GM Hikaru Nakamura played the GOAT Horns Variation, referencing a recent advertisement featuring soccer star Lionel Messi, on his way to winning the first 3 0 Thursday tournament on October 22. GMs Fabiano Caruana and Parham Maghsoodloo won the second and third events, respectively. For both of them, it was a repeat of their tournament victories the prior week.

First Tournament: Nakamura's GOAT Horns Take First

Inspired by Messi's recent advertisement, Nakamura played the GOAT Horns Variation (1...a6 and 2...c6) in each of his black games throughout the first tournament. The offbeat opening served Nakamura well, as he scored 4.5/5 with the black pieces. He often recovered from somewhat dubious positions, like this critical 10th-round win against GM Oleksandr Bortnyk.

Nakamura also scored well with White. In the ninth round it just took one mistake from GM Maxim Matlakov for Nakamura's attack to break through.

Nakakmura's 9/10 score left him in clear first heading into the final round. However, he lost a tough game to GM Sina Movahed, which could have cost him first place. Yet fortune favored Nakamura, as Maghsoodloo, the only player who could surpass him, lost to GM Jeffery Xiong. The tournament finished with a four-way tie for first. Nakamura won the tournament thanks to the best tiebreak score, followed by GM Sergei Zhigalko, Bortnyk, and Xiong. IM Meri Arabidze took the women's prize with 6.5 points. The victory wrapped up a successful week for Nakamura, who also won Bullet Brawl and Titled Tuesday.

Second Tournament: Caruana's Consolation Prize

Caruana missed the first 3 0 Thursday tournament because he was playing a playoff for the U.S. Championship. He lost that battle to GM Wesley So, but his fortunes turned around in the second 3 0 Thursday. He won his first five rounds, before dropping a point to GM Dmitry Andreikin. That result was only a blip, as he won his next four. In the ninth round he managed to win a drawn-looking rook endgame against Zhigalko.

In the tenth round Caruana showed his attacking prowess, winning a nice game in the Blumenfeld Gambit.

Caruana drew his final game to clinch clear first place with 9.5 points. Andreikin took second with 8.5, ahead of Matlakov on tiebreaks. WFM Anastasiia Hnatyshyn took the women's prize with six points.

Third Tournament: Maghsoodloo Takes 10th Title

Last week Maghsoodloo won two of the three 3 0 Thursday tournaments. He continued his run of success, winning the third event this week by a 1.5 point margin. Maghsoodloo didn't have a blistering start, dropping his third round game against FM Hamidreza Tahmasebi. However, he recovered well, winning his next two games before a sixth round draw. After that he went on an impressive run, winning his final five games.

Maghsoodloo took the clear lead in the 10th round, defeating GM Tuan Minh Le with the London System, one of his opponent's favorite openings.

In the final round, Maghsoodloo clinched first place with a dominant win against GM David Paravyan.

That victory brought Maghsoodloo to 9.5 points. GM Christopher Yoo took second with eight points, ahead of IM Renato Terry on tiebreaks. IM Karina Ambartsumova took the women's prize with seven points. It was her 22nd time winning the prize, extending her record lead. For Maghsoodloo, it was his 10th victory in 3 0 Thursday, making him just the third player to reach that level. He's still behind Terry's 18 victories and GM Jose Martinez's 15 titles, but he's been gaining ground in recent weeks and might have a shot at the record in the next year.