 "The Clutch Chess tournaments in Saint Louis will bring together some of the highest rated chess players of all time. Images: Grand Chess Tour/FIDE")
The busy chess calendar continues, with the Saint Louis Chess Club set to host a major showdown in October 2025 that will include the best of the best players – D Gukesh, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana. The unique Rapid and Blitz tournament has been named Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown and is being termed as the highest-rated human chess tournament of the year.
A separate tournament will see legends Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov take on each other, also at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Gukesh vs Carlsen at Saint Louis
Given the epic moments the Gukesh vs Carlsen contest has produced in the last few months, something extraordinary could unfold once again when these two square off. When it comes to the head-to-head battle between the two, the five-time world champion is leading across formats. The Norwegian has a massive 31-12 lead over the Indian Grandmaster.
The Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown will be played from 25-20 October. It offers a substantial prize pool of $412,000, including daily win bonuses and a champion’s jackpot.
In addition, fans can witness a monumental clash between the legends Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov in a tournament called Clutch Chess: The Legends. Despite the years that have passed, this match remains a highly anticipated and timeless encounter, and it will be a perfect occasion for new chess fans to see these behemoths of the game lock horns.
Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown format
The event will follow an 18-game rapid double round-robin format, 10 minutes plus a 5-second increment, and will also have escalating point values each day. Which means, a win on the opening day will fetch the player a point, whereas he will collect two points upon winning on the second day. A point will be added each passing day.
Anand vs Kasparov: The clash of the legends
Chess titans, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand and arguably the greatest player ever, Garry Kasparov, will face off in a 12-game Chess 960 match. The match will take place from 7 to 11 October.