Aronian Wins Third Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz

GM Levon Aronian won his third Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title on Friday, August 15, netting a $40,000 first prize and 13 Grand Chess Tour (GCT) points.

Levon Aronian's hot streak continues! (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

The 10-player invitational consisted of nine rounds of rapid chess (25-minute games with 10-second increment from move one) from Monday through Wednesday, followed by a blitz double round robin (five-minute games with three-second increment) on Thursday and Friday, for a total of 27 rounds.

Wins in the rapid portion counted for two points each (with draws being worth a full point), while blitz games were scored normally. Aronian won with two rounds to spare in the blitz portion; his 24½/36 was a full three points ahead of runner-up GM Fabiano Caruana, whose 21½/36 was a half-point ahead of French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave earned $30,000 and $25,000, respectively.

The entire event was a game of cat-and-mouse between the top two finishers. The “Levon Show” picked up where it left off last month in Las Vegas, with Aronian jumping out to a lead after winning all three games on Monday, beginning with a win over the reigning World Champion.

Aronian and Gukesh discuss their opening round game (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

But after coming down to Earth with two draws on Tuesday, GM Fabiano Caruana took the lead headed into the final day of rapid play by defeating Aronian in the sixth round.

At the end of the rapid, Caruana led with 14/18, a point ahead of Aronian. But, after the first day of blitz, Aronian led with 19 points to Caruana’s 17, thanks in large part to Aronian’s nail-biter against Caruana:

Caruana’s last real chance to catch Aronian came midway through the final day of blitz, but, despite Caruana’s having the white pieces, Aronian quickly jumped out to an advantage. Caruana battled tenaciously, rescuing drawing chances towards the end of the time scramble, but Aronian emerged triumphant again.

Aronian punctuated his victory with a win over GM Sam Shankland that felt particularly Aronianesque:

Today, the final event of the 2025 GCT kicks off in St. Louis, where six players from last week’s tournament join four newcomers for the Sinquefield Cup. In addition to Aronian, Caruana, and Vachier-Lagrave, the returning players are World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and GMs Nodirberk Abdusattorov and Wesley So. Joining them are GMs Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Sam Sevian, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and defending champion GM Alireza Firouzja.

Esteemed guest Jacques DeMoss, the Deputy Executive Director of US Chess, rung the ceremonial bell to start the final day of blitz. (Photo courtesy Lennart Ootes/SLCC)

In addition to the event’s $350,000 total prize fund, players are jockeying for a spot in the top four of the GCT standings, which will be good for a trip to Sao Paolo, Brazil, for the GCT Finals from September 26 through October 4. This will be the GCT’s first Finals since 2019, and the four qualifiers will compete for their share of another $350,000 prize fund.

Currently, Vachier-Lagrave leads with 28 GCT points, ahead of Aronian (23½), Firouzja (22½), and Caruana (20½). But other players could make a splash with a strong result in St. Louis, particularly Praggnanandhaa (20 points), So (19½ points), and even Abdusattorov (18 points).

The tournament begins today at 12:30 p.m. CDT, with rounds continuing daily through Friday, August 22, and resuming August 24. The nine-round tournament will conclude next Thursday, August 27.

Keep an eye out for more highlights from this tournament in future Tactics Tuesday and Wednesday Workout features.