Saint Louis Rapid 2026: Praggnanandhaa beats Aronian and Caruana consecutively

By admin August 3, 2026 0 comments

R Praggnanandhaa made a great start at Grand Chess Tour Saint Louis Rapid 2026. He is now an early sole leader 5/6.

Praggnanandhaa gains early sole lead

R Praggnanandhaa started the event with a draw against World Blitz 2008 champion, Leinier Dominguez Perez. Then he defeated the defending champion, Levon Aronian in the second round, followed by World no.2 , Fabiano Caruana in the third. Praggnanandhaa is currently at 5/6. Javokhir Sindarov and Wesley So are at 4/6 each.

R Praggnanandhaa is the early sole leader 5/6 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

R Praggnanandhaa played a well-contested draw against World Blitz 2008 champion, Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 2: Praggnanandhaa – Aronian: 2-0

R Praggnanandhaa (2701) had never beaten Levon Aronian (USA, 2750) in a rated Rapid game. They played five games, three of them ended in draws and Aronian won two. That statistic was changed yesterday as Praggnanandhaa scored his win against Aronian in rated Rapid game.

Position after 22.b4

22.b4 is a nice invitation for Black to take the exchange which he did. 22…Bxa1 23.Nxe7 Qe6 24.Rxa1 Bxf3 25.Qc3+ Nf6 26.Bxc5 and White won the game in the next few moves.

R Praggnanandhaa defeated the only two-time World Cup winner in history, Levon Aronian (USA) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Caruana – Praggnanandhaa: 0-2

Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2701) and R Praggnanandhaa (2701) have played seven rated Rapid games against each other. Praggnanandhaa won one, Caruana two and the remaining four ended in draws. This time, Praggnanandhaa scored his second win in a Rapid rated game against Caruana.

Position after 34…Nxd4!?

34…Nxd4!? is interesting practical decision. Black gives up two of his minor pieces for a rook. 35.Bxd4 Rxc1 36.Bxa7 Nc6 37.Bb6 g5 38.Kg2 gxf4 39.Nd3 Rc3 40.Nc5?

Position after 40.Nc5?

40.Nc5? self-trapped White’s bishop Rb8 41.Nd7 Rb7 42.Nf6+ Kf7 43.Bf2 Nxe5 44.Nxe5+ Kxf6 and Black went on to win the game by overpowering with his pawns.

Fabiano Caruana (USA) lost to R Praggnnanandhaa who scored his second consecutive win of the day | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Interview with R Praggnanandhaa | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay live stream

Replay Rapid Round 1-3 live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley, IMs Nazi Paikidze and Irene Sukandar | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Rapid Round 1-3 games

Schedule and Format

Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz will have three rounds per day in the Rapid portion from 2nd to 4th August. The Blitz event will take place on 5th and 6th August. It will be a double round-robin event for the Blitz which means nine rounds will be played on each day. Round 1 starts at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control for Rapid will be 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment. For Blitz it is, 5 minutes + 2 seconds increment.