Overview

• The Sinquefield Cup kicks off Monday in St. Louis as the fifth leg of the Grand Chess Tour, featuring ten elite players over nine classical rounds.
• World Champion D Gukesh returns to classical competition after a brief hiatus, seeking to showcase his strength in his preferred format.
• R Praggnanandhaa leads the GCT standings and will aim for a podium finish to solidify his season ranking; he has already qualified for next year’s Candidates Tournament.
• The lineup excludes world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen but includes top challengers such as Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alireza Firouzja and in-form Levon Aronian.
• Both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa have also entered next month’s Grand Swiss in Uzbekistan, underscoring their dual pursuit of ranking points and qualification pathways.