In a remarkable comeback, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa beat American Fabiano Caruana on Thursday to win the 2026 Grand Chess Tour, the first Indian to win the title.
Having started the final day six points adrift of the American Grandmaster, Praggnanandhaa bounced back by winning two rapid games to bridge the gap before holding his lead in blitz to win the final tiebreak 15-13 and win the $200,000 top prize, Chess.com reported.
“It would have been nice to have it in the Candidates, but it’s still nice to win tournaments like this,” Praggnanandhaa was quoted as saying. He termed the Grand Chess Tour as “second to the world championship, because of the tradition”.
Earlier in the year, the 20-year-old Indian had won Norway Chess and the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz this year, his breakthrough season.
American Grandmaster Wesley So clinched the third spot by defeating Vincent Keymer 18-12 in their play-off, where he won all four rapid games after splitting two rapid games each, according to the Grand Chess Tour.
The top three players – Praggnanandhaa, Caruana and So – also clinched direct qualification spots for the 2027 Grand Chess Tour.
