GM Pranav Venkatesh won the June 12 Freestyle Friday tournament after early setbacks, finishing ahead of the field and regaining the top spot in the 2026 Freestyle Friday Championship standings.
GM Pranav Venkatesh secured the title by winning all but two of his games on June 12. He dropped points in rounds two and four yet recovered to finish first outright and move past GM Oleksandr Bortnyk in the overall standings.
GM Dmitry Andreikin placed second on 8.5 points after tiebreaks, with FM Artin Ashraf and GM Conrad Holt tied for third. The event marked the second Freestyle Friday broadcast and featured technical issues during round 10.
WGM Afruza Khamdamova earned the women's prize after finishing 16th overall with 7.5 points. The weekly tournament awards prizes of $400 to the winner, $250 to the runner-up, and smaller amounts to the next finishers.