TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.12th Sinquefield Cup 2025 (1)
Aronian and Praggnanandhaa win in Round 1 of the Sinquefield Cup
Mark Crowther - Tuesday 19th August 2025
The Sinquefield Cup started with two decisive games. Levon Aronian on the back of his rapid and blitz win beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a full blooded struggle. Praggnanandhaa scored a very convincing win against Gukesh. MVL was much better on the board and clock against Alireza Firouzja but allowed him to escape. Sam Sevian briefly had a winning position against Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana pushed a little against Jan-Krzysztof Duda but never seemed to have very much.
Levon Aronian won an uncompromising battle against Nodirbek Abdusattorov where both players went for sharp play. Things started to turn Aronian's way after 27.Ng5? but only if he had found 28...Qb3, 34.Qe2? left Aronian with a near winning advantage but 38.bxa4? (38...Rd4 maintains control) gave a last chance 39.Bxf7 is almost equal but after 39.Qc5? is really was all over.
Praggnanandhaa crushed Gukesh in a Nimzo-Indian where the World Champion never seemed at the races. 13...Ba7?! was a dubious novelty, 14...Rd8? was poor and 16...Nxd7?! was another inaccuracy in a poor position. Praggnanandhaa played nearly perfectly and never looked like letting Gukesh off the hook. Praggnanandhaa has recently had a run of poor results against Gukesh so this was a special result for him.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave obtained a very significant opening advantage against Alireza Firouzja and that also was reflected on the clock with MVL being an hour up on the clock. Firouzja's one chance was a hidden problem with MVL's back rank, 20.h3 or 23.h3 would have fixed that, but once white didn't the position became equal rather fast.
Sam Sevian was winning against Wesley So after 31.Qxf6 but 32.Be6? (32.Rc7!) allowed So to escape.
Fabiano Caruana had a small edge against Jan-Krzysztof Duda but it wasn't a lot and after 36.Rb1 even those chances disappeared.
Round 2 pairings Tuesday 19th August: Praggnanandhaa-Caruana, Aronian-Sevian, So-MVL, Firouzja-Duda and Gukesh-Abdusattorov.
| 12th Sinquefield Cup Saint Louis (USA), 16-29 viii 2025 | cat. XX (2750) | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1. | Praggnanandhaa, R | g | IND | 2779 | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | 1 | ||||
| 2. | Aronian, Levon | g | USA | 2737 | . | * | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | 1 | ||||
| 3. | Caruana, Fabiano | g | USA | 2784 | . | . | * | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | ½ | 2725 | |||
| 4. | Firouzja, Alireza | g | FRA | 2766 | . | . | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2736 | |||
| 5. | So, Wesley | g | USA | 2745 | . | . | . | . | * | . | . | ½ | . | . | ½ | 2683 | |||
| 6. | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | g | FRA | 2736 | . | . | . | ½ | . | * | . | . | . | . | ½ | 2766 | |||
| 7. | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | g | POL | 2725 | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | * | . | . | . | ½ | 2784 | |||
| 8. | Sevian, Samuel | g | USA | 2683 | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | * | . | . | ½ | 2745 | |||
| 9. | Gukesh, D | g | IND | 2776 | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | . | 0 | ||||
| 10. | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | g | UZB | 2771 | . | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | 0 | ||||
| Round 1 (August 18, 2025) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praggnanandhaa, R | - Gukesh, D | 1-0 | 36 | E48 | Nimzo Indian | |
| Caruana, Fabiano | - Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | ½-½ | 57 | D02 | Queen's Pawn Game | |
| Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | - Firouzja, Alireza | ½-½ | 58 | C70 | Ruy Lopez | |
| Sevian, Samuel | - So, Wesley | ½-½ | 56 | E53 | Nimzo Indian | |
| Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | - Aronian, Levon | 0-1 | 41 | E46 | Nimzo Indian Rubinstein | |
Sinquefield Cup Round 1
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