Uzbek grandmaster Javhohir Sindarov won the international tournament Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown, which was held in St. Louis, United States of America. He scored 20.5 points.
The second place was finished by Indian grandmaster Ramesh Babu Pragnananda, scoring 19 points. Third place was taken by American player Fabiano Caruana with 16.5 points, and fourth place was awarded to Hikaru Nakamura, who scored 12 points.
During the three-day competition, Sindarov faced several leading world grandmasters and surpassed his closest rival, Pragnananda, by 1.5 points.
The total prize fund of the tournament amounted to 425,000 US dollars. Sindarov received 125,000 US dollars for first place. In addition, participants were eligible for extra cash bonuses for winning individual games, and the champion received a separate jackpot.
The Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown tournament was the last competition for Sindarov before the match against the reigning world champion Gukesh Dhummaraju.