Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa staged a remarkable comeback against Fabiano Caruana to win the final match and claim his maiden Grand Chess Tour Finals title in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday.
Praggnanandhaa also became the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour, according to Chess.com, and pocketed the $200,000 first prize.
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The Indian grandmaster began the day six points behind Caruana but produced a stunning turnaround by winning both rapid games to take the lead. He then held Caruana to draws in the blitz games to seal the title with a 15-13 overall victory.
Praggnanandhaa had opportunities to win the first blitz game but blundered during a time scramble. Caruana, however, failed to capitalise on the advantage, with the game eventually ending in a draw.
The victory completed a remarkable recovery for Praggnanandhaa. He had suffered a heavy 6-0 defeat against Caruana in their first classical game before securing a 3-3 draw in the second classical encounter on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Grandmaster Wesley So also staged a comeback in the third-place match against Vincent Keymer. After the two players exchanged wins in the rapid games, So dominated the blitz section, winning all four games to secure an 18-12 victory with one game still remaining.
