Hikaru vs. Fabi: American Champions Showdown
The Saint Louis Club has put together an exciting, elite triathlon tournament for the top players of the United States of America—Champions Showdown: The Kings from March 4-7, 2025. The following players will go head-to-head in a triathlon match format (Classical, Rapid, Blitz):
- Hikaru Nakamura (USA #1)
- Fabiano Caruana (USA #2)
- Wesley So (USA #3)
- Levon Aronian (USA #4)
- Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA #5)
- Ray Robson (USA #8)
An obvious absentee from the list is none other than Hans Niemann, who currently stands 45 points ahead of the lowest seed, Ray Robson. It appears that Hans is still paying for the US Championship Hotel Room fiasco.
FORMAT
A novel format to the elite level has been introduced with a Triple Round-Robin format of Blitz (3+2), Rapid (15+10), and a new classical time control, i.e., 60 minutes + 15 seconds increment! All three games will be played one after the other, starting with blitz.
ROUND 1 ACTION
The first round of the tournament has kicked off with the ultimate match-up between the 1st and the 2nd seeds—Hikaru Nakamura vs. Fabiano Caruana. Owing to the speed of the faster time controls, two topsy-turvy draws were witnessed in the Blitz and the Rapid time control to start off the match. After both players missed their chances, they meet on level scores in the classical game, which starts at 1:45 CT.
In other exciting clashes, Wesley So has taken the lead against Levon by beating him in the rapid game after drawing in blitz. While Ray Robson is young and fast, he went down to Leinier Dominguez in their blitz clash and only managed a draw in the rapid. Classical portions of both these matches are going to bring excitement since the trailing players can still strike back and fight for a sum of $10,500 (for each classical win).
Follow the tournament on Saint Louis Chess Club socials
Photo credit: Steve Bonhage/FIDE
