R Praggnanandhaa Leads St. Louis Rapid Phase of Grand Chess Tour

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa opened the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz with an unbeaten run, scoring 2.5 points from his first three rapid games and defeating top players including Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana. After nine rounds of the rapid section, he finished atop the standings with 12 points out of a possible 18, despite a loss to Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest in the final round. Praggnanandhaa remains one point ahead of Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, with Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Leinier Domínguez Perez and Vincent Keymer all within striking distance. The tournament now moves to an 18‑game blitz segment, where each win is worth one point and the overall prize pool totals $200,000, $50,000 of which goes to the champion. Praggnanandhaa will aim to convert his rapid lead into overall victory as the Grand Chess Tour finals approach later this year.