Hikaru Clutches Day 1
By Cameron W. · Wed, 28 Oct 2026
Nakamura Leads the Champions Showdown After an Unbeaten Day One, While Praggnanandhaa, Fresh Off His Grand Chess Tour Win, Finishes Last
If anyone expected Hikaru Nakamura to ease into the Champions Showdown, the first day in Saint Louis told a different story. He finished it on 4/6, with two wins and four draws, unbeaten and half a point clear of Javokhir Sindarov. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who arrived with the strongest recent story after winning the Grand Chess Tour, ended it in last place with 2/6.
Nakamura starts fast, and nearly faster
Nakamura beat Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa, and it could have been better still. In his first game against Caruana he reached a winning endgame and let it slip into a drawn one, with Caruana finding a perpetual check. The reports describe the ending differently, one as a queen endgame and the other as a rook endgame, but both agree it was a big swing. He made up for it in the return game, which followed the line So played against Caruana in the U.S. Championship playoff. Caruana chose a stronger fifth move this time, but Nakamura outplayed him in a bishop-against-knight ending. His win over Praggnanandhaa was one of the day's cleanest, and he had prepared for the opening. "I seem to be the sharpest player," he said afterward.
He also admitted some surprise, saying he had not played over the board in a long time. Yasser Seirawan said Nakamura, who skipped the Grand Chess Tour, looked remarkably strong, though he would need to repeat it on day two.
Sindarov steady, with one near miss
Sindarov was the day's quiet success. He won once, against Praggnanandhaa, and drew the other five, so he finished undefeated. The win came in an endgame in which Sindarov was a pawn down with opposite-colored bishops, until Praggnanandhaa played 47.g4, a blunder. Chess.com reports that Praggnanandhaa resigned a move later, while ChessBase has him losing on time, so the sources differ on how the game ended. Sindarov also felt he missed chances to win in both games against Caruana. His last game, a 117-move draw against Nakamura, was a long defensive task. With the Geneva match against Gukesh less than four weeks away, a day without a loss is just what he needed.
Caruana and Praggnanandhaa trade blows
The back-and-forth between Caruana and Praggnanandhaa was the most dramatic of the day. In the first, Praggnanandhaa held a strong position, but 32.Qf3, which ChessBase marks as a blunder, let Caruana strike with 32...c2. Caruana had escaped a position where he was losing the exchange. In the very next game, Praggnanandhaa answered with a zugzwang in a bishop ending. Caruana finished with a win, two losses and three draws, and joked that he had been saving losing positions and losing drawn ones. Praggnanandhaa had a win, three losses and two draws, and said his games were decent overall but the one against Nakamura was one-sided.
What day two changes
Everything doubles from here. On Wednesday, wins are worth two points and $2,000, and with Nakamura only half a point ahead of Sindarov and 1.5 ahead of Caruana, no one is out of it. The seven draws on day one put $7,000 into the Champion's Jackpot, which goes to the eventual winner. Play starts at 1 p.m. ET (19:00 CEST), and day three then triples the value of a win. A player who finished last on day one still has two days of increasing returns to work with.
