Now Reading: Praggnanandhaa seals St. Louis Rapid and Blitz title with round to spare
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Praggnanandhaa seals St. Louis Rapid and Blitz title with round to spare
Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa won the Grand Chess Tour St. Louis Rapid and Blitz title with a round to spare, finishing with 23 points. He led from start to finish, fending off…
The Story in Brief
Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa won the Grand Chess Tour St. Louis Rapid and Blitz title with a round to spare, finishing with 23 points. He led from start to finish, fending off a strong challenge from Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov, who finished second with 22 points. The 20-year-old earned $50,000 and 13 Grand Chess Tour points, moving him to second place in the standings behind Fabiano Caruana.
Praggnanandhaa credited the presence of his sister Vaishali, herself a grandmaster and contender for the women's world title, for helping him discuss the game. The win caps a strong run that included victory at Norway Chess in June. He will now compete in the Sinquefield Cup, the final event before the Grand Chess Tour finals.
The Indian Opinion
The temptation is to call this another chapter in India's chess fairy tale, but Praggnanandhaa's win is grounded in hard graft, not magic. He finished last in this tournament a year ago; the improvement is methodical. Sister Vaishali's presence is a charming angle, but the story remains his own resilience. The real test awaits at the Sinquefield Cup, a classical format where he struggled in 2024. Can he sustain this momentum against the world's best?
Sources (2): hindustantimes.com, assamtribune.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
