Saint Louis Blitz 2026: Praggnanandhaa increases his sole lead

By admin August 6, 2026 0 comments

R Praggnanandhaa increased his sole lead by 1.5 points after the first nine rounds of Blitz at Grand Chess Tour 2026 Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz.

Sindarov misses a win against Praggnanandhaa

R Praggnanandhaa maintained his sole lead 18/27, scoring an unbeaten 6/9 in the first nine rounds of Blitz. He started the day with a win over Vincent Keymer. Then he drew the next three games, before winning against Jorden van Foreest. He drew once again, then defeated Leinier Dominguez Perez and finished the day with two more draws.

Javokhir Sindarov is at 16.5/27, followed by Wesley So 15/27. Sindarov was winning for the better part of the endgame against R Praggnanandhaa in the eighth round of Blitz. However, he missed his opportunity in the pawn endgame allowing Praggnanandhaa to escape with a draw.

R Praggnanandhaa is still the sole leader 18.5/27 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

R Praggnanandhaa started the Blitz event with a win over Vincent Keymer (GER) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 3 in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Sindarov- Praggnanandhaa, Round 8

Position after 42…h6+

The FIDE World Cup 2025 winner and World Championship Challenger was winning the better part of the endgame against R Praggnanandhaa. However, in the above position, he misplayed 43.Kf4?? Ke6!= 44.Kf3 g5 45.Kg3 Ke7 46.hxg5 hxg5 47.Kf3 Ke6 48.Kg3 Ke7 49.Kf3 and the game ended in a draw. The win would have helped Sindarov to reduce the gap between him and the sole leader, Praggnanandhaa.

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) missed a great opportunity to reduce the gap with R Praggnanandhaa | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Wesley So is at 15/27 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Replay live stream

Replay Blitz Round 1-9 live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley, IMs Nazi Paikidze and Irene Sukandar | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Blitz Round 1-9 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.