM Dmitry Andreikin |
Women
| # | Username | Score | Player |
| 1 | @Goryachkina | 132.0 | GM Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 1 | @karinachess1 | 126.0 | IM Karina Ambartsumova |
| 3 | @ChessQueen | 79.5 | GM Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 4 | @Fh2411 | 75.0 | IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham |
| 5 | @Sanyura | 73.5 | IM Aleksandra Maltsevskaya |
| 5 | @Lady_Nika | 73.5 | WCM Veronika Shubenkova |
Other Category Leaders
Juniors: CM Artem Bardyk (135.0 points)
Seniors: GM Gata Kamsky (143.5 points)
Girls: WCM Veronika Shubenkova (73.5 points)
The new 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).
