Indian Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa had a poor outing, finishing bottom of the table in the Rapid section of the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Chess Tournament.
Praggnanandhaa lost to Lanier Dominguez of the United States in the seventh round after losing three games and drawing three on the third and final day of the rapid competition. Another American, Hikaru Nakamura, also proved too strong for the Indian in the final game.
In the eighth round, the Indian drew with Alireza Firouzja of France and thus got only four points out of a possible 18.
The pair of Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Firouzja tied for top spot with 11 points each in a closely contested rapid section of the Grand Chess Tour.
Following the top three currently are Armenian-turned-American Levon Aronian, who is one point behind him, and Americans Wesley So, Dominguez and Nakamura are tied for fifth with nine points each.
Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusatorov and last year’s Tour winner Fabiano Caruana of the United States are also not far behind with eight points each and Praggnanandhaa is currently in 10th place.
With each win in the Rapid section awarding two points, the focus will now shift to Blitz, where players will play a double round robin or 18 games.
In this tournament with a prize money of $ 175,000, the points system has become normal, with one point being awarded for a win and half a point for a draw.
Praggnanandhaa will need a miracle in the blitz section to make a comeback in the tournament and his chances of winning this stage depend on Firouzja, who has a slight chance of reaching the top spot in the Tour Rankings if he stays ahead of Caruana, who is the current leader.
Though Praggnanandhaa is currently secure at third spot in the Tour Rankings, a better showing in the Blitz could help the Indian move ahead of her nearest rival and compatriot D. Gukesh, who is currently fourth and will join the others in the Sinquefield Cup, which follows this event.
Final standings rapid: 1-3: Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID), Alireza Firouzja (FRA), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 11 points each; 4: Levon Aronian (ARM) 10; 5-7: Lennier Dominguez (USA), Wesley So, (USA), Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 9 points each, Fabiano Caruana (USA), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 8 points each; 10: R Praggnanandhaa (IND) 4.