Nakamura Wins Freestyle Friday Despite Chaotic Last Round

NathanielGreen

Updated: Apr 11, 2025, 10:55 AM | 6 | Chess Event Coverage

GM Hikaru Nakamura took home his first Freestyle Friday on March 28, scoring nine points and winning on tiebreaks against four other players on the same score: GMs Alexey Sarana, Jose Martinez, Jeffery Xiong, and Christopher Yoo. It was the third tiebreak score that separated Nakamura and Sarana, after Nakamura and Martinez had both led the tournament on 9/10 with a round to go, but both lost to create the big tie.

The latter two players did not face each other in the last round because they had already played in the eighth. Nakamura, who had lost back in round three, defeated Martinez, who had begun a perfect 7/7, to move into a share for first.

Six players now shared the lead with three rounds to go, but it seemed things would clarify into a single winner after Nakamura won in rounds nine and 10 and then built a strong position in round 11 against Sarana, while Martinez lost relatively quickly (25 moves) to Yoo.

However, in the space of just a couple moves (the 34th and 35th), it was Sarana who would come out with the W.

Sarana passed Martinez on tiebreaks and nearly usurped Nakamura as well. Their first tiebreak was an equal 76 and the second an equal 77, but finally a half-point separated them on the third tiebreak.

And so below them was Martinez settling for third, despite some great games, like when he moved to 7/7 with an 18-move win against GM Hans Niemann, even with a trade of queens on move five.

But, like Nakamura, Martinez would fall in the final round. And for what—Yoo, who beat him, only finished in an unpaid fifth place. Instead, Xiong finished fourth after defeating GM Aravindh Chithambaram. The women's prize went to 22nd-place IM Karina Ambartsumova, her second prize in a row and third in four weeks.

March 28 Freestyle Friday | Final Standings (Top 25)

Number	Rk	Fed	Title	Username	Name	Rating	Score	Tiebreak
1	1		GM	@Hikaru	Hikaru Nakamura	2865	9	76
2	7		GM	@mishanick	Aleksei Sarana	2749	9	76
3	16		GM	@Jospem	Jose Martinez	2597	9	74.5
4	9		GM	@jefferyx	Jeffery Xiong	2654	9	72.5
5	18		GM	@ChristopherYoo	Christopher Woojin Yoo	2567	9	65
6	6		GM	@DenLaz	Denis Lazavik	2740	8.5	74
7	13		IM	@Rud_Makarian	Rudik Makarian	2598	8.5	67.5
8	48		GM	@Vaathi_Coming	Aravindh Chithambaram	2353	8	72.5
9	19		GM	@dropstoneDP	David Paravyan	2531	8	72
10	151		GM	@Cayse	Martyn Kravtsiv	1776	8	68.5
11	41		GM	@moro182	Luca Moroni Jr	2391	8	67.5
12	50		GM	@Gareth-Bale11	Mamikon Gharibyan	2277	8	61
13	20		GM	@Annawel	Jules Moussard	2497	8	60.5
14	38		GM	@Sam_ChessMood	Samvel Ter-Sahakyan	2404	8	58.5
15	206		GM	@howitzer14	David Howell	1609	7.5	67
16	25		GM	@Msb2	Matthias Bluebaum	2489	7.5	65
17	47		GM	@Durarbayli	Vasif Durarbayli	2277	7.5	62.5
18	14		IM	@MITerryble	Renato Terry	2558	7.5	62
19	65		GM	@Aygehovit1992	Nikita Matinian	2159	7.5	62
20	24		IM	@NodariousBIG	Nodar Lortkipanidze	2468	7.5	61.5
21	26		GM	@rasmussvane	Rasmus Svane	2469	7.5	60
22	75		IM	@karinachess1	Karina Ambartsumova	2047	7.5	53
23	5		GM	@Oleksandr_Bortnyk	Oleksandr Bortnyk	2714	7	66.5
24	105		FM	@SahibSinghKnight	Sahib Singh	1881	7	65
25	73		FM	@puz2010	Semyon Puzyrevsky	2100	7	65

(Full final standings.)

Prizes: Nakamura $400, Sarana $250, Martinez $150, Xiong $100, Ambartsumova $100.

Freestyle Friday is Chess.com's weekly tournament dedicated to Freestyle Chess for titled players. The tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time/17:00 Central European/20:30 Indian Standard Time.

Nathaniel Green

Nathaniel Green is a staff writer for Chess.com who writes articles, player biographies, Titled Tuesday reports, video scripts, and more. He has been playing chess for about 30 years and resides near Washington, DC, USA.

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