Grand Chess Tour Finals Underway in São Paulo
The 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals have begun in São Paulo, Brazil, taking place from September 28th to October 3rd. In order of their GCT finish this year: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, and Praggnanandhaa R have convened to do battle for a $350,000 purse.
The semifinal matchups are Vachier-Lagrave vs. Praggnanandhaa and Caruana vs. Aronian. Each match, both semis and finals, consists of two classical games weighted 6 points for a win, two rapid games worth 4 points for a win, and four blitz games worth 2 points for a win. Each set will take place over three days, with a playoff added to the end of the third day if necessary.
Day one resulted in two draws. Caruana/Aronian took a French into a dead equal rook/bishop vs. rook/bishop endgame. Pragg/MVL was something else entirely, with an equal, but unclear Catalan middlegame twisting its way into a rook endgame where Black was seeking winning chances with an extra pawn.
MVL indeed had two moments where he might have earned the full point, the second of which was the following.
Pragg’s 55. Ra6-a5?? was a blunder; the only drawing move was 55. Ra7+! to retain the option for Rf7, which would allow White to capture on h4 without running into …f5 and a pin on the fourth rank.
After 55. Ra5??, Black must play 55. …Rf4!!, which would insist on 56. Kxh4 f5 and lead, evidently, into a winning endgame. You may wish to explore the details for yourself on Lichess.
Black chose 55. …Rb3+?? 56. Kxh4 a3, but after 57. Ra6! Rf3 58. g5! fxg5+ 59. Kxg5 Kd7 60. Kg4 (D) White was able to run the king over to the queenside and draw.
The event website can be viewed here, and you can follow live on Lichess, with the second semifinal games beginning at 3:30 p.m. local time / 6:30 p.m. UTC.
Photo via @GrandChessTour
