Nakamura, Andreikin, and Chithambaram each won their respective 3+0 Thursday tournaments on Chess.com through tiebreak victories. The day belonged entirely to tiebreaks. Both the first and third events finished with five-way ties at the top, forcing the platform to rely on tiebreak scoring to crown champions.
Nakamura took the first tournament. Andreikin won the second. Chithambaram captured the third, all three posting superior tiebreak records compared to their tied opponents.
The 3+0 format, three minutes with no increment, rewards speed and intuition over deep preparation. Players in these events face relentless time pressure. The games themselves tend to be sharp and tactical. One miscalculation under the clock ends everything.
Five players finishing level in a single tournament tells you something about the field's strength. Multiple competitors played nearly identical chess throughout the day. The tiebreaks that determined winners often came down to head-to-head results or the cumulative scoring from games between the tied players.
This format remains popular with titled players who want quick classical-style play without the burden of lengthy think time. Chess.com's Thursday tournaments attract a consistent crowd of strong GMs grinding for rating points and the modest prize pools. Results like these, where tiebreaks determine three different champions, are not uncommon when the field plays at peak level.