Praggnanandhaa takes early lead in Sinquefield Cup with a win against Javokhir Sindarov

R Praggnanandhaa. (File pic)

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa continued his strong form at the Sinquefield Cup by defeating World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov in the second round, surging into a share of the early lead.

Praggnanandhaa claimed victory following a long, tightly contested battle that stayed mostly even for the majority of the game. However, a crucial misstep by Sindarov on the 82nd move gave the Indian prodigy the opening he needed, executing a sequence of precise moves until his Uzbek opponent resigned 13 moves later.

The victory brings R Praggnanandhaa to 1.5 points after two rounds, placing him level at the top of the leaderboard alongside Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Levon Aronian, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

Praggnanandhaa's success follows a standout season where he won the Grand Chess Tour St Louis Rapid and Blitz title earlier this month, sealing the trophy with 23/35 points after a draw with Sindarov in the penultimate round. That followed his historic Norway Chess 2026 title in Oslo in June, where he clinched four straight classical victories to finish strong.

Following those achievements, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay honoured the 20-year-old at the Chief Secretariat in Chennai, presenting him with a Rs 50 lakh reward from the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu and playing a friendly game of chess with him.

Setbacks for Indian contingent at the Cairns Cup

In contrast, the Indian players faced a tough second round at the Cairns Cup in St. Louis, collecting just half a point across three matches.

R Vaishali drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva, while Divya Deshmukh lost to Alice Lee, and Koneru Humpy lost to Tan Zhongyi.

Following two rounds of play, Vaishali and Humpy hold 0.5 points each, while Divya sits on one point. Tan Zhongyi and Alice Lee currently co-lead the tournament with perfect scores after winning both of their opening matches.

Results Round 2:

R Praggnanandhaa (I.5, Ind) beat Javokhir Sindarov (0.5, Uzb); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 1.5) beat Savian Samuels (Usa, 0.5); Levon Aronian (Arm, 1.5) beat Vincent Leymer (Ger, 0.5); Wesley So (Usa, 1.5) beat Jorden Van Foreest (Ned, 0).

(With input from agencies)