The first day of the Grand Chess Tour 2026 Finals in the USA has concluded. In the first round, players played their first of two Classical Semifinal games.

Vincent Keymer and Praggnanandhaa R drew their game in 80 moves, leaving only Kings on the board. The game between Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana ended in a draw on move 36 in the Middlegame. Remaining Classical games will be played on August 23.

Pairings with current points:

🇮🇳 Praggnanandhaa R (3) - 🇩🇪 Vincent Keymer (3)

🇺🇸 Wesley So (3) - 🇺🇸 Fabiano Caruana (3)

The Grand Chess Tour 2026 Finals takes place from August 22 to 28 at the Saint Louis Chess Club in Missouri, USA. The event features a 4-player Single Elimination system.

Matches consist of two Classical games, two Rapid games, and four Blitz games. Classical games feature a 90+30 time control for the first 40 moves and 30+30 for the rest of the game. Rapid and Blitz games feature 25+10 and 5+2 time controls respectively.

Credit: Lennart Ootes