Grandmaster (GM) Titas Stremavicius (Lithuania) eliminated GM Wesley So (USA), one of the top 10 players in the world, from the FIDE World Cup 2025. In their first game, Stremavicius, an alumnus of The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), had drawn as Black. As White on November 5, 2025, he had a time advantage in a complicated endgame. With less than a minute and a half left on his clock, So resigned. Stremavicius moved on to round 3 of the World Cup.
Homegrown Grandmasters
I last saw Stremavicius on October 7, 2023, at a reunion of UTD chess team members. He is one of several chess players to have become a GM while enrolled at UTD. The other homegrown GMs at the reunion were Rahul Peddi, Julio Sadorra, Ivan Schitco, and Guillermo Vazquez. Not at the reunion but becoming GMs during their UTD chess team years: David Brodsky, Brian Escalante, Conrad Holt, and Denis Kadric.
Stremavicius graduated from UTD in May of 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics. He was a member of the UTD chess team from August of 2016 until he graduated.
Stalemate Surprise
Computers evaluate the final position of Stremavicius versus So as equal, 0.00. But one can understand why So resigned. It looks like So, playing Black, will lose all his pawns. Then White will promote a pawn and checkmate.
The time control was 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. When he began considering whether to resign or to play his 72nd move, So had one minute and 21 seconds on his clock. The video of the game is at this link.
Black has two surprising ways to secure a draw. One is by getting himself stalemated. If White doesn’t want to stalemate Black, then the draw will be via three-time repetition of position.
Had the game been drawn, Stremavicius and So would have played tiebreak games on November 6. But since Stremavicius won, he finished with 1.5-.5 against So in their two Classical games. That meant he won their round 2 match.
World Cup Information
Here is information about the FIDE World Cup 2025, quoted from its website:
The FIDE World Cup 2025 takes place on the beautiful shores of Goa, India, from October 30 to November 27. The world’s best chess players compete in a dramatic knock-out format for a share of USD 2,000,000 in prize money — and for one of three coveted spots in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. With every round a win-or-go-home battle, the World Cup delivers immense tension, unforgettable moments, and a celebration of chess set against Goa’s vibrant culture and warm hospitality.
