For the first time held in South America, the GCT (Grand Chess Tour) finals, an international chess circuit founded in 2015 by former world champion Garry Kasparov, consecrated US Fabiano Caruana, 33, current third place in the world ranking.
In the decision of the 2025 edition held on Friday (3) at the WTC Event Center in São Paulo, the great master-the highest title in the hierarchy of players of the sport-the United States surpassed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, 34, which occupies the 17th post in the ranking of the FIDE (International Chess Federation).
For the victory, Caruana brought home an award of $ 150,000 ($ 780,000), while the finals distributed a total of $ 350,000 ($ 1.9 million).
The 2025 Grand Chess Tour featured preliminary steps in Poland, Romania, Croatia and the United States, with the best classified throughout the competition going to the final.
The tournament finals in the state capital also brought together the Indian Pragnanandhaa Rameshbabu, 5th in the world ranking, defeated by Vachier-Lagrave in the semifinals, and Armenian Levon Aronian, 23rd in the world, who lost to the champion.
Youngest chess player reaching the title of great master in the United States, as he was only 14 years old, in 2007, Caruana showed surprise with the size of the Brazilian audience that accompanied the competition in Sao Paulo.
“I think it’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen in virtually any event, perhaps from the World Championship,” said the champion.
Levon Aronian agreed. “The public is very active and attentive,” said the player Armenio, who beat the Indian Praggananandhaa to secure third place.
Four times American champion Caruana said after the victory that the confrontation against Vachier-Lagrave was waged predominantly under the mental aspect.
“It was not so much about styles, but about the spirit of struggle and psychology,” said the chess player, who had to overcome himself by getting the victory against the opponent after being at a disadvantage during the game series, which featured quick games [de menor intervalo entre as jogadas] and classic style.
The tournament in the south of São Paulo, which officially started on the 28th and featured a series of parallel events for fans of the sport, had the tickets sold out. The final recorded about 74,000 people watching simultaneously online, according to the organization.
The amount of audience also exceeded the expectations of the organization of the event. “People came from the four corners of the country to watch,” celebrated Davy D’Israel, 68, founder of Xeque & Mate, a promoter of events that negotiated with GCT organizers and sponsors – Saint Louis Chess Club and Superbet Foundation – the coming from the finals to Brazil.
The executive credited part of the increase of interest in the board game to the contents published on social networks by influencers and the series “The Gambit of the Queen”, from Netflix, which made the number of users in chess applications “triple or quadruplicate” in Brazil, estimated.
D’Israel also celebrated the great audience presence in the parallel tournaments held during the week, such as children’s disputes and aimed at amateur players. “We had 200 children [no torneio infantil]and could have had 500 [pelo tamanho da demanda]”, said the organizer, who bumped into logistical limitations of space and time to accommodate more people.
Gender inequality and lack of idols are pointed out as barriers
During the event, the theme of the search for greater gender equality in the sport was raised by some of the participants.
Great Ukrainian master Anastasiya Karlovich, 43, pointed to the discrepancy of women’s participation in the tournaments as an obstacle yet to be overcome by the sport so that it can become more popular with the general public.
“We still have fewer girls and women playing than men. It is usually a woman for every ten men,” said Anastasia, who came to Brazil to accompany the finals as a journalist of the event.
She defended the creation of more female events and reference centers as ways to encourage greater women’s participation in sport.
D’Israel assessed that the chess still lacks a large national idol to unleash in Brazil. “If we have in chess a child who stands out, who wins a world title, everyone will want to play,” he said, compared to the impact of the Guga Kuerten era, and now João Fonseca, in Brazilian tennis.
The organizer pointed out that the country has 14 players with the title of Great Master, but that they have to live with the lack of public recognition and support. “None have sponsorship. And when they want to evolve to a better level, they are required to go to Europe,” he said.
