GM Alireza Firouzja has joined GMs Levon Aronian and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in leading the 2025 Sinquefield Cup after two rounds. He survived another difficult position, against GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and even managed to win the 100-move marathon. World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju bounced back from yesterday’s loss with a chaotic win against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
The other three games were drawn. GM Wesley So vs. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the first to end, after a theoretical test in the Grunfeld, and there were no real chances in either GM Praggnanandhaa vs. GM Fabiano Caruana or Aronian vs. GM Sam Sevian.
Round three is on Wednesday, August 20, starting at 1:10 p.m. ET / 19:10 CEST / 10:40 p.m. IST.
Standings After Round 2
We begin with the two players who led the tournament going into the round, Aronian and Praggnanandhaa. They continue to lead after draws with the white pieces.
Aronian ½-½ Sevian
Aronian came up with probably the most interesting move seven of the day. 7.Bd3!? was an unexpected opening quirk in a Steinitz French where the main line, 7.Be3, is virtually automatic. It worked out, and Aronian got a small but lasting advantage out of the opening. Despite feeling the pressure, Sevian kept that advantage to a minimum, and eventually equalized with queenside counterplay.
Praggnanandhaa ½-½ Caruana
Caruana called the result “pretty decent,” saying about the game:
I kind of surprised him in the opening and then I think I misplayed it a bit, so I was a bit concerned. That’s why I decided to sac a pawn… but it was still a relatively comfortable draw.
Although he felt his position was dangerous enough to sacrifice a pawn, the game featured no serious mistakes by either side. The pawn sac was sound, and Black had enough play to regain the pawn.
Gukesh 1-0 Abdusattorov
Gukesh came with an interesting idea in the Open Spanish, 11.Bc2, which is not a new move but a rare one. As GM Peter Svidler explained on the broadcast, Black usually has a bishop developed on e7 in this position but, in this case, gained a free move to do something else. Abdusattorov naturally placed his queen on d5 with the intention of castling long.
As expected from these youngsters, we got fireworks with opposite-sides castling. Gukesh got an opening advantage, but neither player had a full grasp of the position as they traded mistakes. The world champion could have achieved a large advantage on multiple moves if he captured the bishop on e6. When he left that bishop alive, he essentially lost control, but Gukesh said, “I think he got a bit ambitious because we were in the time scramble, and he played some loose moves like 36…Re4.“
There were plenty of adventures, with a number of queen sacrifices (there are three pointed out in the notes below and probably more possible) or exchange sacrifices available for Black, and we were treated to an absolute brawl:
The win came at an opportune moment for Gukesh, as he explained, “Especially after yesterday, probably one of the worst games that I’d played, it was nice to bounce back like this.” He also said he’d prefer a 50 percent score after two decisive games rather than two draws anyway.
Gukesh: “Especially after yesterday, probably one of the worst games that I’d played, it was nice to bounce back like this.”
“If I would prefer to make two draws or a loss and a win, I’d prefer a loss and a win.”#GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/JYqbRZlFdv
— chess24 (@chess24com) August 19, 2025
Firouzja 1-0 Duda
It’s the second time that Firouzja’s found himself down by about an hour on the clock. Like yesterday, he confused something in the opening (the sharp Dilsworth Variation of the Ruy Lopez) and then sank deep into the tank to figure out where it all went wrong.
He said he missed Black’s excellent move 19…Kh8!, and by that point he was 50 minutes down on the clock—in a position he didn’t like. After 21…Bg8, he said, “This is a bad position. Here I was trying to bail out, then I understood that all of the endgames are much worse, so I thought I have to go for it.”
22.Qh5 was, according to the engine, a losing move, but it was the hail mary that threw off his opponent. Two moves later, Firouzja was back in the game, and three moves after that he was winning. He grinded out a very difficult endgame (he could have made it easier for himself earlier), and GM Dejan Bojkov breaks down our Game of the Day below. (It will be added soon.)
So ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave
In the first game to end, So tested Vachiere-Lagrave’s memory in the Grunfeld, and the Frenchman passed. He knew the opening line up to move 20, and from there he figured out the rest.
MVL said that two draws is good so far, though he felt he missed a chance against Firouzja in round one. He said, “I was much better, I just didn’t realize that.” He underestimated how quickly Firouzja’s counterplay would come with …a4, and the advantage fizzled quickly.
As for pairings on Wednesday, all three leaders will have the black pieces. Firouzja will play against Caruana, Aronian will face Vachier-Lagrave, and Praggnanandhaa may hope to strike even with Black against Abdusattorov, who has lost twice.
Round 3 Pairings
The 2025 Sinquefield Cup, taking place from August 18 to 28 in St. Louis, is the last leg and final classical event before the Final of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour. It is a single round-robin with 10 players with a time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus a 30-second increment starting on move one. It features a $350,000 prize fund.
