D Gukesh Tied for 6th at 2025 St. Louis Rapid & Blitz Chess Tournament

D Gukesh Tied for 6th at 2025 St. Louis Rapid & Blitz Chess Tournament

World Champion D Gukesh recorded one victory and four draws, placing him in a tie for sixth at the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz chess event, part of the Grand Chess Tour.

With only nine blitz games remaining, Gukesh will need a strong second-half performance to move up the leaderboard. Leading the tournament is Levon Aronian of the United States with 6/9 in blitz, ahead of overnight leader and fellow American Fabiano Caruana.

Aronian has 19 points overall, Caruana sits two points behind, while France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave trails Caruana by just half a point in third place.

Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov bounced back in blitz, equaling Aronian’s points and climbing to joint fourth with Wesley So, both on 15 points.

Gukesh is positioned in sixth place with 13 points, tied with Vietnam’s Liem Le Quang, three points ahead of American Leinier Dominguez Perez. Russia’s Grigoriy Oparin rose slightly to ninth with 9 points, 1.5 ahead of Sam Shankland.

Gukesh’s win came against Dominguez, but four losses in blitz affected his standing. Caruana, after a strong rapid section, went winless in blitz with three losses, while Aronian lost once but won four and drew four to regain the lead. Vachier-Lagrave remained undefeated on the penultimate day with two wins and seven draws, showing remarkable consistency in the $175,000 prize tournament.

Blitz Results from Rounds 1–9

• Round 1: Aronian drew Gukesh; Liem beat Dominguez; Oparin beat Wesley; Vachier-Lagrave drew Abdusattorov; Caruana drew Shankland
• Round 2: Shankland drew Gukesh; Abdusattorov lost to Oparin; Dominguez lost to Vachier-Lagrave; Caruana beat Liem; Wesley drew Aronian
• Round 3: Gukesh lost to Wesley; Liem beat Shankland; Aronian lost to Abdusattorov; Oparin beat Dominguez; Vachier-Lagrave drew Caruana
• Round 4: Liem drew Vachier-Lagrave; Caruana drew Oparin; Dominguez lost to Aronian; Abdusattorov beat Gukesh
• Round 5: Aronian beat Caruana; Gukesh beat Dominguez; Wesley beat Abdusattorov; Vachier-Lagrave drew Shankland; Oparin drew Liem
• Round 6: Dominguez drew Wesley; Liem drew Aronian; Caruana drew Gukesh; Shankland lost to Abdusattorov; Vachier-Lagrave drew Oparin
• Round 7: Gukesh lost to Liem; Oparin beat Shankland; Abdusattorov beat Dominguez; Aronian drew Vachier-Lagrave; Wesley drew Caruana
• Round 8: Liem lost to Wesley; Vachier-Lagrave beat Gukesh; Caruana lost to Abdusattorov; Shankland beat Dominguez; Oparin lost to Aronian
• Round 9: Dominguez drew Caruana; Aronian beat Shankland; Gukesh drew Oparin; Wesley drew Vachier-Lagrave; Abdusattorov drew Liem

Standings after Nine Blitz Rounds

1. Aronian – 19 points
2. Caruana – 17
3. Vachier-Lagrave – 16.5

   4–5. Abdusattorov, Wesley So – 15 each

   6–7. Gukesh, Liem – 13 each

4. Dominguez – 10
5. Oparin – 9
6. Shankland – 7.5