FILIPINO-AMERICAN Super Grandmaster Wesley So won the 2025 Sinquefield Cup on Thursday (US Time), defeating Fabiano Caruana and India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in a blitz playoff in St. Louis, Missouri.
The victory gave So his second Sinquefield Cup title, following his 2016 triumph.
The tournament, the final classical event of the Grand Chess Tour (GCT), ran from Aug. 18 to 28 at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St. Louis with a $350,000 prize fund.
So, Caruana and Praggnanandhaa finished tied at 5.5 points after nine rounds.
Caruana led early with back-to-back wins over defending champion Alireza Firouzja and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Praggnanandhaa opened with a victory over world champion Gukesh D and beat Firouzja in round seven, while So revived his chances by defeating Gukesh in the same round after six straight draws.
Heading into the last round, Caruana and Praggnanandhaa had 5 points, with So and Levon Aronian on 4.5. Caruana’s draw with Gukesh left So needing a win, and he delivered by beating Abdusattorov to force the playoff.
Praggnanandhaa beat Caruana in the first playoff game, but So defeated the Indian in the second. So then secured the title with a draw against Caruana in the decider.
