Clutch Chess Returns
By Cameron W. · Mon, 26 Oct 2026
Clutch Chess Returns to Saint Louis With Carlsen Gone and Sindarov Weeks From His Gukesh Match: Who Takes the Champions Showdown?
Last year Magnus Carlsen turned the Champions Showdown into a procession. This year he is not in Saint Louis, and the four players who are will find out quickly how much a missing favorite changes things. Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Javokhir Sindarov play from October 27 to 29 at the Saint Louis Chess Club, with $425,000 at stake.
A format built to punish a slow start
The event is three double round-robins, one per day. Each player meets each opponent twice a day, once with each color, at 10 minutes plus a 5-second increment, so every player has six games a day and 18 in all. What sets it apart is the scoring. A win is worth one point on day one, two on day two and three on day three, which means the last afternoon carries three times the weight of the first. Draws are worth a half point on day one and a full point on days two and three, according to ChessBase.
Black cannot offer a draw before completing move 60. Money tied to drawn games builds into a Champion's Jackpot that goes to the winner on top of first prize, though the amount has not been published. A two-way tie for first goes to one Armageddon game, and a three- or four-way tie to an Armageddon round-robin. First prize is $125,000, with $94,000, $72,000 and $62,000 below it, plus per-win bonuses of $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 by day. Play starts at noon local time, with Maurice Ashley and Yasser Seirawan commentating on the club's YouTube and Twitch channels.
What the format did last time
It rewarded the player who finished best. Gukesh led after day one, but Carlsen's four straight wins on the last day took him to 25½ points, nine clear of Caruana on 16½, with Nakamura on 14 and Gukesh on 10. With no defending champion this time, the field is open in a way it was not in 2025.
The four form guides
Praggnanandhaa arrives with the strongest recent story. In August he became the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour, beating Caruana 15-13 in the Finals in Saint Louis after trailing by six points going into the last day. A format that pays triple on the final afternoon should suit a player who has just done that.
Caruana comes off a bruising few weeks. He finished level with Wesley So on 7/11 at the U.S. Championship and lost the rapid playoff 1.5-0.5, so he is back at the same club trying to answer that. Nakamura, meanwhile, remains the fastest player in the field online. Chess.com credited him with his 63rd Bullet Brawl title in early August.
Sindarov has the most riding on it. He won the Candidates in April, with a round to spare, and meets Gukesh in Geneva in November. Game 1 is on November 24, after an opening ceremony on November 22, under FIDE's revised schedule. He has called that match the toughest event of his life. Rapid chess is a different test from a 14-game classical match, so a strong week here proves little about Geneva, but a poor one would invite questions.
What to watch
Whether Praggnanandhaa's late-comeback habit carries over to a format that is won on day three, and how Sindarov handles ten-minute pressure with the world title match approaching. Gukesh is not in the field.
