Aronian's perfect start
The traditional Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz began on Monday, marking the fourth tournament of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour. The Rex Sinquefield Cup will follow immediately afterwards.
The tournament is played in the usual format, consisting of a rapid chess event and a double round-robin blitz tournament. The rapid chess results count double. At the end, the two events are added together to determine the overall standings.
Ten players are taking part. The star of the tournament is the reigning classical world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju. Shortly before the event, Gukesh played a short blitz match in Katowice against Polish top player Jan-Krzysztof Duda, which he lost 1–5. Things are likely to go better for the Indian in Saint Louis, as Duda is not competing here.
The first three days feature rapid chess, with three rounds played per day. Levon Aronian made a perfect start. In the first round, he defeated Gukesh and followed up with wins over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the next two rounds.
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.
Levon Aronian defeated Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Aronian scored his victory over the Uzbek grandmaster from a defensive position. In a Scotch Game, Aronian initially had the initiative and, with a pawn sacrifice, obtained a dominant position. However, Abdusattorov equalised through exchanges and, in a complex rook ending, made use of his material advantage. The conversion, however, was not straightforward.
The course is designed to provide a deep yet practical repertoire for Black, balancing solid foundations with aggressive counterplay.
The Classical Sicilian has stood the test of time as one of the most principled and fighting defences against 1.e4. With its rich history spanning world championship matches and modern elite tournaments, this opening remains a favourite among players who seek a dynamic, counterattacking approach without venturing into extreme theoretical battles like the Najdorf or Sveshnikov.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 6.h3
The world champion bounced back with a remarkable win | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Gukesh recovered from his initial loss with a fine queen sacrifice against Grigoriy Oparin in round two.
In round three, Gukesh followed up with another victory, this time over Le Quang Liem.
With his three wins and a score of 6/6, Aronian has taken the sole lead. He is followed by Fabiano Caruana with 5/6, while Gukesh and Wesley So have 4/6 each.
Standings after round 3 (win = 2pts.; draw = 1 pt.)
All games
Links
.jpg)
.jpg)