Another W for Nakamura. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Nakamura Wins Another $5,000 In American Cup Blitz

NM AnthonyLevin

Updated: Mar 25, 2025, 12:20 AM | 47 | Chess Event Coverage

Following his win at the 2025 American Cup, GM Hikaru Nakamura picked up another $5,000 the next day with his first-place finish in the 2025 American Cup Blitz. After two weeks of battling with the U.S.'s best players, he leaves St. Louis with a total of $95,000 and retains his world number-two spot with a +2 classical rating gain.

The next event co-organized by the Saint Louis Chess Club will be the Grand Chess Tour Superbet Rapid & Blitz Poland, which will take place on April 24-May 1 in Warsaw.

Final Standings After 9 Rounds | Top 30

#	Name	Rating	Total	Prize ($)
1	GM Hikaru Nakamura	2838	7.5	5000.00
2	GM Levon Aronian	2750	7.0	4000.00
3	GM Fabiano Caruana	2783	6.5	1500.00
4	GM Samuel Sevian	2700	6.5	1500.00
5	GM Grigoriy Oparin	2660	6.0
6	GM Benjamin Bok	2655	6.0
7	GM Illia Nyzhnyk	2628	6.0
8	GM Aryan Chopra	2620	6.0
9	GM Vasif Durarbayli	2612	6.0
10	GM Mikhail Antipov	2579	6.0	2500.00
11	GM Ray Robson	2689	5.5
12	GM Viktor Gazik	2573	5.5	1500.00
13	GM Emin Ohanyan	2495	5.5	2200.00
14	GM Wesley So	2819	5.0
15	GM Abhimanyu Mishra	2600	5.0
16	GM Robby Kevlishvili	2571	5.0
17	GM Varuzhan Akobian	2564	5.0
18	GM Harsha Bharathakoti	2537	5.0
19	GM Nikolozi Kacharava	2521	5.0
20	GM Luka Budisavljevic	2502	5.0
21	GM Leinier Dominguez Perez	2741	4.5
22	GM Dariusz Swiercz	2620	4.5
23	GM Yasser Quesada Perez	2570	4.5
24	IM Alice Teresa Lee	2386	4.5	583.33
25	IM Eric S Rosen	2377	4.5	583.33
26	IM Tianqi Wang	2355	4.5	583.33
27	FM Thalia Cervantes	2292	4.5	583.33
28	FM Marcus Ming Miyasaka	2280	4.5	583.33
29	FM Gabriela Antova	2197	4.5	583.33
30	IM Anna Sargsyan	2357	4.0

It's the first time that GM Fabiano Caruana hasn't won the blitz tournament, now a traditional event that invites 100 titled players to compete in nine rounds of 3+2 chess. Only once did someone tie with him—GM Levon Aronian in 2022—and Caruana quipped, "This is my tournament. I am the world champion of the American Cup Blitz," just minutes before going on to suffer a loss in round three against GM Aryan Chopra.

I am the world champion of the American Cup Blitz.

—Fabiano Caruana

Image: Courtesy of the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Prize money aside, the event brings together players from the Open and Women's tournaments, as well as local players and college students. Especially in round one, fans were treated to some enticing crossovers between the American Cup main events, with IM Carissa Yip playing Nakamura, IM Alice Lee facing GM Wesley So, and GM Irina Krush against Caruana.

We didn't see any upsets in those top three games, but we did get one story. Speaking to GM Cristian Chirila on the broadcast, Yip explained that she and Lee made a bet. Whoever would get the white pieces in round one must start with 1.a4. Even though Lee chickened out, she met her pal halfway.

So went on to win, though it had nothing to do with the opening variation. Instead, he grinded out an endgame with mutual time pressure.

That same round, IM Anna Sargsyan upset GM Leinier Dominguez. The Webster student said that the last time she played blitz before this was at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York. She came in with "no expectations, just [to] have fun," and so how sweet round one must have been! Both players on around five seconds, she found the winning 41.Rhf5 to win a piece and, quickly after, the game.

In the same round, GM Mikhail Antipov upset Aronian, though it's not quite as big a rating disparity. Both players ultimately finished in the money. Aronian, who earned the bigger prize of $4,000 in second place, warmly said that he at least lost to a nice guy and that it "was the only game where I had no doubts that I'm going to win because my position was so winning. And that's what happens, I lost my concentration and I blundered tremendously!"

... the only game where I had no doubts that I'm going to win because my position was so winning.

—Levon Aronian

Antipov's combination was an awesome way to start the event, even if he missed a mate-in-two along the way.

Antipov went on to have a great event, winning the U2600 class prize of $2,500 as he upset several 2700+ players. Even in the last round, he had chances to take down Nakamura and lost only after he declined a threefold repetition (more on that later).

Nakamura was simply unstoppable in this event. Besides one draw with So, he won all six of his other first games. He reflected, "With the exception of the first game, the first seven rounds were absolutely flawless."

In round six, GM Ray Robson defended with incredible tenacity while playing on just the increment. But after 33.Qa1, Black had a knockout blow. This is a good time to stop and solve a puzzle. Can you find the win for Black? (There are multiple winning moves, but Nakamura found the most direct combination.)

It was smooth sailing for Nakamura until the final two rounds, and he just narrowly managed to finish a half-point above Aronian. Round eight was a cold shower for the American number-one when 26...Bf7?? allowed a killer knight sacrifice. Sevian would ultimately earn $1,500, tied with Caruana.

The American Cup Blitz took place in the Chase Park Plaza hotel in St. Louis. Photo: Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Chess Club.

And then we get to the last round, when Antipov had Nakamura on the ropes after some clever opening preparation. Nakamura told Chirila: "I walked into some prep, no doubt Antipov prepared this for Fabiano at some point or another, there's zero doubt in my mind, so I kind of was playing something that was not pure chess."

There were many twists and turns, but the biggest highlight was Antipov rejecting the offer to repeat moves with 45.Rxe4!. It turns out that, indeed, White was objectively winning, though in the mad time scramble Nakamura came out on top with the full point.

Reflecting on the two weeks in St. Louis, Nakamura said, "the last couple of games leave a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth, but at the end of the day the result is quite good." In both events, he "played very well when it mattered," and his first match against GM Abhimanyu Mishra in the main event, which he said he could have lost, was a wakeup call.

Well, Nakamura woke up.

How to rewatch?

You can rewatch the event on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube or Twitch channels. You can watch coverage of Nakamura's games on his Kick and YouTube channels. You can also check out the games on our dedicated events page.

GMs Yasser Seirawan, Ioan-Cristian Chirila, and WGM Katerina Nemcova hosted the broadcast.

The 2025 American Cup Blitz was a nine-round Swiss tournament that took place the day after the American Cup. One hundred titled players were invited by the organizers to participate. The time control was 3+2 and the prize fund was $21,700.

Previous coverage:

Nakamura Wins Another $5,000 In American Cup Blitz

12-Year-Old Megan Paragua Hits 2506 Performance During Grenke Open, Breaks 2300

6 Things We Learned, 1 Thing We Already Knew — Grenke Chess Freestyle Open