Grand Chess Tour 2025


The Grand Chess Tour 2025 was a series of chess tournaments, which was the tenth edition of the Grand Chess Tour.
It consisted of six tournaments with a total prize pool of US$1.6 million, including two tournaments with classical time control and three tournaments with faster time controls, as well as the GCT Finals in São Paulo, which was held for the first time since 2019.

Format

The tour consisted of six tournaments. Rapid & Blitz tournaments consist of two parts – rapid and blitz. Combined result for both portions will count in overall standings. The top four after 5 tournaments will qualify to the tour finals in São Paulo.
In the finals, players will play matches consisting of 2 classical games, 2 rapid games and 4 blitz games. 6 points will be awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in classical play. In the rapid games, 4 points will be awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In the blitz games, 2 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 point for a loss.
The tour points were awarded as follows:
  • If a player wins 1st place outright, they are awarded 13 points instead of 12.
  • Tour points and prize money are shared equally between tied players.

Lineup

The lineup for the tour was announced on February 26, 2025. It consists of nine players, including the top-three finishers of the previous edition. The remaining six players were selected based on several factors, including URS rating, FIDE rating, "fighting spirit and sportsmanship".
PlayerCountryFIDE rating
Fabiano Caruana2803
Gukesh Dommaraju2777
Nodirbek Abdusattorov2766
Alireza Firouzja2760
Wesley So2745
Levon Aronian2745
R Praggnanandhaa2741
Jan-Krzysztof Duda2739
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave2729

Results

Tournament results

DatesTournament NameFormatHost cityWinnerRunner-upThird place
April 26–30, 2025Superbet Rapid & Blitz PolandRapid & blitzWarsaw''

Tour rankings

The wildcards are not counted in overall standings.
PlayerPOLROUCROSTLSINTotal
points		FinalsPrize
money
1Fabiano Caruana.png" />Fabiano Caruana|United Statesn/a

Tournaments

Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland

The first leg of the Grand Chess Tour was held in Warsaw, Poland from April 26–30. Vladimir Fedoseev won the tournament with three rounds to spare, while Vachier-Lagrave took the tour lead. Praggnanandhaa's third place finish saw him take the lead in the 2025 FIDE Circuit standings, surpassing Ding Liren.

Superbet Chess Classic Romania

The second leg of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour was held in Bucharest, Romania from May 7–16. Praggnanandhaa won the tournament in playoffs, while Vachier-Lagrave continued to lead the tour standings.

SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia

The third leg of the Grand Chess Tour was held in Zagreb, Croatia from July 2–6. Magnus Carlsen won the tournament with one round to spare, while Vachier-Lagrave maintained the tour lead.

Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz

The fourth leg of the Grand Chess Tour was held in St. Louis, United States from August 11–15. Unlike the other tournaments, this event did not count for the 2025 FIDE Circuit as more than 50% of the players represented the USA.

Sinquefield Cup

The fifth leg of the Grand Chess Tour was held in St. Louis, United States from August 18–28. Wesley So won the tournament in playoffs, while Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana, Praggnanandhaa & Aronian qualified for the GCT finals in Brazil.

Grand Finals

In 2025, the GCT Finals were held in São Paulo, Brazil from September 26–October 4. It was the first GCT Finals since the 2019 tour.
Each match consisted of the following games:
  • 2 classical games
  • 2 rapid games
  • 4 blitz games
If a match was tied 14-all after these games, two additional shorter rapid games were played, followed by an armageddon game if necessary.