Grand Chess Tour: Praggnanandhaa finishes last in Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz

Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanadhaa finished last at the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, which is part of the Grand Chess Tour, despite his improved show in the blitz section.

On the event's final day, Praggnanadhaa finished with eight points in the blitz section. Earlier, he could collect only four points in the Rapid category.

France's Alireza Firouzja won the tournament by winning 23 points - 11 points in rapid and 12 points in the blitz. Firouzja won the tournament with two rounds to go.

After a good show in rapid chess, Firouzja put up a strong performance in the blitz section as he amassed 12 points out of a possible 18.

The victory meant he would earn $40,000 out of a total prize pool of $1,75,000.

Following his sterling performance at the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz tournament, the French Grandmaster rose to the leader spot in the Grand Chess Tour ranking ahead of Fabiano Caruana of the USA, who failed to impress after winning the last two events.

Firouja, with 30.58 points, has positioned himself well ahead of Caruana, who has 26.75 points.

Praggnanandhaa, who was in the third spot before the event, slipped to fifth on 17.25 points. He will need to pull his socks up for a podium finish in the last event - the Sinquefield Cup - that starts in just two days.

World Championship challenger D Gukesh will be the other Indian competitor in the event.