The Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, the fourth event of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour, will bring ten leading grandmasters to the Saint Louis Chess Club. The five competition days run from 2 to 6 August, within an official event programme beginning on 31 July and ending on 7 August. Nine rounds of rapid chess will be followed by eighteen rounds of blitz.
The Grand Chess Tour is staging its eleventh edition this year. The circuit comprises two classical tournaments, three rapid and blitz events and the knockout-format GCT Finals. Full tour participants are scheduled to contest both classical legs and two of the three faster events, with wildcards completing the individual lineups. The four highest-placed regulars in the overall standings will qualify for the finals.
Seven tour regulars will compete in Saint Louis: Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer, Wesley So, Anish Giri, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Jorden van Foreest. Caruana, Sindarov, Keymer, So and Giri are currently inside the world top ten, while Praggnanandhaa and Van Foreest are just outside that group. Sindarov is also due to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju for the world title later in the year.
Three United States representatives have received wildcards. Leinier Dominguez and Levon Aronian add further experience to the field, while Awonder Liang completes the ten-player lineup. All seven tour regulars entered in the rapid and blitz tournament will remain in Saint Louis for the Sinquefield Cup, whose first round is scheduled for 10 August.
The rapid section will be a single round-robin played over three days, with three rounds each day. The time control is 25 minutes plus a 10-second increment from move one. Results count double towards the combined standings: players receive two points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.
The final two days are reserved for blitz. The players will contest a double round-robin comprising eighteen rounds, with nine rounds in each cycle. Games will be played at 5 minutes plus a 2-second increment, using standard scoring. The player with the highest combined total will win the tournament.
Tour points will also be important. Caruana, Keymer and So enter the Saint Louis events among the leading contenders for one of the four places in the GCT Finals later in August.
| Player | POL | ROU | CRO | STL | SIN | Points | Finals | Prize money | |
| 1 | Fabiano Caruana (United States) | 10 | 10 | 20 | $125,833 | ||||
| 2 | Vincent Keymer (Germany) | 13 | 6 | 19 | $146,250 | ||||
| 3 | Wesley So (United States) | 8 | 7.5 | 15.5 | $72,500 | ||||
| 4 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) | 3 | 4 | 7.5 | 14.5 | $62,416 | |||
| 5 | R Praggnanandhaa (India) | 4 | 7.5 | 11.5 | $53,416 | ||||
| 6 | Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) | 3 | 7.5 | 10.5 | $72,333 | ||||
| 7 | Anish Giri (Netherlands) | 4 | 4 | 8 | $38,416 | ||||
| 8 | Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) | 4 | 2 | 6 | $36,416 | ||||
| –[b] | Alireza Firouzja (France) * | 6 | 1 | 11 | – | $72,500 | |||
| Hans Niemann (United States) | 13 | 13 | $50,000 | ||||||
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) | 11 | 11 | $42,500 | ||||||
| Gukesh Dommaraju (India) | 5 | 5 | 10 | $22,000 | |||||
| Vladimir Fedoseev (Slovenia) | 7 | 7 | $20,000 | ||||||
| Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Romania) | 4 | 3 | 7 | $37,416 | |||||
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) | 3 | 3 | $9,000 | ||||||
| Radosław Wojtaszek (Poland) | 1 | 1 | $7,000 | ||||||
| Ivan Šarić (Croatia) | 1 | 1 | $7,000 | ||||||
| Levon Aronian (United States) | |||||||||
| Leinier Dominguez (United States) | |||||||||
| Awonder Liang (United States) | |||||||||
| Samuel Sevian (United States) |
* Alireza Firouzja withdrew from the tour due to a schedule clash
The Saint Louis Chess Club
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