Praggnanandhaa or So – Who will win Sinquefield Cup 2026?

R Praggnanandhaa got the better of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to join the lead with Wesley So after Round 8 of Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup 2026.

Sindarov, Keymer and Praggnanandhaa score

Sinquefield Cup 2026 is poised for an exciting finish. Both Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) and Vincent Keymer (GER) scored a win each in the penultimate round against Jorden van Foreest (NED) and Fabiano Caruana (USA) respectively. They are now a half point behind the coleaders, Wesley So (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa. The last round will determine who will play in the Finals of Grand Chess Tour 2026 season.

MVL – Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

The World Blitz 2021 champion, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2713) and R Praggnanandhaa (2750) have played nine Classical rated games against each other. MVL won one and the remaining eight ended in draws. This is the first Classical win for Praggnanandhaa against MVL.

Position after 13.Nxg5

White made a thematic sacrifice of his knight for two pawns 13.Nxg5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 Kg7 15.cxd4 Qd7 16.Qd2 Ng8 17.Nc3 f6 18.Bf4 Kh8 19.Rad1 Rf7 20.Ne2 Rg7 21.Ng3 Qf7 22.e5 Be6 23.exd6 cxd6 24.Bxd6 Rd8 25.Qf4 Bd5 26.f3?? was the final mistake Qg6 27.Kh2 Bb6 threatening Rxd6 followed by Bc7. It was over. With this win Praggnanandhaa joined Wesley So in the lead.

R Praggnanandhaa scored a crucial win over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) in the penultiate round | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Sam Sevian (USA) – Wesley So (USA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Anish Giri (NED) and Levon Aronian (USA) played a 157-move marathon draw | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) got the better of Jorden van Foreest (NED) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Vincent Keymer (GER) played a fantastic positional game to outplay Fabiano Caruana (USA) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Round 8 in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Replay live stream

Replay Round 8 live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Maurice Ashley and Cristian Chirila, and IMs Nazi Paikidze and Almira Skripchenko | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Round 8 games

Schedule and Format

There will be one round per day from 10th to 19th August. Rest day is on 15th August. 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 will be 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.

Prize

The total prize fund in Sinquefield Cup is $475000: a $350000 base prize fund plus a $125000. The base first-place prize is $100,000, while the bonus pool is divided into equal shares based on the total number of decisive games, with one share awarded for each win.

Round 8 results

Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer and R Praggnanandhaa were the victors in Round 8 | Graphic: Grand Chess Tour

Standings after Round 8

R Praggnanandhaa joined Wesley So at the top 5/8 | Graphic: Grand Chess Tour

Pairings and Results

Links

Buy tickets

Grand Chess Tour: Official site, Tournament Regulations