The world of chess was recently witness to a remarkable victory by the Indian chess prodigy R Praggnanandhaa who was able to produce great resilience and tactical brilliance to win the prestigious GCT Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament and achieve a significant victory at the tournament. With his determination, his ability to calculate, as well as patience to the end the tournament, the young Grandmaster came out on the top with a dominant score that puts him comfortably in front of a packed chasing field. This victory is a great career first in Praggnanandhaa's case as he has won a Rapid and Blitz tournament on this international level and is now on top at the highest level of world chess.
When he looked back at his performance and the arduous journey after hoisting the championship trophy, Praggnanandhaa admitted he had many difficulties in the high-pressure matches. In fact, he said he felt as if he could go out and win the tournament with a round to spare on paper but that the game was totally different in the physical arena (it was very much a very competitive and very crazy place to play). He was very thankful to Javokhir Sindarov, his opponent to whom he fought with his heart and soul until the very end of the match and he felt so much better about it. Praggnanandhaa even joked about a little bit of a lapse in concentration in the final round that he said he had to win it.
Besides the prestige and fame of winning such a prestigious tournament, the huge prize came with it. Praggnanandhaa got the top prize of $50,000 for the great effort. Javokhir Sindarov took home $40,000 for his brilliant and relentless fight throughout the rounds and veteran grandmaster Wesley So took third place and earned $30,000. Praggnanandhaa did it again, despite the pressure and the late pack of blitz games and he never dropped a single game and got multiple crucial wins and hard draws to keep his score at the top so he did well.
