The Week in Chess

1. Chess.com make changes to Titled Tuesday, announce "Take Take Take" agreement, and EWC qualification process -

   The Titled Tuesday Blitz for the 26th August was the last under the current format. This Chess.com event has run since 2014 and has had an early and late section since 2022.

   From the 2nd September there will be just one Titled Tuesday Blitz each week, it will take place at 11am Eastern Standard Time, 17:00 Central European Time and 20:30 Indian time.

   Other changes include a move to five minutes per game and a weekly live show produced by the chess app "Take Take Take".

   Titled Tuesday will be part of Chess.com's qualification process for the Esports World Cup (EWC) which will take place in Riddah next summer. The not unreasonable bet is that this event will continue to grow in importance, hence the changes now.

2. Wesley So wins the Sinquefield Cup after a playoff - 9

   The Sinquefield Cup was won by Wesley So for a second time, he won first of all in 2016. So was the only winner in the final round when he defeated the woefully out of form Nodirbek Abdusattorov. So then won a blitz tie-break by beating Praggnanandhaa and drawing with Fabiano Caruana. So won $77,667 and Praggnanandhaa and Caruana $67,667.

   The result of this event settled who made the Grand Chess Tour finals next month in Sao Paulo. Those qualifiers were MVL, Caruana, Levon Aronian and Praggnanandhaa, the latter displacing Alireza Firouzja from the top four as a result of this tournament.

3. 12th Sinquefield Cup 2025 - Games and Results

   The 12th Sinquefield Cup took place in Saint Louis, Mon 18th to Fri 29th Aug 2025. Players: Fabiano Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alireza Firouzja, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Samuel Sevian.

   The Sinquefield Cup was won by Wesely So after a blitz tie-break round robin where Praggnanandhaa finished second and Fabiano Caruana finished third. The players shared the prize money. The result of this event settled who made the Grand Chess Tour finals next month in Sao Paulo. Those qualifiers were MVL, Caruana, Levon Aronian and Praggnanandhaa, the latter displacing Alireza Firouzja from the top four.

4. Titled Tuesday Blitz 26th August 2025 - Games and Results

   The Titled Tuesday Blitz 26th August was the last in this format with major changes coming next week. Tuan Minh Le was the winner of the early with 10.5/11 a point and a half clear of the field, Carlsen finished a further point and a half back on 8.5 points. Aleksei Sarana won the late with 9.5/11 half a point clear of Arjun Erigaisi, Dmitry Andreikin, Magnus Carlsen and Oleksandr Bortnyk, somewhat surprisingly Fabiano Caruana also played after his early finish in the Sinquefield Cup and he was half a point further back. The games are available for download but the files are too large to be displayed.

5. Abdusattorov beats Firouzja in Round 8 of the Sinquefield Cup - 8

   The eighth round of the Sinquefield Cup only had one decisive result when Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Alireza Firouzja taking advantage of some rather loose play. Gukesh pressed for a long time against Levon Aronian and missed a hard win but then a late blunder should in return have cost him the game but Aronian missed his chance. MVL-Caruana, Sevian-Duda and Praggnanandhaa-So were all drawn meaning that Caruana and Praggnanandhaa share the lead on 5/8 half a point clear of Aronian and So.

   Final Round 9 pairings: Duda-MV:, Caruana-Gukesh, Aronian-Praggnanandhaa, So-Abdusattorov and Firouzja-Sevian.

6. Praggnanandhaa joins Caruana in the lead of the Sinquefield Cup after beating Firouzja in Round 7 - 7

   The Sinquefield Cup is positioned for an exciting finish after Praggnanandhaa's win against Alireza Firouzja allowed him to catch Fabiano Caruana in the lead after seven of the nine rounds. Caruana drew against Levon Aronian and Wesley So beat the World Champion Gukesh. This means Praggnanandhaa and Caruana have 4.5/7 and Aronian and So 4/7 with Sam Sevian, MVL and Duda a further half point further back.

   Round 8 pairings: Abdusattorov-Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa-So, Sevian-Duda, MVL-Caruana, Gukesh-Aronian.

7. Five more draws in Sinquefield Cup Round 6 but MVL missed a big opportunity - 6

   The sixth round of the Sinquefield Cup was a lively one but in the end all the games were drawn leaving Caruana in the lead on 4/6.

   MVL will be upset how he let go several winning opportunities against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. It was a very strange game all around, MVL was completely winning, let go most of his advantage, was offered a final pretty straight forward winning chance but instead went into a king and pawn endgame that turned out to be drawn.

   Gukesh was a little bit better against Alireza Firouzja for a while but 21.Ned5? was inaccurate as was 25.Qd3. 30...Kh8?! (30...Qxe6) allowed Firouzja to come back into the game and Gukesh held a tricky endgame without drama.

   Fabiano Caruana was at least equal out of the opening against Sam Sevian on the black side of a Queen's Gambit Declined exchange variation but 22...Bxg4? was a strange error that gave Sevian an immediate perpetual check and in fact good chances to play for a win (24.Rfc1) if he wanted. Instead Sevian decided...