St. Louis, Aug. 26 -- Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa suffered a setback in the opening classical game of the 2026 Grand Chess Tour Finals, losing to Fabiano Caruana as the American took a 6-0 lead in their title match on Tuesday (local time).

Praggnanandhaa had held his own through much of the game and navigated an unusual opening setup to reach a complex middlegame. However, a costly one-move error on the 28th move allowed Caruana to seize the advantage and convert it into victory, according to Chess.com.

The result handed Caruana six points under the scoring system being used in the final, putting the American in a strong position ahead of the second classical game. Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, will need to recover quickly...