2025 United States Chess Championship

US Chess Championships 2025
Fabiano Caruana, the defending champion, secured his fourth consecutive title at the 2025 Championships
Venue	Saint Louis Chess Club
Location	St. Louis, Missouri
Dates	11–25 October 2025
Competitors	12
Winning score	8 points out of 11
Total prize money	$250,000
Champion
Fabiano Caruana
←  2024 2026  →

The 2025 edition of the United States Chess Championship took place at the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri from 11 October to 25 October 2025. As with every United States Chess Championship tournament since 2014, it was a round-robin tournament. ^[1] Twelve players were invited to compete. Besides the reigning US champion, these included the winners of the US Open Chess Championship and the US Junior Championship. The remaining players were chosen by highest invitational rating, or were selected by the United States Chess Federation (USCF) as wildcards.

The twelve qualifiers were Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hans Niemann, Levon Aronian, Awonder Liang, Samuel Sevian, Ray Robson, Grigoriy Oparin, Andy Woodward, Abhimanyu Mishra, Sam Shankland and Dariusz Świercz, all of whom are grandmasters.

Fabiano Caruana won the tournament, finishing half a point ahead of runner-up Wesley So.

Participants

All statistics are as of October 2025 in FIDE ratings.

Participants ^[2]

Player	Age	Rating	World ranking	Qualification method [1]
Fabiano Caruana	33	2789	3	2024 Champion
Wesley So	31	2756	8	Rating
Hans Niemann	22	2738	15	Rating
Levon Aronian	42	2722	23	Rating
Awonder Liang	22	2710	30	Rating
Samuel Sevian	24	2698	33	Rating
Ray Robson	30	2664	52	Rating
Grigoriy Oparin	28	2661	58	Rating
Sam Shankland	34	2654	63	Rating
Abhimanyu Mishra	16	2651	68	Wildcard
Andy Woodward	15	2590	187	2025 US Junior Champion
Dariusz Świercz	31	2577	229	2025 US Open Champion

Organization

The tournament was a twelve-player, round-robin tournament, meaning there were 11 rounds with each player facing the others once. The tournament winner will become the United States Chess Champion.

Regulations

• The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game. There is a 30-second increment starting on move one.
• Players are not allowed to draw by agreement.
• The event is a 12-player round-robin, where every player plays once against every other player on the field.
• Players get 1 point for a win, 0.5 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.
• The player with the most points at the end of the last round wins the event.

Tie breaks

While there was no tie for first place, such a situation would have been addressed as follows:

If two players tie for first a two-game 15+10 rapid match will take place. If there remains a tie, a single armageddon game will occur.

If three or four players tie for first a single round-robin in the 15+10 rapid time control will take place

If two players remain tied, they contest a two-game 5+2 blitz match. If the tie persists, an armageddon game decides the winner.

If three or more players remain tied, they contest a 5+2 round-robin.

If more than four players tie for first players will contest a 5+2 round-robin. If the round-robin ends in a tie, a series of armageddon games decide the winner. ^[3]

Prize money

The event featured a $250,000 prize fund, distributed as follows: ^[1]

Place	Cash prize (USD)
1st	$55,000 (+$7,000 winner bonus)
2nd	$43,000
3rd	$35,000
4th	$25,000
5th	$20,000
6th	$14,000
7th	$11,000
8th	$10,000
9th	$9,000
10th	$8,000
11th	$7,000
12th	$6,000

Results

Standings

Fabiano Caruana won the tournament with a score of 8/11.

#	Player	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Points
1	Fabiano Caruana	2789	Does not appear	½	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	8
2	Wesley So	2756	½	Does not appear	½	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	7.5
3	Levon Aronian	2722	½	½	Does not appear		½	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	6.5
4	Samuel Sevian	2698	½	½	½	Does not appear	1	0	1	½	½	½	½	½	6
5	Hans Niemann	2738	0	½	½	0	Does not appear	0	½	1	½	1	½	1	5.5
6	Andy Woodward	2590	½	0	0	1	1	Does not appear	0	½	½	½	1	½	5.5
7	Grigoriy Oparin	2661	0	½	½	0	½	1	Does not appear	½	½	½	½	½	5
8	Awonder Liang	2710	½	½	½	½	0	½	½	Does not appear	1	½	0	½	5
9	Ray Robson	2664	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	0	Does not appear	½	½	½	4.5
10	Sam Shankland	2654	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	Does not appear	1	1	4.5
11	Dariusz Świercz	2577	0	0	½	½	½	0	½	1	½	0	Does not appear	½	4
12	Abhimanyu Mishra	2652	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	½	0	½	Does not appear	4

References

1. "2025 U.S. Chess Championships". uschesschamps.com. Retrieved 2025-10-03.
2. "Fields set for 2025 US Chess Championships". ChessBase.com. Retrieved 2025-10-03.
3. "2025 U.S. & U.S. Women's Championships Regulations & Schedule of Events" (PDF). saintlouischessclub.org. Retrieved 2025-10-03.