Pragganandhaa eyeing an improved finish in final outings

Pragganandhaa

Indian Grandmaster R Pragganandhaa will lock horns with the world's best yet again as he takes on an elite field in the St Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament that gets underway here. A slight dip in recent results, notwithstanding, Praggnanandhaa will be looking forward to finish on the podium in the final standings of the Grand Chess Tour that also entitles him to earn a bonus cash prize from a kitty of USD 175,000 (Rs 1.47 crore).

Also Read: India football coach Marquez: Players lack strong mentality

The winner will take home USD 100,000. Standing on the third spot in the overall tour results thus far, the Indian has two back-to-back outings to improve his position as immediately after the rapid and blitz, he will be taking part in the Sinquefield Cup where he will also be joined by compatriot and world championship challenger D Gukesh.

With his two straight victories in Bucharest, Romania, and Zagreb, Croatia, Fabiano Caruana of the United States is firmly on course for an encore with 22.25 points in his bag so far. Alireza Firoujza of France is in second spot on 17.58 points ahead of Pragganandhaa who has 16.25 points.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever