World Champion Gukesh Recovers to Secure Joint Third at St. Louis Chess Tournament
Reigning world chess champion D. Gukesh made a strong comeback after an opening-round loss to finish the first day of the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament in joint third place. The Indian grandmaster was outplayed by American Levon Aronian but rebounded with impressive victories against Grigoriy Oparin and Liem Le Quang. Aronian leads the prestigious Grand Chess Tour event with a perfect score, while Gukesh's recovery, including a picturesque checkmate, keeps him in strong contention.
Unpacked:
In Grand Chess Tour rapid, a win is worth 2 points, a draw 1, and a loss 0, making early streaks highly valuable for standings and tiebreaks. A “perfect score” after Day 1 means winning all rapid games that day, creating a significant lead before remaining rapid rounds and the blitz portion, where wins are 1 point and draws 0.5.
The 10-player field includes Fabiano Caruana, D. Gukesh, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Wesley So, Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Lê Quang Liêm, Sam Shankland, and Grigoriy Oparin. All are elite grandmasters with rapid ratings clustered around 2620–2750, indicating a very strong field where margins are thin and upsets common.
The event spans August 11–15, with 9 rapid rounds across the first three days, followed by 18 blitz rounds over the final two days. After Day 1, players still have two more rapid days (six rounds total) and then the full blitz segment to influence final standings and tour points.
Results here award Grand Chess Tour points and prize money that contribute to the season leaderboard. A strong Saint Louis result can shift the overall standings and momentum, as prior legs (e.g., Croatia) shaped the current tour race. Consistency across events is key to securing the top GCT positions by season’s end.