Caruana heads strong Sinquefield Cup line-up
GM Fabiano Caruana, the top seed, would be looking forward to the Sinquefield Cup aiming to change the course from his form slide over the past two weeks. Fabi’s games at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz hasn’t gone his way. The two day Blitz saw the former World Championship Challenger struggling to compile a 7.5/18 score leaving him wee bit frustrated. The Fabi that we have seen for long is capable of casting away the burden of a low key performance.
Grand Chess Tour’s Sinquefield Cup runs from 18th to 28th August, 2025 at the University Club Tower, Richmond Heights, Missouri, USA. This prestigious event carries a prize fund of $350,000 along with GCT circuit points leading up-to the year end GCT grand finals starting at Sao Paulo from 28th September, 2025.
“I stopped being able to play chess, the last two days,” said Caruana adding with frustration,”You know, my childhood coach was recently inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame, Bruce Pandolfini. I think I should be inducted into the US Chess Hall of Shame!” Fabi’s the one who shook the world with a sensational 7-0 start in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup and would now need to re-discover himself this time around.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju will be looking forward to clinching his first classical title in 2025 at the Sinquefield Cup. Following Gukesh closely will be fellow Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu who has had a fine run this year. Pragg won the TATA Steel Wijk aan Zee in February and followed it up winning the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Chess Classic Romania and UzChess Cup Masters in Tashkent. With three big titles this year Pragg would love to add Sinquefield Cup to his conquests. Both the Indian stars will be looking forward to etch their names in the winner’s trophy.
Stiff challenge could well be expected from past winners’ viz., top seed Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja respectively. The well spread field has nine Grand Chess Tour regulars viz., Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Jan-Krzysztof Duda, with wild card American Sam Sevian completing the line-up. It’s a close race for the year end GCT finals and the top four in the GCT standings would make it to Sao Paulo. In view of the current GCT standings, World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju would need to win here to make it to Brazil.
GCT standings (after Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz): 1. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 28, 2. Levon Aronian 23.50, 3. Alireza Firouzja 22.50, 4. Fabiano Caruana 20.50, 5. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 20.0, 6. Wesley So 19.50, 7. Nodirbek Abdusattorov 18.0, 8. Gukesh Dommaraju 16.0, 9. Jan-Krzysztof Duda 11.0 points.
Pictures courtesy: TATA Steel Chess 2025
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