International Master Renato Terry secured victory in the February 27 edition of Freestyle Friday, scoring 9.5 out of 11 to claim the top prize. Grandmaster Oleksandr Bortnyk finished second with 8.5 points, maintaining his lead in the overall championship standings. Grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk took the women's prize for the second consecutive week.
The Freestyle Friday event, part of Chess.com's weekly tournament for titled players, took place on February 27 as the second week of the championship series. It began at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Renato Terry, an International Master, navigated the 11-round competition to finish with 9.5 points, earning $400. His only loss came in round six against FIDE Master Artin Ashraf, who briefly took the lead with a perfect 6/6 score. Terry rebounded strongly, tying for the lead after round eight at 7/8 and pulling ahead in round nine by defeating Candidate Master Maxim Borisov.
Oleksandr Bortnyk, the previous week's winner, started with three straight victories but trailed Terry entering the final rounds. In round nine, Bortnyk defeated Ashraf in just 19 moves with nearly 98% accuracy, tying for second. The pair drew in round ten when Terry repeated the position, keeping Terry a point ahead. Bortnyk secured sole second place in the final round by overcoming Grandmaster Mahdi Gholami Orimi after some early difficulties.
Other notable performances included Grandmaster Cristobal Henriquez, who won a complex endgame against Ashraf in the last round, and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, who beat Ashraf in round seven amid time pressure. Alexandra Kosteniuk claimed the women's prize again, leading the women's standings with 20 points, 12 ahead of Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk. Prizes went to Terry ($400), Bortnyk ($250), Ashraf ($150), Orimi ($100), and Kosteniuk ($100). In the championship leaderboard, Bortnyk holds 17 points, followed by Terry at 10 and Kosteniuk at 20 in the women's section.
