GM Nodirbek Yakubboev won his first Freestyle Friday on April 24, going undefeated to win outright with 10/11 points. The result nearly doubled his total in the Freestyle Friday Championship, moving him into fourth place on the leaderboard behind GMs Pranav Venkatesh, Oleksandr Bortnyk, and IM Renato Terry. Pranav finished second this week to jump ahead of Bortnyk into first place.
After the first four rounds, only three perfect players remained: Yakubboev, GM Hans Niemann, and GM Jeffery Xiong. Yakubboev took out Niemann and Xiong bumped Pranav down to 3.5/5. In the 5/5 battle, Yakubboev ended up ahead four pawns to three in a rook ending. Each player gave the other winning chances, but neither took advantage and the game fizzled to a draw.
They still remained the only two co-leaders on 5.5/6, with Yakubboev facing GM Alexander Grischuk and the 20-something Americans Xiong and Niemann also battling in round seven. By move seven, Grischuk was already below a minute on the clock, and with a suspect position. Yakubboev’s 17.d6! was game over, and his eventual win earned him the sole lead, with Niemann beating Xiong earlier in the round.
Niemann and IM Eray Kilic were half a point back, and Kilic was Yakubboev’s eighth-round opponent, while Niemann faced Bortnyk. Yakubboev ran to 7.5/8 and Niemann kept pace entering the second break.
With the players at the top having already met, round nine saw Yakubboev vs. GM Jose Martinez and Niemann vs. Grischuk. Both their opponents had 6/8; the two players on 6.5/8, Pranav and Xiong, faced Kilic and GM Edgar Mamedov. Yakubboev, Niemann, and Pranav all had White and all won, while Xiong only drew, leaving a top four with no ties: Yakubboev 8.5, Niemann 8, Pranav 7.5, Xiong 7, and four players on 6.5 points.
The leaders next all had Black in the 10th round: Yakubboev against GM Fabiano Caruana, Niemann against GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov, and Pranav versus GM Arseniy Nesterov. All three games took a while to get going, but Niemann broke through against Tsydypov, catching up when Yakubboev and Caruana repeated. Pranav then won his pawn ending, moving to within half a point of the lead.
And so, it came down to the final round matchups: Yakubboev-Tsydypov, Niemann-Caruana, and Pranav vs. IM Sergey Sklokin. Once again, there were no instant knockouts at the top, and tension built until Tsydypov’s pawn break attempt, 33…e5. It was just a huge blunder, losing a full piece tactically, and he soon resigned. Yakubboev moved to 10/11, eliminating Pranav, who was in trouble in his game too.
About the same time, Niemann drifted into a troublesome endgame against Caruana. Both players were under 20 seconds, then both under 10, the result wasn’t guaranteed, but Caruana eventually secured his spoiler role. At the same time, Pranav had recovered and won, moving into second place. Niemann was still able to finish third, with Mamedov fourth, and GM Anna Muzychuk leading the women.
| Rank | Seed | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | 1st Tiebreak |
| 1 | 9 | GM | @aquarium76 | Nodirbek Yakubboev | 2747 | 10 | 69.5 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | @vi_pranav | Pranav V | 2809 | 9.5 | 63.5 | |
| 3 | 1 | GM | @HansOnTwitch | Hans Niemann | 2848 | 9 | 69.5 | |
| 4 | 33 | GM | @Eagle_2019 | Edgar Mamedov | 2514 | 8.5 | 60 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | @jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 2775 | 8 | 71.5 | |
| 6 | 5 | GM | @FabianoCaruana | Fabiano Caruana | 2734 | 8 | 55.5 | |
| 7 | 12 | IM | @FaustinoOro | Faustino Oro | 2662 | 7.5 | 64.5 | |
| 8 | 18 | IM | @DonkyDonkyDonkey | Eray Kilic | 2634 | 7 | 71 | |
| 9 | 19 | IM | @scarabee43 | Marco Materia | 2606 | 7 | 71 | |
| 10 | 13 | GM | @Grischuk | Alexander Grischuk | 2667 | 7 | 70.5 | |
| 11 | 10 | GM | @Arseniy_Nesterov | Arseniy Nesterov | 2679 | 7 | 64 | |
| 12 | 21 | IM | @Turboplombir | Sergey Sklokin | 2594 | 7 | 62.5 | |
| 13 | 14 | GM | @Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2640 | 7 | 61 | |
| 14 | 68 | NM | @Mikhal867 | Vladimir Mikhalsky | 2288 | 7 | 51.5 | |
| 15 | 7 | GM | @Zhuu96 | Zhamsaran Tsydypov | 2695 | 6.5 | 63.5 | |
| 16 | 39 | GM | @Anna_Muzychuk | Anna Muzychuk | 2413 | 6.5 | 60.5 | |
| 17 | 22 | IM | @SahibSinghKnight | Sahib Singh | 2554 | 6.5 | 58.5 | |
| 18 | 44 | FM | @anasta10 | Anastasia Avramidou | 2421 | 6.5 | 57.5 | |
| 19 | 30 | FM | @ramitalab | Rami Talab | 2451 | 6.5 | 54.5 | |
| 20 | 62 | IM | @Natalya_Buksa | Nataliya Buksa | 2279 | 6.5 | 52.5 | |
| 21 | 75 | CM | @Cheer_Down | Viktor Parfenov | 2231 | 6.5 | 52 | |
| 22 | 49 | GM | @Iskusnyh | Sergei Iskusnyh | 2361 | 6.5 | 48 | |
| 23 | 32 | GM | @alexrustemov | Alexander Rustemov | 2440 | 6 | 64 | |
| 24 | 34 | GM | @Sereiaza | Sergei Azarov | 2470 | 6 | 63.5 | |
| 25 | 41 | FM | @RoseAtwell | Rose Atwell | 2382 | 6 | 59.5 |
(Full final standings.)
Prizes: Yakubboev $400, Pranav $250, Niemann $150, Mamedov $100, Muzychuk $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.
