St. Louis (USA), Aug 28: Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa became the first Indian to clinch the Grand Chess Tour title, beating Fabiano Caruana of the USA with a stunning comeback win in the grand finale here.
Praggnanandhaa made a remarkable turnaround on Thursday after trailing Caruana by six points at the start of the day at the Saint Louis Chess Club here.
The Indian eventually prevailed 15-13 to win his maiden GCT title and pocket USD 200,000 as the winning purse.
The title win also guaranteed Praggnanandhaa a spot in the next year’s Grand Chess Tour along with Caruana, and another American Wesley So, who defeated Vincent Keymer of Germany 18-12 to take the third place.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I had many chances today,” Praggnanandhaa told ‘Chess.com’.
“It’s not every day that you can get one win from Fabi, but to get two, it was important in the rapid.”
The 21-year-old Chennai-lad, who has been mentored by five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand, started the day six points behind, but pulled another rabbit out of the hat and took a lead of two points after winning both the rapid games (four points to winner per game).
It was even-stevens in the subsequent four games of blitz, with Praggnanandhaa and Caruana winning one each while the remaining two were drawn.
The two-point lead at the end of the rapid games proved decisive for the Indian Grandmaster.
The first game of the blitz section was a drawn affair before Caruana won the second to level the scores at 12-12.
A determined Praggnanandhaa prevailed over his opponent in the third game to restore his two-point lead (14-12).
Had Caruana won the last blitz game, he would have forced two more games with the peculiar time control, followed by armageddon.
But, a draw was enough for Praggnanandhaa to win the match, and he did just that to seal a famous title.
“Congratulations to Praggnanandhaa on winning his first-ever Grand Chess Tour title!” Grand Chess Tour’s official handle posted on ‘X’.
“Pragg defeats Fabiano Caruana in a thrilling final match to cap off an incredible season and claim the GCT crown for the first time in his career!
“What a comeback, what a fight, and what a way to become champion!”
Earlier this year, Praggnanandhaa had become the first Indian to win the Norway Chess title, a campaign that featured two wins over world number one and tournament favourite Magnus Carlsen. (PTI)
