Praggnanandhaa wins maiden Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won his maiden Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz title with a round to spare, finishing on 23.5 points. The victory lifted him to second in the Grand Chess Tour standings and strengthened his chances of qualifying for the season-ending finale

St. Louis (USA): 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, one of the contenders in the World Championship cycle.

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Without losing a game on the final day of the last Rapid & Blitz event in the Grand Chess Tour, Praggnanandhaa jumped to second spot in the GCT standings, which almost guarantees him a place in the grand finale scheduled later this year. The Indian will just have to maintain his form in the last tournament of the season, which will be played under the classical format.

After winning the rapid section with a narrow lead over Sindarov, Pragg lost only one game in the blitz section and scored the required victories to finish 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 second place on 22 points, while Wesley So of the United States finished third with 20.5 points overall.

Praggnanandhaa jumped to second spot in the overall GCT standings following his triumph, and much will depend on how he performs in the last tournament, which is scheduled to start over the weekend.

The withdrawal of Alireza Firouzja of France from the GCT has worked in favour of the lone Indian in the tour. Firouzja cited scheduling issues ahead of the last two events, and all the points he had earned so far were removed as per the pre-agreement.

Praggnanandhaa will have to stay consistent in the classical event that starts on Sunday, and if he finishes in the top three, it will be another outstanding result for the Indian, who won the Norway Chess tournament ahead of Magnus Carlsen earlier this year.

Final standings: 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 Liang (USA, 14).