Praggnanandhaa’s Saint Louis sweep boosts India’s prospects ahead of Samarkand Olympiad

R. Praggnanandhaa dominated the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz in the United States last week, leading across all five days and winning the event by 1.5 points over Javokhir Sindarov; he also clinched the blitz portion with a round to spare. The Chennai Grandmaster turned 21 on Monday.

Praggnanandhaa’s Saint Louis victory is the latest in a run of recent successes: he won Norway Chess in Oslo a couple of months ago, beating Magnus Carlsen twice, and has collected three prestigious titles in strong tournaments across different formats within roughly two months. The run has prompted commentary in the original report that he is playing some of the best chess of his career.

At Saint Louis he led from start to finish, finishing 1.5 points clear of second-placed Javokhir Sindarov and securing the blitz trophy with a round to spare, according to the source. The consistency of being top throughout the five-day event was highlighted in the coverage as an uncommon achievement outside of the very top global names.

The Norway Chess win in Oslo—held in Carlsen’s hometown—saw Praggnanandhaa defeat Magnus Carlsen twice; Carlsen did not compete at the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz. Those results, together with the Saint Louis title, form the trio of recent tournament wins cited in the report.

With the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand just a little over a month away, India will be defending the title it won at Budapest two years ago, and the piece notes that the team could benefit from Praggnanandhaa’s rich vein of form. The report states that World champion D. Gukesh is still far from his best and that India needs Praggnanandhaa to score heavily at the Olympiad.

The host nation Uzbekistan is identified in the coverage as a potential challenger in Samarkand, fielding players such as Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Sindarov is also described as having won the World Cup in Goa and, four months ago, the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, which earned him the right to challenge D. Gukesh for the World title in Geneva later this year.

The article records that Praggnanandhaa had one of his most forgettable recent tournaments—finishing seventh in a field of eight—before this resurgence, but that he has bounced back in style; his form will now be tested at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand, which starts in just over a month where India will defend its Budapest title.