Denis Lazavik wins first Titled Tuesday chess tournament with weekly fund of $10K

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The latest edition of the Titled Tuesday series was held on June 2, 2026, with Denis Lazavik emerging as the champion.

Organized by Chess.com, this series features some of the world's top titled players competing in weekly blitz tournaments. As almost all the globe’s top online blitz players compete regularly in Titled Tuesday tournaments, their livestreaming coverage attracts some of the top chess influencers.

What happened at the Titled Tuesday on June 2, 2026?

A field of more than 500 players competed here, with GM Denis Lazavik earning the first-place prize with a 10/11 performance. It was the 12th victory in his Titled Tuesday career, but the first of 2026. Seven players took part in tiebreaks to sort out second place, with GM Alexey Sarana leading the pack after defeating GM Arjun Erigaisi in the final round.

  Basic viewership stats and top channels from the Titled Tuesday on June 2, 2026   

The event received quite a bit of coverage thanks to an increased prize pool that led to participation rising by 20% from the previous week. Star chess content creator Anna Cramling was the most-watched and the most popular community streamer, with German GM, analyst and trainer  Jan "janistantv" Gustafsson also figuring in the top three of both lists.

Belarusian Grandmaster, streamer and coach Sergei Zhigalko deserves special mention as he multistreamed the June 2 Titled Tuesday. Put together, his Twitch and YouTube broadcasts overtook janistantv by watch time.

Titled Tuesday series viewership history

  Most popular editions of the Titled Tuesday series   

Livestreaming performances are not the most important aspect of this long-running chess series. It is the exposure to intense competition and qualification for global events that take precedence. As a result, these tournaments usually attract a few thousand viewers at their peak, depending on which players are in action.

What is the Titled Tuesday series?

Titled Tuesday is Chess.com's longest-running and strongest weekly blitz tournament for titled players. The Titled Tuesday Grand Prix is a leaderboard competition for Titled Tuesday that serves as the qualification path for the Esports World Cup.

Since 2025, Titled Tuesday has been part of the prestigious Esports World Cup cycle through the Champions Chess Tour. All slots for this French multi-disciplinary spectacle were confirmed before the June 2, 2026, competition.

2026 winners

However, the June 2, 2026, competition was historic as it started a new era where these events will feature a weekly $10,000 prize fund, bringing its yearly total to more than $500,000, over three times the current purse. Among the additions to the prizes are nearly as much money for first place ($2,500) as the entire previous fund ($3,000).

There's also a jackpot for a perfect 11/11 that rolls over to the next week whenever there's no 100% score. GM Hikaru Nakamura has won the most Titled Tuesday events since October 20, 2020, with 93 total victories, while GM Magnus Carlsen has the second-most with 45.