Praggnanandhaa ended the first day on 2 points, just behind Hikaru Nakamura’s 4‑point haul. He stumbled in his first two games, losing to Javokhir Sindarov and Nakamura before snapping a win versus Fabiano Caruana in the final round.
The tournament’s progressive scoring keeps him in the hunt. One point for a win on Day 1, two on Day 2, and three on Day 3 simply means that a single victory can swing the leaderboard in a dramatic way.
After a shaky start, the victory over Caruana gave Praggnanandhaa a needed confidence boost. To make up ground he’ll need to avoid time‑pressure blunders, convert promising positions into wins, and bank the higher points on the remaining two days.
The competition now hinges on Day 2. If Praggnanandhaa can string together a couple of wins, he could close the gap on Nakamura and Sindarov, reshaping the title picture for the final day.