Praggnanandhaa Wins Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026
The young Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa gave a dominating display to take the crown at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026 Grand Chess Tour event. The 20-year-old Indian scored 23.5 points out of 36 and won the championship 1.5 points clear of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan. Praggnanandhaa had already sealed the title a round early by drawing with Sindarov in the penultimate round of the event. The triumph fetched him $50,000 and 13 Grand Chess Tour points that will make him stronger in the battle for the 2026 GCT Finals.
Praggnanandhaa led the event from start to finish and finally won the tournament with 23.5/36 score.
His most important game was in the penultimate round of the blitz section where he held an inferior position against Sindarov. This was enough for the championship with one round to go.
He concluded the event with yet another draw against Levon Aronian.
It is Praggnanandhaa’s first title of Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz.
The event was composed of the rapid portion followed by two rounds of blitz play.
Praggnanandhaa played excellently in rapid and established a strong lead, which he maintained during the blitz phase of the tournament.
Overall, he won only two out of 27 matches in the tournament, indicating the consistency in his game that led him to victory.
In the last nine rounds of blitz play, he secured three wins, drew five matches, and had only one loss. The most impressive thing about his play was maintaining the lead against all challenges from Sindarov who kept on pushing him.
The top players of the tournament included the following.
| Position | Player | Country | Points |
| 1 | R Praggnanandhaa | India | 23.5 |
| 2 | Javokhir Sindarov | Uzbekistan | 22.0 |
| 3 | Wesley So | USA | 20.5 |
| 4 | Levon Aronian | USA | 19.0 |
| 5 | Fabiano Caruana | USA | 17.0 |
| 6 | Leinier Dominguez Perez | USA | 17.0 |
| 7 | Jorden van Foreest | Netherlands | 17.0 |
| 8 | Anish Giri | Netherlands | 15.5 |
| 9 | Vincent Keymer | Germany | 14.5 |
| 10 | Awonder Liang | USA | 14.0 |
Praggnanandhaa’s 23.5 points was enough to give him a clear winning lead, and Wesley So finished third.
His victory in the tournament earned Praggnanandhaa a cash prize of $50,000.
Along with the cash prize, he earned 13 Grand Chess Tour points for securing the first place outright without needing any playoff. Sindarov got 10 GCT points and $40,000 while Wesley So earned 8 points and $30,000 for finishing third.
| Position | Player | GCT Points | Prize Money |
| 1 | Praggnanandhaa | 13 | $50,000 |
| 2 | Javokhir Sindarov | 10 | $40,000 |
| 3 | Wesley So | 8 | $30,000 |
| 4 | Levon Aronian | 7 | $20,000 |
| 5 | Fabiano Caruana | 5 | $20,000 |
| 5 | Jorden van Foreest | 5 | $12,000 |
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