Sinquefield Cup 2025: Gukesh in familiar territory; Praggnanandhaa eyes podium

World Champion D. Gukesh returns to classical chess after a brief hiatus to face a star-studded field at the Sinquefield Cup starting on Monday, while R. Praggnanandhaa will eye a podium finish in the fifth leg of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) to strengthen his overall fifth-place standing.

While many argue that the field feels incomplete without world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian Grandmaster has openly admitted that he no longer enjoys classical chess.

Without Carlsen, the GCT was announced and this is the culmination point wherein the players would qualify for the grand finale slated for later this year.

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Fabiano Caruana of the United States, Alireza Firouzja from France, and in-form Armenian-turned-American Levon Aronian are most likely to pose a stiff challenge for the Indian duo, but the rest of the field is also quite impressive, as all the nine selected players for the Grand Chess Tour for this year will compete together.

Given his current form in the faster version, Gukesh may not be one of the favourites, but one should be reminded that classical chess is the Indian GM’s forte.

Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, has already cemented his credentials by qualifying for next year’s Candidates Tournament, which will decide Gukesh’s challenger for the world title.

Both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa have also chosen to compete in the Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan next month, underlining their intent to win everything.

In the GCT standings, Praggnanandhaa currently leads Gukesh, but consistency will be key as they face seasoned opponents.

Among them, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave remains the man to beat, while 42-year-old Aronian has rediscovered top form. The former world junior champion and World Cup winner has already bagged two titles in as many weeks—Freestyle Chess in Las Vegas and the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz. Now, it’s classical chess and an encore is what his fans are rooting for.

The event, to be played over nine rounds between 10 players, has a total prize pool of USD 350,000.