Archive · 25 Aug 2026
Praggnanandhaa reaches Grand Chess Tour final after Keymer victory
Praggnanandhaa is a chess player from India.
He played Vincent Keymer from Germany in a semifinal.
Praggnanandhaa won the classical and rapid games and built a very large lead.
An earlier report gave the score as 17-3 before the remaining blitz games.
A later report said all the games were completed and Praggnanandhaa won 19-9.
Keymer won the last three blitz games, but he could not catch up.
Praggnanandhaa will play Fabiano Caruana in the final.
Wesley So will play Keymer for third place.
R Praggnanandhaa defeated Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the Grand Chess Tour semifinal.
The initial report said Praggnanandhaa led 17-3 after a 4-0 sweep in rapid games.
A later PTI report said he finished the semifinal with a 19-9 victory after winning the first blitz game.
Keymer won the final three blitz games, but the result was already beyond repair.
Praggnanandhaa will face Fabiano Caruana in the final, while Keymer meets Wesley So for third place.
- Who
- Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Germany’s Vincent Keymer; Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So are involved in the other semifinal and placings.
- What
- Praggnanandhaa advanced to the Grand Chess Tour final after defeating Keymer; reports give the semifinal score as 17-3 before the final blitz games and 19-9 after completion.
- When
- The result was reported on Monday, with the PTI report dated August 25; the final is scheduled for August 25.
- Where
- The Grand Chess Tour Finals are being held in St. Louis, United States.
- Why
- Praggnanandhaa built an unassailable lead through victories in the classical and rapid games, then won the first blitz game.
Initial match account
Completed-match account
Semifinal score and remaining games
Initial match account
The initial report described a 17-3 score after the rapid games and said four blitz games remained, although Keymer could no longer overturn the result.
Completed-match account
The later PTI report said all games were played, Praggnanandhaa won 19-9, and Keymer won the final three blitz games after Praggnanandhaa won the first.
Final opponent
Initial match account
The initial report said Praggnanandhaa would face the winner of the Wesley So-Fabiano Caruana semifinal.
Completed-match account
The later report identified Fabiano Caruana as Praggnanandhaa’s final opponent and Wesley So as Keymer’s third-place playoff opponent.
- Semifinal result
- A later PTI report recorded R Praggnanandhaa beating Vincent Keymer 19-9.
- Earlier score
- The initial report said Praggnanandhaa had secured a 17-3 lead after the rapid games.
- Rapid games
- Praggnanandhaa won both rapid games for a 4-0 rapid sweep.
- Blitz games
- The later report said Praggnanandhaa won the first blitz game, while Keymer won the final three.
- Final opponent
- Fabiano Caruana of the United States.
- Other placement
- Vincent Keymer will play Wesley So in the third-place playoff.
- Prize fund
- The Grand Chess Tour finale has a USD 450,000 prize fund; USD 200,000 is reserved for the winner and USD 125,000 for the losing finalist.
