R. Praggnanandhaa won the Grand Chess Tour Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026 title, sealing the championship with a round to spare. The Indian grandmaster finished on 23.5 points, a clear 1.5 points ahead
of Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, and collected the $50,000 first prize. He later called it his best Rapid and Blitz result ever, and the week in Saint Louis fully backed that up. Praggnanandhaa took control early in the Rapid section and never really looked like losing it.
He continued his good form, losing only one game in the blitz and collected 11.5 points out of a possible 18. He carried a one-point cushion into the Blitz, steadily stretched the lead and stayed solid on the final day. There was no late drama or sudden collapse. The 20 year old kept finding good moves while several strong players around him had tougher stretches. Across five days of Rapid and Blitz against a high-quality field, he remained remarkably steady and rarely looked troubled.
Grand Chess Tour Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026 – Final Standings
|
Rank |
Player |
Points |
|
1 |
R Praggnanandhaa (India) |
23.5 |
|
2 |
Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) |
22 |
|
3 |
Wesley So (USA) |
20.5 |
|
4 |
Levon Aronian (USA) |
19 |
|
5 |
Fabiano Caruana (USA) |
17 |
|
6 |
Lenier Dominguez Perez (USA) |
17 |
|
7 |
Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands) |
17 |
|
8 |
Anish Giri (Netherlands) |
15.5 |
|
9 |
Vincent Keymer (Germany) |
14.5 |
|
10 |
Awonder Liang (USA) |
14 |
The final Grand Chess Tour event begins on Sunday and will be played under the classical format. A top-three finish there would further strengthen what has already been an impressive season for Praggnanandhaa. Earlier this year he also won the Norway Chess title, finishing ahead of world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen.
