At Titled Tuesday on May 13, GM Magnus Carlsen tied for first place in both events, winning the first one on tiebreaks before GM Hans Niemann took home the second tournament. GM Hikaru Nakamura, meanwhile, broke one of his own (and Chess.com’s) records by achieving a 3408 Chess.com Blitz rating, after starting 7/7 in the early tournament.
HIKARU BREAKS THE RECORD AGAIN! 📈
In the middle of his Titled Tuesday run, @GMHikaru has officially hit the highest Blitz rating in https://t.co/EufIHvdgvi‘s history at a staggering 3408! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/LeTKrg7UMs
— Chess.com (@chesscom) May 13, 2025
For Carlsen, it was his seventh Titled Tuesday win of the year and his fifth in the last seven weeks. For Niemann, it was his second of the year, both coming in the last three weeks.
The calendar also continues to run down for qualification into the 2025 Speed Chess Championships, with just two weeks remaining in the Titled Tuesday Grand Prix. While Carlsen and Nakamura are already locked in, Niemann’s victory this week helped his cause more than any other hopeful.
Early Tournament
More players, 651, joined than had since April 1, and with Nakamura’s perfect start fueling his record rating, it seemed like no one might stop him. The win that put him at 3408, jumping his previous best of 3405, came against GM Mahammad Muradli.
But in round eight, Nakamura had to face Carlsen, who, to that point, had made a draw in round one but won every other game. After a goofy opening from both players (two novices could have played the first three moves about as well!) Carlsen bore down more effectively. His victory moved him into a tie for first, passing Nakamura, and improving his record to +77 =84 -59 when the two best blitz players on the planet face each other with their Chess.com accounts.
Carlsen would be held to draws in the next two rounds, which helped to create a seven-way tie for first place with just one set of games to go. Carlsen’s own opponent would be GM Pranav Venkatesh, and a pretty much pristine performance from the Norwegian followed.
Also winning were GMs Dmitry Andreikin and Parham Maghsoodloo, who defeated IM Rud Makarian and Nakamura, respectively. Andreikin, who until Carlsen started playing regularly was the second-most successful Titled Tuesday player after Nakamura, won his last four games and took second place on the tiebreaks.
In fourth and fifth, on nine points, were GMs Aleksandr Shimanov and Jeffery Xiong, while FM Anastasia Avramidou won the women’s prize.
May 13 Titled Tuesday | Early | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3265 | 9.5 | 73 | |
| 2 | 5 | GM | @FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3153 | 9.5 | 71 | |
| 3 | 7 | GM | @Parhamov | Parham Maghsoodloo | 3159 | 9.5 | 64 | |
| 4 | 38 | GM | @shimastream | Aleksandr Shimanov | 3053 | 9 | 75.5 | |
| 5 | 22 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3083 | 9 | 69 | |
| 6 | 9 | GM | @LiemLe | Liem Le | 3123 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 7 | 14 | GM | @gurelediz | Ediz Gürel | 3101 | 9 | 65.5 | |
| 8 | 21 | IM | @MITerryble | Renato Terry | 3075 | 8.5 | 76.5 | |
| 9 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3400 | 8.5 | 76 | |
| 10 | 48 | IM | @DonkyDonkyDonkey | Eray Kilic | 2988 | 8.5 | 73 | |
| 11 | 13 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3116 | 8.5 | 72.5 | |
| 12 | 51 | GM | @SantoBlue | Vahap Sanal | 2973 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 13 | 23 | GM | @Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 3077 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 14 | 29 | IM | @Rud_Makarian | Rudik Makarian | 3032 | 8.5 | 72 | |
| 15 | 12 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3132 | 8.5 | 71.5 | |
| 16 | 53 | GM | @AlexeiShirov | Alexei Shirov | 2966 | 8.5 | 70.5 | |
| 17 | 18 | GM | @ChessLover0108 | Mahammad Muradli | 3087 | 8.5 | 70.5 | |
| 18 | 36 | GM | @LastGladiator1 | Aydin Suleymanli | 3027 | 8.5 | 68 | |
| 19 | 4 | GM | @Dr_Tyger | Haowen Xue | 3153 | 8.5 | 65 | |
| 20 | 30 | GM | @Andreikka | Andrey Esipenko | 3044 | 8 | 72.5 | |
| 74 | 151 | FM | @anasta10 | Anastasia Avramidou | 2748 | 7 | 58.5 |
Prizes: Carlsen $1,000, Andreikin $750, Maghsoodloo $350, Shimanov $200, Xiong $100, Ambartsumova $100.
Late Tournament
The late tournament, with 455 players, mirrored the first in having three players tie on 9.5 points. This time, two players started on 7/7, Carlsen and Xiong, but they would only win a combined one more game in the last four rounds.
That one win was Carlsen’s ninth-round performance, which put him into sole first place with two rounds left. The opponent? Nakamura again, as Carlsen earned win #78 out of a polar opposite opening from before: the Exchange French, not a Grob.
Carlsen has swept Titled Tuesday once before, back on November 7, 2023, but it was not to be today after he could only make draws in his last two games. The first of these came in one of everyone’s—well, almost everyone’s—favorite matchups. The Carlsen–Niemann game ended in repetition after 58 moves, which kept Niemann within half a point of Carlsen, while surprise contender GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov (albeit rated 3100+ on Chess.com blitz) tied Carlsen.
Carlsen’s last draw indeed came against Tsydypov, and Niemann took advantage by beating Nakamura with Black in just 26 moves after his marauding pawns trapped White’s rook.
As happened in his last tournament win, Niemann settled at 9.5 points, but this time he needed the tiebreak scoring, which complied. Carlsen, with his late draws, settled for third. GMs Shant Sargsyan and Denis Lazavik rounded out the top five, with IM Polina Shuvalova winning the women’s prize.
Hans Niemann won the late #TitledTuesday! pic.twitter.com/i6GCOdZFDI
— chess24 (@chess24com) May 14, 2025
May 13 Titled Tuesday | Late | Final Standings (Top 25)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 4 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 3223 | 9.5 | 77 | |
| 2 | 18 | GM | @Zhuu96 | Zhamsaran Tsydypov | 3114 | 9.5 | 74 | |
| 3 | 2 | GM | @MagnusCarlsen | Magnus Carlsen | 3285 | 9.5 | 72.5 | |
| 4 | 13 | GM | @Sargsyan_Shant | Shant Sargsyan | 3120 | 9 | 71 | |
| 5 | 6 | GM | @DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 3180 | 9 | 69 | |
| 6 | 32 | IM | @Kacparov | Kacper Drozdowski | 3034 | 9 | 66.5 | |
| 7 | 17 | GM | @Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3081 | 8.5 | 69 | |
| 8 | 3 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 3201 | 8.5 | 68 | |
| 9 | 67 | GM | @VojtechPlat | Vojtěch Plát | 2911 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 10 | 8 | GM | @mishanick | Aleksei Sarana | 3133 | 8.5 | 67.5 | |
| 11 | 15 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3109 | 8 | 78.5 | |
| 12 | 14 | GM | @Jospem | Jose Martinez | 3106 | 8 | 76.5 | |
| 13 | 1 | GM | @Hikaru | Hikaru Nakamura | 3380 | 8 | 73 | |
| 14 | 10 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 3124 | 8 | 72 | |
| 15 | 40 | GM | @vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2972 | 8 | 69.5 | |
| 16 | 12 | GM | @lachesisQ | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 3112 | 8 | 67.5 | |
| 17 | 58 | FM | @bubeliang | Havard Haug | 2927 | 8 | 66 | |
| 18 | 77 | FM | @Iball95 | Igor L. Vakhlamov | 2872 | 8 | 62.5 | |
| 19 | 53 | GM | @SavelijTartakover | Dmitry Kryakvin | 2927 | 8 | 61.5 | |
| 20 | 22 | GM | @Anton_Demchenko | Anton Demchenko | 3008 | 8 | 59 | |
| 21 | 25 | IM | @Seochesspie | Seo Jungmin | 3008 | 8 | 57 | |
| 22 | 48 | FM | @TanitoluwaAps116 | Tanitoluwa Adewumi | 2931 | 8 | 55 | |
| 23 | 70 | GM | @GMKrikor | Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian | 2877 | 8 | 52 | |
| 24 | 68 | IM | @reevecanada | Aaron Mendes | 2908 | 7.5 | 72 | |
| 25 | 27 | FM | @Bauman_Guy | Konstantin Popov | 2994 | 7.5 | 65.5 | |
| 48 | 74 | IM | @Flawless_Fighter | Polina Shuvalova | 2815 | 7 | 57 |
Prizes: Niemann $1,000, Tsydypov $750, Carlsen $350 (daily total: $1,350), Sargsyan $200, Lazavik $100, Shuvalova $100.
Grand Prix Standings
With four tournaments left, the Speed Chess Championship fields are really coming into view. The top eight in the open qualifier remained the same, with some notable differences: Niemann moved up to sixth, and there are currently no tiebreaks separating eighth and ninth place: GM Oleksandr Bortnyk and GM Minh Le are half a point out of eighth, and Maghsoodloo and GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda a full point out.
| Rk | Username | Score | Title | Name |
| 1 | @MagnusCarlsen | 98.5 | GM | Magnus Carlsen |
| 2 | @Hikaru | 95.0 | GM | Hikaru Nakamura |
| 3 | @DenLaz | 92.5 | GM | Denis Lazavik |
| 4 | @LiemLe | 92.5 | GM | Liem Le |
| 5 | @Jospem | 92.0 | GM | Jose Martinez |
| 6 | @HansOnTwitch | 92.0 | GM | Hans Niemann |
| 7 | @Msb2 | 91.5 | GM | Matthias Bluebaum |
| 8 | @GHANDEEVAM2003 | 91.5 | GM | Arjun Erigaisi |
For the Women’s Speed Chess Championship, there was a change, with Avramidou joining the top eight, replacing IM Le Thao Nguyen Pham. However, Le is only missing at the moment because of tiebreaks, so she still has a very realistic shot at qualifying.
| Rk | Username | Score | Title | Name |
| 1 | @ChessQueen | 74.0 | GM | Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 2 | @Flawless_Fighter | 72.5 | IM | Polina Shuvalova |
| 3 | @karinachess1 | 70.5 | IM | Karina Ambartsumova |
| 4 | @Goryachkina | 69.5 | GM | Aleksandra Goryachkina |
| 5 | @Meri-Arabidze | 68.5 | IM | Meri Arabidze |
| 6 | @Sanyura | 67.5 | WGM | Aleksandra Maltsevskaya |
| 7 | @jinbojinbo | 66.5 | GM | Jiner Zhu |
| 8 | @Fh2411 | 66.5 | IM | Le Thao Nguyen Pham |
Seniors (born 1975 or earlier), juniors (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. The current leaders are:
Seniors: GM Alexei Shirov (@AlexeiShirov), 83.5 points
Youth: GM Andy Woodward (@Philippians46), 86.5 points
Girls: WFM Kalyani Sirin (@rollercoaster29), 64.0 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).
