1941 games were played at Titled Tuesday on May 26, with 48.7% win rate for White. The Sicilian Defense and its variations were played most often, in 165 games. White won the most, 74%, when Black chose the Horwitz Defense in the Queen’s Pawn game.

Opening Games White %
Zukertort (A05) 33 54.5%
Indian Defense: Knights Variation (A46) 26 46.2%
English Opening: Agincourt (A13) 25 60%
Zukertort (A06) 23 52.2%
Queen’s Pawn Game (A40) 20 85%
Opening Games Black %
Sicilian Defense: Modern (B54) 75 41.3%
Sicilian Defense: Closed (B23) 41 43.9%
King’s Indian Defense (E70) 34 41.2%
Queen’s Gambit Declined (D30) 32 40.6%
Pirc Defense (B00) 30 43.3%

The Sicilian Defense is the most popular and aggressive response to White’s ‘e4’. The idea of the opening is to push the side pawn to ‘c5’ to fight for the center from the first move. The opening is used at all levels, from beginners to Top GMs.

Jose Martines won the May 26 Titled Tuesday. The event is a weekly 11-round Swiss system tournament hosted by Chess.com for titled players every Tuesday. This event is part of the Grand Prix 2025-2026 - Spring Split. The Titled Tuesday prize pool will increase from $3,000 to $10,000 on June 2.

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