Firouzja wins Masters, Van Foreest winner of Challengers

22 Feb 2020

It was a thriller final round at the Prague International Chess Festival. With the games Duda vs Vidit and Shankland vs Vitiugov finishing with the decisive results, and Firouzja surviving against Anton, there was a 5-way tie for the 1st place. Despite losing to Duda, the tournament leader Vidit Gijrathi had the best tie-break and he was to play against Firouzja. The Indian lost the play-off with 2-0, which did not come as a surprise since it was already very difficult to play after losing two final games. What could have been one of the best performances of his life, in the end, turned out to be a horror ending for Vidit, who could not keep up with the pressure.

Rk.		Name	ELO	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	DE	SB	B
1	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2721	IND	*	1	0	½	1	½	½	1	0	½	5	2,5	22,50	4
2	GM	Alireza Firouzja	2726	FID	0	*	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	5	2,0	22,25	4
3	GM	Jan-Krzysztof Duda	2755	POL	1	0	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	5	2,0	22,00	5
4	GM	David Anton Guijarro	2697	ESP	½	½	½	*	½	0	½	½	1	1	5	2,0	21,25	5
5	GM	Sam Shankland	2683	USA	0	½	½	½	*	1	½	½	½	1	5	1,5	21,25	5
6	GM	Nikita Vitiugov	2731	RUS	½	½	½	1	0	*	½	½	½	½	4½	0,5	20,25	4
7	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2713	IND	½	0	½	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	4½	0,5	19,75	5
8	GM	Markus Ragger	2670	AUT	0	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	4	0,5	18,00	5
9	GM	David Navara	2717	CZE	1	½	0	0	½	½	0	½	*	1	4	0,5	17,25	4
10	GM	Nils Grandelius	2659	SWE	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	*	3	0,0	14,00	4

After starting with 5 draws, Jorden Van Foreest (Netherlands) scored 3.5 out of the last four rounds and became the clear winner of the Challengers tournament. In the final round, he defeated Hannes Stefansson and with 6.5 points won the event, and more importantly, qualified for the next edition of PICF Masters tournament.

There was a tie for the second place between Nijat Abasov and Andrey Esipenko. Thanks to the tie-break, the top seed from Azerbaijan finished second and the 17-year-old Russia came third.

Rk.		Name	ELO	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	DE	SB	B
1	GM	Jorden Van Foreest	2667	NED	*	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	6	0,0	25,50	5
2	GM	Nijat Abasov	2670	AZE	½	*	1	1	0	½	½	½	1	½	5½	1,0	23,75	5
3	GM	Andrey Esipenko	2654	RUS	½	0	*	1	½	½	½	1	1	½	5½	0,0	22,50	5
4	GM	Kacper Piorun	2611	POL	½	0	0	*	1	1	½	½	1	½	5	2,0	20,75	4
5	GM	Mateusz Bartel	2639	POL	½	1	½	0	*	½	½	½	½	1	5	0,5	21,50	4
6	GM	Hannes Stefansson	2529	ISL	0	½	½	0	½	*	½	1	1	1	5	0,5	18,75	4
7	GM	Van Dai Thai Nguyen	2560	CZE	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	1	½	½	4½	0,0	19,00	4
8	IM	Lukáš Černoušek	2442	CZE	½	½	0	½	½	0	0	*	1	½	3½	0,0	14,50	5
9	IM	Tadeáš Kriebel	2524	CZE	½	0	0	0	½	0	½	0	*	1	2½	1,0	10,25	5
10	GM	Jan Krejčí	2559	CZE	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	0	*	2½	0,0	12,00	4

This year besides the regular prizes, the organizers of the Prague Chess Festival included one special trophy. The Vugar Gashimov Prize for Fair Play was awarded in person by the brother of the late Azerbaijani Grandmaster, Mr. Sarkan Gashimov. The prize in the Challengers went to Mateusz Barte, while in Masters section the winner was Grandmaster David Navara.

Local hero Václav Finěk triumphed in the Futures tournament, the newest addition to the Prague Chess Festival. He defeated Roy Vagman from Israel, while, at the time tournament leader, Ediz Gurel from Turkey lost to Mongolian Chinguun. They both ties for the 1st place with 6 points, but Finek had better tie-breaks. The third place went to another Czech player Jáchym Němec with 5 points.

Rk.		Name	ELO	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Pts.	DE	SB	B
1	FM	Václav Finěk	2220	CZE	*	½	1	1	1	½	½	1	0	½	6	0,5	27,25	5
2	CM	Ediz Gurel	2125	TUR	½	*	½	1	1	1	½	½	0	1	6	0,5	26,25	4
3		Jáchym Němec	2069	CZE	0	½	*	½	½	0	1	½	1	1	5	0,5	19,75	4
4		Jan Klimkowski	2229	POL	0	0	½	*	0	1	1	1	½	1	5	0,5	19,50	5
5	CM	Roy Vagman	2141	ISR	0	0	½	1	*	1	1	0	½	½	4½	2,0	19,25	4
6	CM	Nikola Kanov	2129	BUL	½	0	1	0	0	*	½	½	1	1	4½	0,5	17,75	5
7	WCM	Gulenay Aydin	1964	TUR	½	½	0	0	0	½	*	1	1	1	4½	0,5	17,75	4
8	WFM	Viktória Nadzamová	1960	SVK	0	½	½	0	1	½	0	*	1	½	4	0,0	16,50	5
9	CM	Bayaraa Chinguun	2049	MGL	1	1	0	½	½	0	0	0	*	0	3	0,0	16,75	5
10		Karel Brožka	2045	CZE	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	1	*	2½	0,0	10,25	4

Indian IM Akash G became the winner of the PICF 2020 Open tournament and qualified for the Challengers event next year. Akash drew with Toms Kantans in the final round, and with 7.5 points shared the first place with Jergus Pechac and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen, ad thanks to the best tie-break criteria, he won the title and the chance to play in the Challengers 2021. Final Standings

On behalf of the Prague Chess Festival organizers, we would like to congratulate the winners and to thank all the players, as well as all the people who made this tournament possible. See you next year!