Praggnanandhaa set to battle Aronian, Caruana, Sindarov, So and co. at Grand Chess Tour Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz 2026
The fourth leg of Grand Chess Tour 2026 is Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz. It will take place from 2nd to 6th August at Saint Louis Chess Club in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
Aronian is the defending champion
The defending champion, Levon Aronian will aim to defend his crown, R Praggnanandhaa will be seen in action along with Fabiano Caruana, Javokhir Sindarov, Vincent Keymer, Wesley So, Anish Giri, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Jorden van Foreest and Awonder Liang. Alireza Firouzja, a full-tour participant, has withdrawn from Sinquefield Cup. According to player agreement, he has withdrawn from both Sinquefield Cup and Grand Chess Tour 2026.
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.
Participants
The lineup includes the World no.2 – Fabiano Caruana (USA), World no.4 – Javokhir Sindarov (UZB), World no.5 – Vincent Keymer (GER), World no.6 – Wesley So (USA), World no.7 – Anish Giri (NED), World no.12 – R Praggnanandhaa, World no.17 – Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA), World no.19 – Jorden van Foreest (NED), World no.23 – Levon Aronian (USA) and World no.36 – Awonder Liang (USA).
R Praggnanandhaa will be the sole Indian taking part in this event | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour
Prize
The total prize fund for each of the Rapid and Blitz event is US$ 200000. The top three prizes are US$50000, $40000 and $30000.
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