Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa clinched his maiden Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title in emphatic fashion, sealing the championship with a round to spare here.

The 20-year-old finished with 23.5 points, comfortably ahead of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, the contender for the world championship title this year.

Not losing any games on the final day of the last rapid and blitz tournament in the Grand Chess Tour (GCT), Praggnanandhaa jumped to second spot in the GCT which almost guarantees him a place in the grand finale scheduled later this year.

The Indian will just have to keep up his form in the last tournament of the season, the Sinquefield Cup, which will be played under the Classical format from August 10 to 19.

After winning the rapid section with a marginal one-point lead against Sindarov, Praggnanandhaa lost only one game in the blitz and scored the requisite victories to end up with 11.5 points out of a possible 18.

Sindarov, who was trailing Praggnanandhaa by a full point after the rapid section, had to be content with the second spot on 22 points whereas Wesley So of the United States came third, scoring 20 points overall.

Praggnanandhaa jumped to second spot in the overall GCT rankings following his triumph and much would depend on how he performs in the Sinquefield Cup starting on the weekend.

The withdrawal of Alireza Firouzja of France from the GCT has impacted positively on the lone Indian on the tour. Firouzja cited scheduling issues ahead of the last two events and his entire points earned thus far were removed as per the pre-agreement.

Praggnanandhaa will have to watch out in the Classical event that starts on Sunday and if he ends up in top three, it will be another great result for the Indian who won the Norway Chess title ahead of Magnus Carlsen earlier this year.

“I am super happy with the result (winning the St Louis Rapid & Blitz) and overall about the game quality. This is the first major rapid and blitz victory, so I’m really happy about it,” said Praggnanandhaa on ‘X’ after the triumph in the elite 10-man field.

“I want to thank my whole team and family for their amazing support. Next I’ll play in the Sinquefield Cup, which will start in three days. So, there is not much time to rest and it’s also the event before the GCT final. It’s going to be really exciting,” the young Grandmaster added.

Final standing: 1. R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 23.5); 2. Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 22); 3. Wesley So (USA, 20.5); 4: Levon Aronian (USA, 19) 5-7. Fabiano Caruana (USA); Lenier Dominguez Perez (USA), Jorden Van Foreest (Ned) 17 each; 8. Anish Giri (Ned, 15.5); 9. Vincent Keymer (Ger, 14.5) 10. Awonder Leong (USA, 14).

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa topped the rapid section of the St. Louis Rapid and blitz, scoring 12 points out of a possible 18 to keep his hopes alive for a place in the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) finals to be held later this year.

The Indian, who is no longer a part of 2026 World Championship, displayed some immaculate technique, precision and the will to win in the rapid section that spanned over nine rounds in this annual edition that is a part of professional chess for several years now.

Praggnanandhaa lost the ninth and final round in the rapid section to Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest but still managed to retain a one-point lead, finishing ahead of Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, who will challenge D. Gukesh in the World Championship title showdown later this year.

However, the GCT’s last rapid and blitz event is not just based on the rapid section but there are 18 more blitz games to be played before the winner is determined for the $200,000 prize pool out of which $50,000 goes to the champion.

Had Praggnanandhaa defeated van Foreest, he would have entered the blitz section with a more comfortable lead, a margin that could have proved crucial in his pursuit of the overall title.

Four wins, each worth two points, and four draws helped Praggnanandhaa finish atop the standings with 12 points despite a solitary loss in the final round. With the rapid section behind him, the Indian will now turn his attention to the 18-game blitz segment, where each win carries one point.

Sindarov is followed by Wesley So of the U.S. on 10 points followed by a pack of four players — Levon Aronian of United States, Anish Giri of Holland, Cuban-turned-American Leinier Dominguez Perez and Vincent Keymer of Germany — who all have nine points apiece and will fancy their chances in the faster version of the game.

While Sindarov remains a huge threat being just a point behind Praggnanandhaa, Keymer is the other Grandmaster who can make anyone bite the dust when he is in good form.

The 10-players round-robin will be followed by the Sinquefield Cup which will be a Classical event.

Final standing after rapid: 1. R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 12); 2. Javokhir SIndarov (Uzb, 11);3. Wesley So (USA, 11); 4-7: Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA), Anish Giri (Ned) Vincent Keymer (Ger) 9 each; 8-9; Fabiano Caruana (USA), Jorden Van Foreest (Ned) 8 each; 10. Awonder Leong (USA, 5).

Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa won three matches in a row on the final day to tie for first place with Firouzja Alireza of France on 12 points as the rapid section of the Croatian leg of the Grand Chess Tour ended in Zagreb.

Having fallen a little behind after the second day, Praggnanandhaa reserved his best for the last three rounds and defeated Ivan Saric of Croatia, Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania and Anish Giri of the Netherlands to finally catch up with Alireza.

The other Frenchman, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan remained within striking distance of the two leaders with a fine finish in the rapid section to reach 11 points, while world champion D. Gukesh of India and Vincent Keymer of Germany are right on their toes with 10 points each.

With 18 rounds in the blitz section still to be played, Giri is on eight points and is a full point ahead of Deac and Jorden van Foreest of the Netherlands while Saric stands last with just two points in his bag.

For Praggnanandhaa, things started moving right after the opening against Saric, who has been struggling in the event. The Caro-Kann defence gave the Indian an active position right from the beginning, and though it took a long time to convert, Praggnanandhaa was always in command.

In the second game, Praggnanandhaa crashed through the defences of Deac out of a Petroff defence, and by move 15, the writing was already on the wall. The Romanian lost a piece soon and never recovered.

In the final game of the day, Praggnanandhaa was on fire against generally dependable Anish Giri as he won a pawn out of a Catalan opening and then ended the game efficiently with fine tactical manoeuvres. The game ended in a mere 34 moves.

For Gukesh, this turned out to be a contrasting day compared to Praggnanandhaa, as the youngest ever world champion could only draw all the three games to fall behind a little. Abdusattorov, Keymer and Alireza all split points with Gukesh.

Standings after Round 9 Rapid

1-2: Firouzja Alireza (Fra), R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) 12 each; 3-4: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 11 each; 5-6: D Gukesh (Ind), Vincednt Keymer (Ger) 10 each; 7: Anish Giri (Ned, 8); 8-9. Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou), Jorden van Foreest (Ned) 7 each; 10. Ivan Saric (Cro, 2).

Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa played out his fourth draw, signing peace with American Wesley So in the fifth round of the Super Chess Classic, a part of the Grand Chess Tour.

On a day without any decisive games, Germany’s Vincent Keymer maintained his half-point lead, moving up to 3.5 points. Praggnanandhaa shares the second spot with Dutch duo of Anish Giri and Jorden Van Foreest.

France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So share fifth place on 2.5 points each, while Fabiano Caruana of the United States and World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan trail closely on two points, with the latter having one game in hand.

Romanian Bogdan-Daniel Deac is ninth spot on 1.5 points, a half point ahead of Alireza Firouzja of France.

In the other games of the day, Keymer drew with the black pieces against Giri, Vachier-Lagrave shared the point with van Foreest, Sindarov drew with Firouzja, and Deac held Caruana to a draw.

Praggnanandhaa chose the Berlin defense against So, who did not show much intensity in the initial phase of the closed variation. As many as three minor pieces changed hands early in the middle game but thereafter Wesley gained the upper hand with some breakthrough on the king side.

Praggnanandhaa, to his credit, stayed put with some counter play and So just decided to repeat the position. The game lasted 45 moves.

Firouzja returned to the tournament after missing the previous round. The Frenchman had injured his ankle after the third round and requested permission to play his game against Sindarov from his room. The game eventually ended in a draw.

Keymer also chose the Berlin defense and faced little problems against Giri. The players quickly reached a rook-and-minor-piece endgame where the draw was a just result in a mere 32 moves.

Tuesday (May 19, 2026) is the lone rest day in the tournament and the battle will resume on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) with just four rounds remaining in this $3,50,000 prize money tournament.

Results round 5

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) drew with Jorden Van Foreest (Ned, 3); Wesley So (USA, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Bogdan-Daniel Deac (Rou, 1.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2); Aiireza Firouzja (Fra, 1) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 2); Anish Giri (Ned, 3) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3.5).