The 2025 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament kicked off on Monday, marking the fourth leg of the Grand Chess Tour. The prestigious Rex Sinquefield Cup will follow immediately after this event.
The tournament is being played in its traditional format, with two separate events — a rapid chess competition and a double round-robin blitz. Rapid results count double. The combined points from both events will determine the overall champion.
Star-Studded Field with Gukesh in Spotlight
Ten players are competing in this year’s event. Among them is the reigning classical world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju.
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Gukesh entered the tournament shortly after a short blitz match in Katowice, where he lost 1–5 to Polish star Jan-Krzysztof Duda. This time, Duda is not competing, giving the Indian champion a chance to bounce back on the Grand Chess Tour stage.
Rapid Chess Action Begins
The first three days are dedicated to rapid chess, with three rounds played daily. Each win in the rapid section is worth two points.
Levon Aronian made a dream start. He won all three games on day one, defeating Gukesh in round one, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in round two, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in round three.
His win against Abdusattorov came from a defensive position in a Scotch Game. Aronian began with the initiative, sacrificing a pawn to gain a dominant position. Abdusattorov equalised after a series of exchanges and entered a complex rook ending with a material advantage. The conversion, however, proved challenging, and Aronian ultimately prevailed.
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After losing to Aronian in the opening round, Gukesh bounced back strongly. In round two, he delivered a fine queen sacrifice to defeat Grigoriy Oparin.
The momentum continued in round three as he beat Le Quang Liem. These back-to-back victories pushed him into joint third place by the end of day one.
Standings After Day One
With three wins and a perfect score of 6/6, Aronian leads the tournament. Fabiano Caruana is close behind with 5/6 after a solid performance. Gukesh and Wesley So share third place with 4/6 each.
The rapid section will continue for two more days before the blitz portion begins. Players will then compete in a double round-robin blitz event, with each win worth one point. The overall standings will combine results from both formats.
Particularly during the blitz rounds, the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is renowned for causing dramatic fluctuations in the ranking. Fans should anticipate a fierce fight for the title in the coming days, with Aronian in fine form, Caruana pursuing closely, and Gukesh regaining his pace.
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