GM Hikaru Nakamura secured his second consecutive Freestyle Friday championship with a commanding performance, winning outright with 10 points after claiming victory in his final six games. This decisive win comes just one week after his first Freestyle Friday triumph, which required tiebreaks to determine the champion.
Dominant Performance Secures Clear Victory
Unlike last week’s close finish, Nakamura’s path to victory this week was much more straightforward. Despite suffering his only loss in round five against GM Minh Le, Nakamura recovered impressively to win all his remaining games. GM Sam Sevian finished in clear second place with 9.5 points, while GM Minh Le secured third place with 9 points after tiebreaks over GM Ediz Gurel, who also scored 9 points. IM Karina Ambartsumova continued her impressive streak by winning her fourth women’s prize in five weeks.
Critical Moments in Tournament Play
Nakamura’s sole defeat came in the fifth round when Le effectively trapped Nakamura’s bishop behind a pawn. Le maintained a perfect score for one additional round before suffering back-to-back losses in rounds seven and eight. His first defeat came against Sevian, who needed just 19 moves to secure victory after capturing Le’s queen on move 12 and quickly finding a forced checkmate sequence.
For Sevian, a first-round draw meant he reached 6.5/7 before climbing to 7.5/8. The pivotal ninth round featured a showdown between the tournament’s eventual top two finishers. Though Sevian appeared to hold the advantage through much of their contest, a sudden momentum shift followed by a bizarre blunder from Nakamura nearly gave Sevian the win, but time pressure proved decisive as Sevian’s clock expired with just 1.4 seconds remaining.
Final Round Secures Championship
Both Nakamura and Sevian won their next two games, leaving the tournament outcome still uncertain entering the final round. However, Nakamura established an early advantage against GM Matthias Bluebaum and maintained control throughout, avoiding a repeat of the previous week’s scenario where he lost in the final round and needed tiebreaks to secure victory.
Final Standings
The final standings showed Nakamura on top with 10 points and a tiebreak score of 74.5. Sevian finished second with 9.5 points and a 67.5 tiebreak, while Le took third place with 9 points and a 75 tiebreak score, ahead of Gurel who also scored 9 points but had a lower tiebreak of 64.5.
IM Jakub Kosakowski rounded out the top five with 8.5 points and a 69.5 tiebreak score. IM Robert Piliposyan and GM Matthias Bluebaum also scored 8.5 points, finishing sixth and seventh respectively based on tiebreaks.
Growing Success of Freestyle Friday
This event continues to attract top talent, with numerous grandmasters participating. Nakamura’s consecutive victories establish him as the player to beat in this format, though the competitive field suggests future tournaments will continue to feature intense competition at the highest level.
While Nakamura needed several months to secure his first Freestyle Friday title, his quick follow-up victory demonstrates his exceptional adaptability and dominance in rapid chess formats. His performance was particularly impressive considering the tournament featured multiple 2600+ rated grandmasters, including top young talents like GM Christopher Yoo and established stars like GM David Navara.