R. Praggnanandhaa contemplates his next move during Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026. (Credit: Crystal Fuller/Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026)Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa registered his first win in the Sinquefield Cup, defeating world championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov in a second round encounter. The Indian claimed his point inch-by-inch in the endgame arising out of a queen pawn opening as Sindarov chose just an equal endgame that should have been a perfect draw for him.But then what he possibly did not account for was Praggnanandhaa’s tenacity. It paid off in the end for the Indian as from what the computer was claiming to be a drawn endgame turned in to a winning one in no time. The game lasted as many as 95 moves. With Praggnanandhaa reaching 1.5 points from his two games, the overnight leader Fabiano Caruana of United States was the only one to end matters peacefully with a draw against Anish Giri of Holland.On Tuesday, Praggnanandhaa had played out an easy draw with American counterpart Samuel Sevian in the first round of the Sinquefield Cup.Meanwhile, Sindarov of Uzbekistan had split the point with Armenian turned American Levon Aronian while Vincent Keymer of Germany could not get past Wesley So of United States.For Praggnanandhaa it turned out to be a decent start as he gave nothing away as black against Sevian with the black pieces. The Arkhengelsk variation in the Ruy Lopez gave an easy game to the Indian as Sevian too was in no mood to complicate matters too much. Also the preparation of the Indian proved to be better.Also Read | Praggnanandhaa set to face Samuel Sevian in Sinquefield Cup 1st roundBy the 11th move itself a pair of rooks changed hands and the exchanges continued till the players reached a queen and minor piece endgame.With both players having two knights each, the result was a foregone conclusion and once the queens also got traded it was just a matter of time before the desired result was reached. The game lasted 48 moves but it could have been drawn earlier.(With agency inputs)