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Grand Chess Tour 2025: Gukesh finishes joint sixth at Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz

Grand Chess Tour 2025: Gukesh finishes joint sixth at Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz

The Hindu2 days ago
D. Gukesh finished joint sixth while Levon Aronian clinched the title at the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz event of the Grand Chess Tour on Friday.
Gukesh, the reigning world champion in classical chess, began the final day in emphatic fashion with three wins and a draw in the first four games of the blitz format. However, he could not maintain the same level as he suffered two defeats and played three draws to finish the tournament with 18 points and share the sixth place with Vietnam's Liem Le.
The top five comprised Aronian (24.5 points), Fabiano Caruana (21.5 points), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (21 points), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (20.5 points) and Wesley So (19 points).
After 18 rounds of blitz and three intense days of rapid chess, Levon Aronian claimed victory with an impressive 24.5 points, finishing three points ahead of the field.
Fabiano Caruana took second place with 21.5 points, followed closely by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on 21 points.… pic.twitter.com/AxHA7u46dk — Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour) August 15, 2025
Format
The 10-player event in Saint Louis was single round robin in the Rapid section, with two points for a win and one for a draw. After nine rounds, the Blitz section followed — a double round robin with one point for a win and 0.5 for a draw.
The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz was the fourth leg of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour and the final rapid-and-blitz event of the season.
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