Champion Fabiano Caruana (Photo by Lennart Ootes and Eric Rosen)
Fabiano Caruana emerged victorious at the 2025 Grand Chess Tour Finals, defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in an exciting final by a score of 15–13. The champion took home a $150,000 first prize.
Both semifinal matches — Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs. Praggnanandhaa R. and Fabiano Caruana vs. Levon Aronian — were decided in the faster time controls after all four classical games ended in draws. After a series of draws, Caruana won the third blitz game, which earned him a spot in the final.
In the other semifinal, Vachier-Lagrave took the lead by winning the first rapid game, but Praggnanandhaa narrowed the gap by prevailing in the second blitz encounter. However, the Frenchman shattered his opponent’s hopes by taking the third blitz game and advancing to the final.
The final match also turned into a thrilling battle in the rapid and blitz segments. After winning the first rapid game and drawing the second, MVL — a renowned blitz specialist — entered the blitz portion of the match with confidence, but Caruana had plans of his own. Somewhat unexpectedly, the American pulled off three straight wins, and sealed the title with a draw in the fourth blitz game.
In the match for third place, Aronian convincingly defeated Praggnanandhaa by a score of 20–8.
