GM Fabiano Caruana gained the Champions Showdown: The Kings in St. Louis convincingly after a powerful remaining day when he beat GM Ray Robson twice. Caruana scored 6.5/9 and pocketed $51,625 for his three-day workweek.
GM Wesley So, who gained his blitz recreation in opposition to GM Leinier Dominguez, got here in second with a 5.5/9 rating. Regardless of a gradual begin, GM Levon Aronian completed in third place after dropping his blitz recreation however successful his semi-classical recreation in opposition to GM Hikaru Nakamura. So gained the Finest Sport Prize for his semi-classical victory in opposition to Aronian on the primary day.
Champions Showdown: The Kings Closing Standings
This is a reminder of the prize distribution:
| Time Management | Whole Purse Per Sport | Winner’s Share | Loser’s Share | Draw | Whole Quantity |
| Blitz | $4,500 | $3,375 | $1,125 | $2,250 | $40,500 |
| Speedy | $9,000 | $6,750 | $2,250 | $4,500 | $81,000 |
| Classical | $14,000 | $10,500 | $3,500 | $7,000 | $126,000 |
| Finest Sport Prize | $2,500 | ||||
| $250,000 |
Caruana began with a win instantly within the blitz section, outplaying his opponent with the black items in what was a Semi-Slav by transposition. Transfer 18 was a essential second when Robson miscalculated and misplaced a pawn for nothing. Additionally afterward, when he was given an opportunity to get again into the sport, he missed the strongest continuation.
Nakamura put stress on Aronian from an equal middlegame that began as a French Trade. It may be “a really dry and boring line,” he admitted in his recap video, however someway he nonetheless managed to create one thing out of it.
“One of many issues that I am doing right here is knowing it is a blitz recreation, and I am attempting to play to my power of merely maneuvering the items, getting my opponent low on time, and successful the sport,” Nakamura defined his technique.
Near the top, he missed a win and as a substitute performed a mix that led to a drawn place. A traditional pawn break on the kingside should not have been sufficient, but it surely did win the sport as Aronian flagged.
Nakamura’s recap video after the match ended.
The third blitz recreation additionally ended decisively as So outplayed Dominguez from the black facet of the Italian. Underneath a lot stress on the queenside, it appeared solely a matter of time that White would lose a pawn, though when it occurred, maybe it was only a blunder.
Dominguez switched to the Ruy Lopez for the fast recreation and was very a lot in management in a Berlin Endgame—in reality, completely successful. So pulled a Houdini to get away with a draw ultimately:
Caruana secured match victory with one other good win within the semi-classical recreation. He managed to confuse Robson in a Reti the place Black did not actually survive the opening. Caruana was a pawn up by transfer 13 and wanted a while for the technical section, however he was at all times successful.
Afterward, he revealed he wasn’t certain whether or not he ought to wait till the American Cup subsequent week to do this Reti and notably the transfer 7.e3, recommended by his second GM Grigoriy Oparin.
“I thought, okay, if I get an opportunity to get my thought on the board, I ought to take it in any occasion,” mentioned Caruana. “After that, he was on his personal, and it is simply actually powerful to determine this out. I believe he performed one very pure transfer 8…Nbd7 after which already after that Black is underneath stress, and
to prime it off I had an enormous time benefit.”
Aronian took revenge for the blitz loss by successful the extra profitable semi-classical recreation in opposition to Nakamura, thereby overtaking his opponent within the standings. A superb recreation by Aronian with a cultured end:
After receiving the trophy, Caruana mentioned: “I’ve no plans to do something loopy, and I even have one other match arising quickly, so there’s not a lot relaxation in between. I am actually proud of how I performed right here, in fact proud of the outcome as effectively. I at all times appear to be in a superb temper after I’m taking part in in St. Louis, and I assume the outcomes have been general all through the years fairly good, so I am completely happy so as to add one other to the gathering.”
I at all times appear to be in a superb temper after I’m taking part in in St. Louis.
—Fabiano Caruana
overview?
The Champions Showdown: The Kings was a three-day exhibition occasion held March 4-6, 2025, in St. Louis. Six American grandmasters performed blitz, fast, and semi-classical chess for a $250,000 complete prize pool. The individuals performed three video games a day in numerous time controls: blitz at 3+2, fast at 15+10, and semi-classical at 60+15.
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