Praggnanandhaa beats Keymer in St. Louis to seize 9-3 lead at GCT Grand Finale

R. Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer in St. Louis on August 25, 2026 to take a 9-3 lead and move closer to qualifying for the finals of the Grand Chess Tour Grand Finale. The win came in the classical portion of the semifinal encounter.

The match swung through a sequence of changing prospects: Praggnanandhaa, playing White, erred early in a Bishop’s opening and ceded momentum to Keymer, who gained the initiative and had a legitimate chance to attack the white king. The tide turned when Keymer fell for a tactical trick that, despite netting him a rook for a knight, left the position favoring the Indian with an advanced passed pawn and an entrapment of Black’s rook. Both players faced time pressure in the ensuing scramble; after reaching the second time control, Praggnanandhaa pressed and Keymer resigned on his 55th move.

Praggnanandhaa’s victory put him six points shy of the score required to reach the final in the $450,000 event, where $200,000 is reserved for the winner. Two rapid games remain in the semifinal phase with four points awarded for a win in each, followed by four blitz games that offer two points per win, a structure under which a 9-3 lead can be decisive.

In the other semifinal, Fabiano Caruana squandered a winning position against Wesley So after a Berlin Defence; Caruana’s preparation produced a large advantage early on, but So, described in the report as Filipino-turned-American, recovered by exploiting judgmental errors to force a drawn king-and-pawns ending. That game ran 50 moves before finishing in a draw.

The Grand Finale allocates 28 points across the remaining games, with any player reaching 15 points advancing to the final. The losing semifinalists will contest third place, and the top three finishers at this event receive direct invitations to next year’s Grand Chess Tour.

Prize money for the event is distributed as follows: $200,000 for the winner, $125,000 for second place, $75,000 for third and $50,000 for the fourth-placed player.

Results, round 2 Classical: R. Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 9) beat Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 6) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 6).