Praggnanandhaa becomes first Indian to win Grand Chess Tour title
R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Fabiano Caruana in the final of the Grand Chess Tour in St. Louis on Thursday (August 27, 2026), becoming the first Indian to win the title. The 21-year-old from Chennai came from behind after losing the opening classical game to seal a 15-13 victory across multiple formats.
The final featured classical, rapid, and blitz games. Caruana, the reigning champion and World No. 2, won the first classical game, capitalising on a rook blunder by Praggnanandhaa on the 28th move. In the second classical game, Praggnanandhaa held his own but an error allowed Caruana to force a draw after 95 moves. With a classical win worth six points and a draw worth three, Caruana led 9-3 at the halfway stage.
Praggnanandhaa turned the match around in the rapid section, where each win carried four points. He won both rapid games to take an 11-9 lead heading into the blitz portion. In the final blitz game, Praggnanandhaa needed only a draw; he secured it with perpetual checks, closing out the match at 15-13.
The victory is his second major success in St. Louis this month. A fortnight earlier, he won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, finishing 1.5 points ahead of Javokhir Sindarov, who is the challenger for this year's World Championship. Praggnanandhaa topped the standings on all five days of that event.
His recent run also includes a career-best performance at the Norway Chess tournament, where he beat World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen twice in Carlsen's hometown to claim the title. Carlsen, a five-time World champion, has previously described Praggnanandhaa's style as close to his own.
Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay praised Praggnanandhaa's ability to find winning chances. "He has a great sense of what is required to win, and it is not about a better position or a complex position," Thipsay told The Hindu. "He has a knack of where that initiative is and goes for non-simplification like Carlsen. And he goes beyond the book and is a very active player even when the positions are equal. He has become a very strong player practically."
These successes come after one of the toughest phases in Praggnanandhaa's career. He finished seventh among eight players at the Candidates tournament in Cyprus this year, a poor result that he has clearly moved past. If he continues in this form, Thipsay believes he will be a strong contender at the next Candidates. "Yes, he will be a great force," he said.
