St. Louis, 07 August (H.S.): Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa delivered a stunning performance to win the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) St. Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026 title with one round still remaining. The 20-year-old chess prodigy secured the championship after drawing his penultimate round match against Uzbekistan’s Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov on Thursday.

Praggnanandhaa maintained his lead throughout the five-day tournament. Sindarov continued to challenge him until the very end, but eventually finished 1.5 points behind the Indian star.

Speaking after clinching the title, Praggnanandhaa said, “When you look at the score, everything appears easy and smooth, but in reality, it was not like that at all. This tournament was extremely challenging and exciting. I would like to give credit to Javokhir, as he fought brilliantly until the end.”

With this victory, Praggnanandhaa earned a prize money of US$50,000 along with 13 Grand Chess Tour points. The win also helped him move to second place in the 2026 Grand Chess Tour season standings, behind American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana.

Sindarov, who finished as the runner-up, said, “I gave my best effort, but Prag played really well. Sometimes playing well alone is not enough; you also need luck to be on your side.”

The Grand Chess Tour season will now conclude with the Sinquefield Cup, which begins on August 10. The prestigious classical tournament will feature Praggnanandhaa along with most of the top players who competed in the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz event.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar