ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 18, 2025--
U.S. Grandmaster Levon Aronian emerged victorious at the 2025 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, conquering 27 rounds of fierce competition in one of the 2025 Grand Chess Tour’s (GCT) most electrifying events.
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“It feels great. I’ve been playing solidly, and maybe my opponents were more nervous than I was. Winning here in the city where I live, with my family and friends rooting for me, is really special. My fans and loved ones stick with me even when my play isn’t perfect, and that motivates me to keep fighting,” said Aronian. “At the end of the day, chess brings me joy, and with my family’s support—even my daughter telling me to ‘go kill them’—I feel inspired to keep going. This win means a lot, and I’m happy to add my name to this beautiful trophy.”
The tournament, hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club, awarded $175,000 in prizes including $40,000 to Aronian for his first place finish, $30,000 to GM Fabiano Caruana from the United States for finishing second place and $25,000 to GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave from France for third place.
“What an incredible Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz—brilliant games, fighting spirit, and a field stacked with the very best in the world. Levon Aronian showed tremendous consistency under pressure and thoroughly deserves this win. And what a performance by the Americans, delivering a remarkable 1-2 finish that highlights the strength and depth of U.S. chess. Once again, Saint Louis has proven why it is the chess capital of the nation,” said Yasser Seirawan, Chief Commentator and Spokesperson for the Saint Louis Chess Club.
Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz Results
Current Grand Chess Tour Leaderboard
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has a commanding lead, with GM Levon Aronian moving into second position following his win. GM Alireza Firouzja and GM Fabiano Caruana round out the top four, as the participants head into the final leg of the series, 2025 Sinquefield Cup.
The 2025 Sinquefield Cup will run Monday, August 18-Thursday, August 28 in Saint Louis, with live commentary from GMs Yasser Seirawan and Peter Svidler and International Master Nazi Paikidze starting at 12:20PM CDT. Tune in to the Saint Louis Chess Club's Twitch & YouTube channels.
The tour will come to a dramatic conclusion during the GCT Finals, with rounds set to begin on September 28, 2025 during its first-ever stop in South America in the vibrant Brazilian City of São Paulo. The top four finishers of the regular season of five tournaments will compete for an additional $350,000 in the knockout matches.
This year’s GCT participants are competing for a prize purse of $1.5 million over the course of the full tour. The prize fund is provided by the 2025 Grand Chess Tour major sponsors Superbet Foundation and Saint Louis Chess Club, both non-profit organizations that support chess education and the mission to expand the game of chess to a worldwide audience.
For more information about the Grand Chess Tour, visit grandchesstour.org.
Grand Chess Tour
Grand Chess Tour is a circuit of international events, each demonstrating the highest level of organization for the world's best players. The legendary Garry Kasparov, one of the world's greatest ambassadors for chess, inspired the Grand Chess Tour and helped solidify the partnership between the organizers. For more information about the tour, please visit grandchesstour.org.
Superbet Foundation
The Superbet Foundation, a non-profit organization, is responsible for coordinating the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of the Superbet Group. Their goal is to support the advancement of health, education, and sports initiatives, with a special emphasis on promoting the game of chess and its myriad benefits within all the communities they serve.
Saint Louis Chess Club
The Saint Louis Chess Club is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to making chess an important part of our community. In addition to providing a forum for the community to play tournaments and casual games, the club also offers chess improvement classes, beginner lessons and special lectures. Recognizing the cognitive and behavioral benefits of chess, the Saint Louis Chess Club is committed to supporting those chess programs that already exist in area schools while encouraging the development of new in-school and after-school programs. For more information, visit saintlouischessclub.org.
U.S. Grandmaster Levon Aronian wins the 2025 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
In Friday’s case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation, and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting and thus depriving some Cabinet members who were not convened of their due rights to deliberate on his decree.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.
Some observers say Yoon will likely retain a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.
On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.
No major violence occurred, but Yoon's stunt caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than four decades in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.
After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.
Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
