TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.12th Sinquefield Cup 2025 (2)
Firouzja and Gukesh win tricky games in Round 2 of the Sinquefield Cup
Mark Crowther - Wednesday 20th August 2025
Firouzja against Duda in Round 2. Photo © | https://saintlouischessclub.org
Alireza Firouzja won a tremendous struggle against Jan-Krzysztof Duda to join Praggnanandhaa and Levon Aronian in the lead of the Sinquefield Cup on 1.5 points at this early stage of the competition. Firouzja won on the white side of an open Spanish, as did Gukesh who bounced back from his loss yesterday, he beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov and he is on no points after his second loss in row.
Round 2 Summary
Firouzja beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda in an absolutely uncompromising struggle in an Open Spanish. 21.Ng6?! Bg8 22.Qh5 led to a wild position which the engines don't like for white but is very complicated. 23...Nxd5? meant that white had full compensation, after forced moves found by both sides 26...Rad8? led to a lost position after 27.Qh5! The game remained difficult for both players due to time trouble and the unusual nature of the position, 61.Be6? (61.Nd2!) Rd1! would have given Duda very good drawing chances, but after that he really didn't have much chance.
Gukesh beat Abdusattorov, again in a complicated Open Spanish. The game was very difficult to navigate for both players and the advantage probably switched hands a few times, 37...h4? was a big mistake and although 40.Qa2?! (40.Qe1!) let go some advantage Gukesh got over the line in 50 moves.
Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana drew a reasonably interesting Sicilian. Wesley So and MVL drew one of those Gruenfelds where almost all the pieces and pawns came off, I strongly suspect one or both had seen most of this before. Levon Aronian and Sam Sevian played what looks like a well played Classical French, Aronian probably had a little something-something out of the opening but by move 25 this had gone.
Round 3 pairings: Sevian-Gukesh, Abdusattorov-Praggnanandhaa, Caruana-Firouzja, MVL-Aronian and Duda-So.
| 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 | * | . | . | . | . | ½ | . | 1 | . | . | 1½ | 2973 | |||
| 2. | Firouzja, Alireza | g | FRA | 2766 | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | 1 | . | 1½ | 2923 | |||
| 3. | Aronian, Levon | g | USA | 2737 | . | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | 1 | 1½ | 2920 | |||
| 4. | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | g | FRA | 2736 | . | ½ | . | * | . | . | ½ | . | . | . | 1 | 2755 | |||
| 5. | Sevian, Samuel | g | USA | 2683 | . | . | ½ | . | * | . | ½ | . | . | . | 1 | 2741 | |||
| 6. | Caruana, Fabiano | g | USA | 2784 | ½ | . | . | . | . | * | . | . | ½ | . | 1 | 2752 | |||
| 7. | So, Wesley | g | USA | 2745 | . | . | . | ½ | ½ | . | * | . | . | . | 1 | 2709 | |||
| 8. | Gukesh, D | g | IND | 2776 | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | . | * | . | 1 | 1 | 2775 | |||
| 9. | Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | g | POL | 2725 | . | 0 | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | * | . | ½ | 2582 | |||
| 10. | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | g | UZB | 2771 | . | . | 0 | . | . | . | . | 0 | . | * | 0 | ||||
| Round 2 (August 19, 2025) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praggnanandhaa, R | - Caruana, Fabiano | ½-½ | 37 | B31 | Sicilian Rossolimo | |
| Firouzja, Alireza | - Duda, Jan-Krzysztof | 1-0 | 100 | C82 | Ruy Lopez Open Italian Variation | |
| Aronian, Levon | - Sevian, Samuel | ½-½ | 53 | C11 | French Defence | |
| So, Wesley | - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | ½-½ | 45 | D85 | Gruenfeld Defence | |
| Gukesh, D | - Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 1-0 | 50 | C80 | Ruy Lopez Open | |
Round 2 Summary Video
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