BREAKING
Teen who left home after lunch found dead near railway trackVyas Model School beats Sai Model School in YMCA Kargil Victory Sports FestivalSon Of Gangster Atiq Ahmed Killed In A Road Accident In JhansiFatal Plane Crash Raises Questions Over US Military GPS JammingDeepika’s maternity leave to have no effect on ‘Raaka’; production stays on trackSC extends mediation in Kapur family trust row till NovemberPassenger held after allegedly trying to open emergency exit on Batik Air Flight | DetailsCJP’s Abhijeet Dipke Announces Nationwide Campaign ‘Kya Bolti Public’ To Adress “People’s Issues”OpenAI researcher Naomi Bashkansky quits to develop mind-reading AI‘Korean Kanakaraju’ advance bookings surge, Varun Tej set for biggest opening
Sports

R Praggnanandhaa tops St. Louis rapid standings, moves closer to Grand Chess Tour Finals

hellohimachalse@gmail.com 05 Aug 2026 21 hours ago

New Delhi: Indian Grandmaster has strengthened his chances of advancing to the Grand Chess Tour (GCT) Finals after finishing at the top of the rapid section standings at the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament on Tuesday. He scored 12 points from a possible 18 across nine rounds of the rapid event.

The 20-year-old showed remarkable consistency, with his only defeat coming in the final round against Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest. The result helped Praggnanandhaa to maintain his one-point lead heading into the crucial blitz segment of the tournament.

His campaign featured four wins and four draws before the last-round defeat, leaving him just narrowly ahead of Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, who is in the second position with 11 points. American Grandmaster Wesley occupies third position with 10 points.

Blitz Segment to decide champion

Topping the rapid standings has given Praggnanandhaa an advantage, but the tournament is still not over yet. The winner of the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz will be decided after 18 blitz matches, where each victory is worth one point, unlike the rapid section where victories earn two points.

If Praggnanandhaa had beaten Van Foreest in the final rapid round, he would have entered the blitz phase with a bigger advantage. Instead, he starts it with just a one-point lead over Sindarov, who remains strongly in contention for the trophy.

The tournament has a total prize pool of USD 200,000, with the winner receiving USD 50,000. For Praggnanandhaa, a strong finish could significantly boost his hopes of qualifying for the prestigious Grand Chess Tour Finals later this year.

Tough challenge ahead for Praggnanandhaa

Sindarov is expected to give Praggnanandhaa a tough challenge during the blitz stage, while Wesley So also remains in close distance. Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Vincent Keymer are tied on nine points and could make big gains in the faster format.

Keymer, in particular, is known as a dangerous player in blitz chess and could emerge as a dark horse if he manages to stitch together a series of victories. After the end of the rapid and blitz event, the players will turn their attention to the Sinquefield Cup, the final classical tournament on the Grand Chess Tour calendar.

 

Related News