Gukesh to face Caruana, Aronian, MVL, Abdusattorov, Leinier, Liem and co. at Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2025
The fourth event of the Grand Chess Tour 2025 season is Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. The defending champion, Alireza Firouzja (FRA) is not playing this year as he has already played the required two Rapid and Blitz events of the season. Therefore, a new champion is guaranteed to be crowned. The current World Champion, D Gukesh will be seen in action along with Fabiano Caruana (USA), Levon Aronian (USA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB), Leinier Dominguez-Perez (USA), Wesley So (USA), Liem Quang Le (VIE), Grigoriy Oparin (USA) and Sam Shankland (USA). The tournament takes place at Richmond Heights in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. Aronian, Oparin and Liem are Gukesh's first three opponents. Three rounds will be played today. Round 1 starts at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Grand Chess Tour
Aronian, Oparin and Liem are Gukesh's first three opponents
Schedule and Format
Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz will have three rounds per day in the Rapid portion from 11th to 13th August. The Blitz event will take place on 14th and 15th August. It will be a double round-robin event for the Blitz which means nine rounds will be played on each day. Round 1 starts at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control for Rapid will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. For Blitz, it will be 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment.
Participants
The lineup includes the World no.3 - Fabiano Caruana, current World Champion and World no.6 - D Gukesh, World Rapid 2021 champion and World no.7 - Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Former World Fischer Random champion and World no.12 - Wesley So, World Blitz 2008 champion and World no.15 - Leinier Dominguez Perez, the only two-time World Cup winner in history and World no.16 - Levon Aronian, World Blitz 2021 champion and World no.18 - Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, World Blitz 2013 champion and World no.22 - Liem Quang Le, World no.54 and USA no.10 - Sam Shankland, and World no.64 and USA no.11 - Grigoriy Oparin.
Rapid Round 1 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2705 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | GM | Shankland, Sam | 2621 | 10 | ||
| 2 | 2 | 2704 | GM | So, Wesley | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2721 | 9 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 2750 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2725 | 8 | ||
| 4 | 4 | 2732 | GM | Aronian, Levon | GM | Gukesh, D | 2687 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 2634 | GM | Oparin, Grigoriy | GM | Le, Quang Liem | 2655 | 6 |
Photo Gallery
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GCT standings
Prize
The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 175000. The top three prizes are $40000, $30000 and $25000.
