Javahir Sindarov approaches Grand Chess Tour final after second place in St. Louis

Javohir Sindarov moves closer to Grand Chess Tour finals with second place in St. Louis.

Uzbek grandmaster Javohir Sindarov took second place in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz tournament, the fourth stage of the Grand Chess Tour 2026 elite tournament series. He finished second in both rapid and blitz, earning a total of 22 points.

The tournament, which took place from August 2 to 6, featured nine rapid and 18 blitz games. Rapid games were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw, and blitz games were awarded one point for a win and half a point for a draw. The total prize pool for the stage was $200,000.

**Photo:** Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

After nine rounds of rapid, Sindarov finished second with 11 points. India's Rameshbabu Pragnanandha scored 12 points, while the American Wesley So scored 10.

Sindarov's rapid performance was 2739. According to the final tournament table, his rating in this direction before the stage was 2730.

Before the start of the blitz matches, the Uzbek chess player was only one point behind the leader.

In the first nine games of the blitz, Sindarov scored 5.5 points, maintaining second place. The period from the fourth to the sixth round was especially successful for him, when he won three consecutive victories - over Fabiano Caruana, Evonder Liang and Lener Dominguez.

One of the most important games on the first day of the blitz took place against Pragnanandha. Sindarov gained an extra pawn and had a winning position according to Chess.com, but the pawn ending was ambiguous, and the opponents drew. Had he won, he would have reduced the gap to half a point over the leader.

“I saw myself winning almost any move in the decisive phase of the game,” Sindarov later explained, explaining his choice of the decisive phase of the game.

After the first round of blitz, Pragnanandha had 18 points, Sindarov 16.5 points and So 15 points.

**Photo:** Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

On the second day, Sindarov scored another 5.5 points from 9 opportunities. After drawing with Levon Aronian, he defeated Jorden van Forest and Vincent Kaymer in quick succession. He then lost to Caruana, but later defeated Uzbek chess player Anish Giri.

Towards the end, the gap with Pragnanandha was reduced to half a point at times.

In the 17th round of the blitz, the leaders clashed. Sindarov had an extra pawn, but Pragnanandha held on to his position. The draw gave the Indian chess player the tournament win with one round remaining.

In the final round, Sindarov drew with Wesley So.

After all 18 games of the blitz, Pragnanandha had 11.5 points, Sindarov 11 points, So 10.5 points, and Aronian 10 points.

The Uzbek chess player won five blitz games, lost two and drew 11. His performance was 2749, the second best in the tournament after Pragnanandha (2771). Sindarov's blitz rating increased by nine points during the tournament.

Pragnanandha scored 23.5 points in total: 12 in rapid and 11.5 in blitz. Sindarov took second place with 22 points (11+11). Third place was taken by Wesley So with 20.5 points, and fourth place was taken by Levon Aronian with 19 points.

Next in line are Lennart Dominguez, Fabiano Caruana and Jorden van Forest - each with 17 points. Anish Giri scored 15.5 points, Vincent Kaymer scored 14.5 points, and Evonder Liang scored 14 points.

The winner received $50,000, Sindarov $40,000, So $30,000, and Aronian $20,000.

This victory was Pragnanandha's second victory in a separate stage of the Grand Chess Tour series in his career. He first won the stage in Bucharest in May 2025.

After the tournament, Pragnanandha particularly highlighted the fight with the Uzbek representative.

“If you look at the final score, everything looks smooth, but it wasn't. Everything happened in an incredible way. You have to pay tribute to Jawahir - he fought to the end,” said the Indian grandmaster.

Sindarov himself said that he had learned from his defeat to Caruana and was generally pleased with his performance.

“Sometimes it’s not enough to play well. You also need luck,” he said after the tournament.

The result in St. Louis is of particular importance for Javakhish Sindarov’s fight to reach the Grand Chess Tour final.

He earned 10 points for second place and after four rounds, with 20.5 points, he moved up to fifth place in the overall standings.

Fabiano Caruana is leading with 25 points. He is followed by Pragnanandha (24.5) and Wesley So (23.5). The last player to reach the final, fourth place, is Vincent Kaymer with 21 points.

Thus, Sindarov is only 0.5 points away from the finals.

13 points are awarded for a victory in the Grand Chess Tour stage, 10 points for second place, and 8 points for third place. After that, participants receive 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point. When the places are divided, the points for those positions are added up and distributed among the chess players.

The four best chess players in the overall standings will advance to the Grand Chess Tour final. The first-ranked player will play the fourth-ranked player, and the second-ranked player will play the third-ranked player.

The Sinquefield Cup, which will be held in St. Louis on August 10-20 in classical chess and is considered the fifth and final stage of the regular part of the Grand Chess Tour, will be of decisive importance.

Sindarov will need to surpass Kaymer in the tournament standings to advance to the series finals in his debut GCT season.

The Grand Chess Tour finals themselves are scheduled to take place in St. Louis from August 22-27. Its prize pool is $450,000, of which the winner will receive $200,000.