The 20-year-old amassed 23.5 points, finishing well ahead of Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, a notable contender in the world championship cycle.
After not losing any matches on the final day of the last rapid and blitz event in the Grand Chess Tour, Praggnanandhaa rose to second place in the GCT, nearly ensuring his participation in the grand finale scheduled later this year. He will need to maintain his form in the upcoming season’s final tournament, which will be conducted in the Classical format.
Following a narrow victory in the rapid section against Sindarov, Pragg dropped just one match in the blitz format, securing the necessary wins to finish with 11.5 points from a possible 18.
Sindarov, who was a point behind Praggnanandhaa after the rapid section, settled for second place with a total of 22 points, while Wesley So of the United States took third place with an overall score of 20 points.
Thanks to his victory, Praggnanandhaa moved up to second in the overall GCT rankings, with much depending on his performance in the upcoming tournament set to begin this weekend.
The withdrawal of Alireza Firoujza from France has had a beneficial impact on the sole Indian participant in the tour. Firoujza mentioned scheduling conflicts ahead of the last two events, and all his accumulated points were removed as per the prior agreement. Praggnanandhaa will need to focus during the Classical event starting on Sunday, as a top-three finish would mark yet another significant achievement for the Indian, who earlier this year triumphed at the Norway Classic against Magnus Carlsen.
Final standing: 1. R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 23.5); 2. Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 22); 3. Wesley So (USA, 20.5); 4. Levon Aronian (USA, 19); 5-7. Fabiano Caruana (USA), Lenier Dominguez Perez (USA), Jorden Van Foreest (Ned) 17 each; 8. Anish Giri (Ned, 15.5); 9. Vincent Keymer (Ger, 14.5); 10. Awonder Liang (USA, 14).
