Elite-level classical chess returns with Superbet Classic: Gukesh and Caruana in the mix

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/5/2025 – The 2025 Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest marks the second stage of this year's Grand Chess Tour and the first of two classical tournaments in the series. Held on 6–16 May, the event brings together ten top grandmasters in a single round-robin format. With high stakes and a strong international line-up, including reigning champion Fabiano Caruana and world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, the tournament will play a key role in shaping the race to qualify for the season-ending finals in São Paulo. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
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Starting Wednesday

The 2025 Superbet Chess Classic will take place from 6 to 16 May at the Grand Hotel Bucharest, marking the second stop on this year's Grand Chess Tour. It is one of two classical-format events in the series, alongside the Sinquefield Cup scheduled for August in Saint Louis.

The tournament will feature ten players in a single round-robin format with classical time controls. Nine of the participants are regulars on the tour, joined by a wildcard - in this case, Romania's own Bogdan-Daniel Deac, currently ranked 54th in the world.

The regular line-up includes Fabiano Caruana (United States), winner of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour, and Gukesh Dommaraju (India), the reigning classical world champion. The other tour regulars are Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan), Alireza Firouzja (France), Wesley So (United States), Levon Aronian (United States), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France).

The Grand Chess Tour is celebrating its tenth edition this year, with a total prize fund of $1.6 million. Each of the two classical events offers $350,000 in prize money, while the rapid and blitz events offer $175,000 apiece. A further $350,000 will be awarded at the season-ending finals, to be held for the first time in South America, in São Paulo, Brazil. The top four performers across the regular season will qualify for this knockout finale.

The Superbet Chess Classic follows the tour's opening event, the Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, which was convincingly won by Vladimir Fedoseev, one of the wildcards in Warsaw.

Caruana looking for a "three-peat"

Fabiano Caruana is the two-time defending champion at the Superbet Chess Classic. In 2023, he won the event outright with an undefeated 5½/9 score, securing victories against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

In 2024, Caruana once again led for most of the tournament. After scoring two wins and six draws, he entered the final round as the sole leader. Facing Anish Giri with the black pieces, he needed a draw to guarantee at least a playoff. However, a mistake in the early middlegame led to a 56-move loss.

Three players were within half a point of Caruana before the final round. Gukesh Dommaraju quickly drew with Wesley So, while Alireza Firouzja pushed for a win against Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. Firouzja held a clear advantage but was ultimately held to a draw, resulting in a four-way tie for first place.

Caruana went on to win the rapid playoff with three consecutive victories, successfully defending his title.

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana facing Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu during the 2024 Superbet Chess Classic deciding playoffs | Photo: Lennart Ootes

All classical games - 2024 edition

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,174,61854%2421---
1.d4952,91955%2434---
1.Nf3283,84956%2440---
1.c4183,33456%2442---
1.g319,80456%2427---
1.b314,46454%2427---
1.f45,92648%2377---
1.Nc33,85550%2384---
1.b41,77548%2379---
1.a31,23954%2405---
1.e31,07549%2409---
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Topics: Superbet Chess Classic 2025
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.
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