D. Gukesh climbed from sixth to fourth place on the final day of the Rapid section at the Grand Chess Tour event in Saint Louis. The reigning world champion in classical chess faced three American players in the last three rounds on Wednesday.
He started the day with a loss to Leinier Dominguez while playing with the white pieces. Gukesh then recovered with an important win over Wesley So. In the final round, he shocked tournament leader Fabiano Caruana to end the day on a high.
Gukesh now has 10 points. He is just behind Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who has 11 points, Levon Aronian with 13 points, and Caruana with 14 points.
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Event Format and Standings
The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz is a 10-player event. The Rapid section is played in a single round robin format. Each player faces every other player once. In the Rapid games, a win gives two points and a draw gives one point.
After nine rounds of Rapid play, the event moves into the Blitz section. This will be a double round robin, meaning each player will face every other player twice. In Blitz games, a win gives one point and a draw gives 0.5 points.
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The total points from both the Rapid and Blitz sections are added together. The player with the highest combined score will be crowned the champion.
This tournament in Saint Louis is the fourth leg of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour. It is also the last rapid-and-blitz event of the season.
Gukesh’s strong finish in the Rapid section keeps him in the race for the title. With the Blitz rounds still to come, there are plenty of points available. If he can carry his form into the faster time control, he could challenge the leaders.
The next few days in Saint Louis promise exciting chess as the world’s best test their skills in speed formats. All eyes will be on Gukesh to see if he can close the gap and aim for the top spot.
