Sinquefield Cup: Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa stormed into the second round of the ongoing Sinquefield Cup hosted by Missouri, United States of America (USA). The 21-year-old beat Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov as he held his nerves well to tilt the scales in his favour despite the contest remaining in the balance for the most part. The loss for Sindarov could dent his confidence ahead of the World Championship Match against Gukesh D later this year in Geneva, Switzerland.
Sinquefield Cup 2026: R Praggnanandhaa tied with Fabiano Caruana at the top
Praggnanandhaa secured the victory after a marathon encounter that remained largely balanced for most of the game. However, Sindarov blundered on the 82nd move, allowing the Indian to find a series of accurate responses before the Uzbek player resigned 13 moves later. With the win, Praggnanandhaa has collected 1.5 points from two rounds and is tied at the top of the standings with Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
Meanwhile, Indian players endured a difficult second round at the Cairns Cup in St. Louis, with R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy managing just half a point between them, according to ESPN. Vaishali drew against Bibisara Assaubayeva, while Divya suffered a defeat against Alice Lee and Humpy went down to Tan Zhongyi.
Vaishali and Humpy have 0.5 points each after two rounds, while Divya has one point. Zhongyi and Lee lead the standings with two wins from as many rounds. Earlier this month, Praggnanandhaa secured the Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid and Blitz title. The 20-year-old drew against Javokhir Sindarov during the penultimate round to seal the tournament with a score of 23/35 points, finishing 1.5 points ahead of everyone else.
In June, the Indian Grandmaster scripted history by claiming the Norway Chess 2026 crown in Oslo after defeating Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the tenth and final round. The victory completed a remarkable late surge by the Indian star, who registered four consecutive classical wins to secure one of the biggest titles of his career. Following this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday felicitated the Indian Grandmaster and presented him with a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh on behalf of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu. The felicitation ceremony was held at the Chief Secretariat in Chennai, where the Chief Minister also played a game of chess with the 20-year-old Grandmaster.
(With inputs from ANI)
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