Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa created history, becoming the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour after staging a stunning comeback to defeat defending champion Fabiano Caruana 15-13 in the final at St. Louis in the US last night. Praggnanandhaa started the final day six points behind Caruana but won both rapid games to take the lead.
He then held his ground in the four blitz games to seal a 15-13 victory, claim 2 lakh dollar first prize and also secure a guaranteed spot in next year’s Grand Chess Tour. In the third-place match, Wesley So also made a strong comeback against Vincent Keymer. After the players shared the rapid games, So won all four blitz games to seal an 18-12 victory. Earlier, Praggnanandhaa had lost the first classical game to Caruana 6-0 but drew the second game 3-3, keeping his hopes alive.
