St. Louis (USA): Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa made history on Thursday by becoming the first Indian player to capture the prestigious Grand Chess Tour (GCT) title, defeating the United States' Fabiano Caruana in the grand finale.

Praggnanandhaa mounted an impressive comeback after trailing Caruana early in the final day's play. The 20-year-old Indian prodigy eventually secured a 15-13 victory over Caruana to seal his maiden GCT crown and take home the $200,000 champion's purse.

Starting the day six points adrift, R. Praggnanandhaa produced a sensational comeback by winning both rapid games to surge ahead. Despite a tense time-scramble blunder in the opening blitz encounter that Caruana could not convert into a win, the Indian prodigy held his opponent even in the blitz segment to seal a 15-13 victory. Caruana had initially built his advantage with a 6-0 win in the first classical game before drawing the second 3-3. Elsewhere, GM Wesley So captured third place by dominating GM Vincent Keymer 18-12, sweeping all four blitz games following a split rapid section. (Agencies)