Praggnanandhaa clinches St Louis Rapid and Blitz crown with round to spare

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won the Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid and Blitz title on August 7, securing the championship with one round remaining after drawing his penultimate-round game against Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov.

The 20-year-old finished on 23 points out of a possible 35, ending the tournament 1.5 points clear of the rest of the field.

Announcing the achievement on X, ChessBase India hailed the victory as Praggnanandhaa's first title in a Rapid and Blitz tournament.

"Its 2:16 AM in India right now, and we have huge news coming in from the USA. R. Praggnanandhaa is the Champion of Grand Chess Tour St. Louis Rapid and Blitz with a round to spare!" the post read.

It added that the Indian Grandmaster sealed the title after drawing with Sindarov in the penultimate round and congratulated him and his team on the achievement.

The latest triumph continues an impressive run for Praggnanandhaa this year. In June, he won the Norway Chess 2026 title in Oslo after defeating Germany's Vincent Keymer in the final round. The victory capped a remarkable comeback, with the Indian registering four successive classical wins to claim one of the biggest titles of his career.

Following his Norway Chess success, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay honoured Praggnanandhaa at the Secretariat in Chennai earlier this week and presented him with a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh on behalf of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The Chief Minister also played a game of chess with the Grandmaster during the felicitation ceremony.