2026 Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown Day 2: Praggnanandhaa Jumps From Last To 1st With Hat Trick

Praggnanandhaa Jumps From Last To 1st With Hat Trick

GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu started at the bottom, but now he's at the top of Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown 2026 with a 1.5-point lead after day two. He pulled a hat trick with two wins against GM Hikaru Nakamura and one against GM Fabiano Caruana. GM Javokhir Sindarov and Caruana are tied in second on 8.5 points, while Nakamura—who started the day in first—is in last with eight.

Day three, featuring rounds seven through nine, is on Thursday, October 29, starting at 1 p.m. ET / 18:00 CET / 10:30 p.m. IST.

Standings

Image: Courtesy of the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Praggnanandhaa has scored the biggest bonus so far with $9,000 for his wins in the tournament. All the draws are added to the winner's pot at the end, and so far $19,000 is the size of that contribution.

Image: Courtesy of the Saint Louis Chess Club.

Praggnanandhaa accepted the result, but he wasn't happy with the quality of his play. Comparing his performance to the previous day, he said, "I think today was also bad, but I was more lucky today." Referencing his first win against Nakamura, he said, "I was just lucky, and obviously that kind of carried through the day."

He quipped: "There were some bad games, there were some okay games, but okay, whatever, if I'm winning then it's fine. I'll take it."

A win is a win for Praggnanandhaa. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

Praggnanandhaa made just one draw in six games, winning four and losing one. He started by winning the first game of the mini-match with Sindarov when, in an equal but complicated heavy-piece endgame, Sindarov failed to find the only path.

Sindarov then bounced back with a win of his own, from the black side of the King's Indian Defense, evening the mini-match 2-2.

On the broadcast, the world championship challenger talked about how he loves the King's Indian Defense and plays it even at the elite level. "I love to play the King's Indian. Of course, from the opening, I will always get a very bad position, but then I'm very good in tricks, I will say!"

I will always get a very bad position, but then I'm very good in tricks, I will say! —Javokhir Sindarov on the King's Indian Defense

Sindarov, a King's Indian Defense devotee. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

After that single loss, Praggnanandhaa's day continued to get better and better. He won the next three games in a row, starting with a swindle against Nakamura, where he won from a pawn-down endgame.

Nakamura told GM Maurice Ashley, "Obviously, today's result comes down to that game against Pragg. I mean, I was completely winning and lost my mind." Nakamura did say that although the results didn't shine, he was still satisfied with his level of play.

I was completely winning and lost my mind. —Hikaru Nakamura

Praggnanandhaa won both games against Nakamura. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

In game two, Praggnanandhaa won more deservedly, outplaying the shaken world number-two in the endgame arising from a Rossolimo Sicilian with 3...e6. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the Game of the Day below.

With four draws and two losses (both of them against Praggnanandhaa), Nakamura dropped from first place to last. But a single win on day three could still be enough to catch the leader, with each win worth three points. You can hear more from the five-time U.S. champion in his video recap below.

Praggnanandhaa went on to outplay Caruana, who collapsed in a time scramble, to score a third win in a row—then drew Caruana in their second game to end the day.

Sindarov and Caruana are tied for second, but if you isolate the scores on day two alone, you see that Caruana had the better result, scoring one point more than Sindarov.

But Caruana wasn't so excited about his performance in the interview. He said, "I don't know if it was, for me personally, such an eventful day because I scored 50 percent. The quality was better than the first day." He could have scored more points, he felt, especially in both games against Nakamura.

Caruana's one win of the day, which came against Sindarov, was perhaps the most one-sided game we'd seen yet. Sindarov was extremely affected by this game, saying, "I played like a stupid idiot, sorry, the worst game of my life!" (with a smile).

"Other games, I think in general, were fine, but this game [with Black against Caruana] was completely—I played like a stupid idiot, sorry, the worst game of my life!" https://t.co/EnV96WVR7z https://t.co/wK9FjkUnX3 — chess24 ( @chess24com ) October 28, 2026

It was a brutal and one-sided torture, where Caruana showcased exactly how one should play with this free outpost on d5.

As Ashley pointed out, not a single player was pessimistic about his chances of winning the tournament. Caruana said, "It's hard to imagine someone really being so far ahead that the three points on the last day don't give a chance at least for someone else to catch up." In a preview for coming attractions on day three, when three points will be awarded per win, Caruana said, "The draws become less and less valuable." Expect to see plenty of fights!

Caruana predicted many fights and chances for everyone on day three. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club.

How to review? You can review Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown 2026 on the Saint Louis Chess Club YouTube channel or on Nakamura's Kick channel. You can also review the games on our dedicated events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Maurice Ashley, IM Irine Sukandar, and James "Dash" Patterson.

Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown 2026 takes place on October 27-29 at the Saint Louis Chess Club. Featuring four of the world's best players, including World Championship Challenger Javokhir Sindarov, the tournament consists of three double round-robins with a rapid time control of 10+5. The total prize fund is $425,000.

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