Praggnanandhaa defeated Fabiano Caruana in the 2026 Grand Chess Tour Finals. (Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club)Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa created history on Friday, becoming the first Indian to win the Grand Chess Tour after staging a remarkable comeback to defeat defending champion Fabiano Caruana in the final.The Indian takes home a hefty $200,000 prize and secures a guaranteed spot in next year’s tour.After the Classical leg, Praggnanandhaa was trailing 3-9, having lost the opening game and drawn the second. But he turned the tide in the Rapid leg, winning both games to earn eight points and take an 11-9 lead into the final Blitz leg.In the first Blitz game, Pragg had winning chances but blundered in a time scramble. The position turned worse, but Caruana failed to capitalise, and the game ended in a draw. Caruana, the 2018 World Championship challenger and the man with the third-highest Elo rating in history (2844), struck back immediately, winning the second Blitz clash to level the score at 12-12.The Grandmaster from Chennai wasted no time regaining his lead, beating Caruana with the white pieces for his third win of the day. Heading into the final game, Praggnanandhaa held a 14-12 lead and needed only a draw to seal the title. He did exactly that, forcing a threefold repetition in a completely winning position to dethrone Caruana.Praggnanandhaa won the highest total prize of $404,354 from the entire 2026 tour, having earlier won the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz and tied for first place in the Sinquefield Cup.The Grand Chess Tour is an elite circuit spanning Classical, rapid, and blitz events with a $2 million prize pool. The top four players in the season standings qualify for the GCT finals, a knockout event where the year’s best compete for the title.Story continues below this adWesley So defeated Germany’s Vincent Keymer in the third-place match to confirm his spot in next year’s tour alongside Praggnanandhaa and Caruana.