Champions Showdown: Caruana leapfrogs So in the leaderboard

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
3/6/2025 – The second day of play at the Champions Showdown in Saint Louis saw Fabiano Caruana overtaking Wesley So in the standings after winning their rapid game, with the blitz and semi-classical encounters ending in draws. Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian also secured mini-match victories, with Nakamura defeating Ray Robson in their rapid game and Aronian beating Leinier Dominguez in the semi-classical format. Despite his loss to Nakamura, Robson remains in third place and is set to face leader Caruana on the final day. | Photo: Crystal Fuller
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Decisive results in rapid and semi-classical

The second day of action at the Champions Showdown in Saint Louis featured several competitive encounters, with players demonstrating defensive skills to secure draws in critical positions. The exhibition event, which no longer follows the chess960 format used in previous editions, continues to provide entertainment for competitors and fans alike.

The key pairing of the day saw former leader Wesley So facing Fabiano Caruana. The blitz game ended in a draw after Caruana had amassed an advantage early on. In the rapid game, Caruana made the most of his chances and secured a win, gaining enough prize money to move into the lead. The semi-classical game also ended in a draw, with So showing tactical awareness to hold a difficult position. Despite falling to second place in the standings, So managed to avoid a larger setback by drawing two of the three games.

In the other matchups, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian each won their mini-matches by scoring one win and two draws. Nakamura's victory came in his rapid game against Ray Robson, while Aronian defeated Leinier Dominguez in their semi-classical game. Robson remains in third place in the overall standings and will face leader Caruana on the final day of action in the exhibition event.

Champions Showdown 2025

Caruana 2 - 1 So

The one decisive game of the mini-match saw Caruana winning with black after showing strong strategic play and proficient technique for conversion.

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Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana

Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Nakamura 2 - 1 Robson

The blitz encounter, the first one of the day, featured a sharp pawn race which ended drawn. Grandmaster Karsten Müller highlights the key moments of the endgame.

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Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura | Photo: Crystal Fuller

Arnoian 2 - 1 Dominguez

In the one decisive game of the mini-match, Aronian gained a couple of pawns in the middlegame and converted his material advantage in an ending with rooks and bishops of opposite colours. However, on move 28, he failed to find a fine tactical shot which would have probably led to a quicker win.

Aronian's 28.c5 is very natural and keeps White's advantage, but 28.Bd5 is much more forcing - 28...exd5 fails immediately to 29.Rxe7, while the threat is to break open the centre via a temporary sacrifice on e6.

Still, the Armenian-born star got the win by move 52.

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Leinier Dominguez, Levon Aronian

Leinier Dominguez facing Levon Aronian | Photo: Crystal Fuller

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.