Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Quang Liem (Blitz 3160 chess.com/2662 FIDE) secured victory in today’s Early Titled Tuesday Blitz tournament, outpacing a star-studded field of 675 titled players. Le finished with an impressive 10/11 points, edging out GM Hikaru Nakamura (3318) who claimed second place with 9.5/11.

The fifth-round encounter between tournament leaders Le and Nakamura ended in a draw, keeping both players in contention, though Nakamura’s half-point slip against GM Volodar Murzin in round 2 would ultimately prove costly in the final standings. GM Harikrishna Pentala secured third place with 9.0/11, recovering strongly from a sixth-round defeat to finish with three wins and a draw in his final four games. His impressive 76.0 tiebreak score placed him ahead of several competitors also finishing with 9 points.

The Late Titled Tuesday tournament will commence later today at 9:00 PM UTC, offering another opportunity for titled players worldwide. Next week’s Titled Tuesday events are scheduled for April 8, with the early event starting at 3:00 PM UTC and the late event at its usual time. https://www.chess.com/tournament/live/titled-tuesdays