The 7th edition of the Prague Chess Festival has come to an end. While in the Masters tournament, Grandmaster Aravindh maintained his lead in the final third of the event without major difficulties, the Challengers category was decided only in a tiebreak. The last game of the entire festival ended with a victory for Nodirbek Yakubboev from Uzbekistan, securing him a spot in next year's Masters tournament.

MASTERS

Giri - Aravindh 0-1

The decisive step towards overall victory was made by the Indian player in the 7th round when he managed to put his opponent under pressure. This led to a mistake by the Dutch number one in the 24th move. After 24.Kg2, Aravindh struck with 24…Ng5!, and he did not let up even after 25.Rh1, following up with the strong 25…d4!, opening lines towards the white king. This victory, along with a slip by Praggnanandhaa, put him in the lead and made a strong case for winning the Lubomír Kaválek Prize for the best game of the festival.

 

 

Gurel - Nguyen 1-0

A very similar approach was demonstrated by last year’s Challengers tournament winner from Turkey. He gradually put the Czech player under pressure and crowned his efforts with the winning move 29.e5, which secured a decisive advantage. With this victory, the 16-year-old player climbed back to a 50% score and pushed Van Nguyen to the last place in the tournament.

 

 

Shankland - Giri 0-1

The defeat in the 7th round motivated longtime world top-10 player Anish Giri to play more aggressively, and in the next round, he bounced back with a win against Sam Shankland. The American champion from 2021 was under pressure from the opening and tried to solve his problems with the tactical move 19.Rxd5. However, this turned out to be a bad decision, and after Giri’s precise response (especially 21…Rxb3), the white king found itself in deep trouble, which was impossible to resolve with little time on the clock.

 

Giri - Praggnanandhaa 1-0

The Dutch player didn’t stop there—he capitalized on the risky play of his opponent, who was still in contention for the overall victory. The knight sacrifice by Black did not work out, and the final blow came after Black’s last attempt with …Bg4. Anish Giri responded with pinpoint accuracy, and his full-point win, combined with draws on other boards, catapulted him to second place in the final standings.

 

 

Final standings of this year's Masters tournament:

Odkaz na výsledky na Chess-results

POŘ	Jméno	ELO	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	BODY	VP	SB
1.	GM ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr.	2729	IND		1	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	½	6	0	26,75
2.	GM GIRI Anish	2728	NED	0		½	1	½	½	1	½	½	½	5	1,5	21,50
3.	GM WEI Yi	2755	CHN	0	½		½	½	0	1	1	½	1	5	1	20,25
4.	GM PRAGGNANANDHAA R	2741	IND	½	0	½		½	1	½	½	½	1	5	0,5	21,25
5.	GM GUREL Ediz	2624	TUR	½	½	½	½		½	0	½	½	1	4,5	0,5	19,75
6.	GM KEYMER Vincent	2731	GER	0	½	1	0	½		1	½	½	½	4,5	0,5	19,25
7.	GM SHANKLAND Sam	2670	USA	½	0	0	½	1	0		½	1	½	4	1,5	17,50
8.	GM NAVARA David	2677	CZE	½	½	0	½	½	½	½		½	½	4	1	18,00
9.	GM LE Quang Liem	2739	VIE	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	½		½	4	0,5	18,50
10.	GM NGUYEN Thai Dai Van	2668	CZE	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	½		3	0	13,75

 

The first three in the Masters 

 

 

 

CHALLENGERS

 

Yakubboev – Salgado 1-0

Heading into the 7th round, the tournament leaders Bjerre and Yakubboev were tied with 4.5 points each. The Uzbek player was the first to apply pressure on his rival. In his game, he sacrificed a rook for his opponent's knight with 25.Rxc5. The Spanish grandmaster failed to respond accurately, and the resulting knight endgame was hopeless.

A significant factor in the fight for overall victory was Czech junior Václav Finěk, as he was paired against both leaders in the final rounds. He handled this challenge excellently, and after the 8th round, Yakubboev had the upper hand. He defeated Richard Stalmach with the black pieces, while Jonas Buhl Bjerre was unable to break through Finěk’s defense.

Bjerre – Němec 1-0

However, in the final round, Yakubboev also failed to secure a win, and all eyes turned to the game between Bjerre and Jáchym Němec. The Czech player made an inaccuracy before the time control, and a decisive mistake on move 43 sealed his fate.

Bjerre – Yakubboev 0.5-0.5

Just like in 2022, the overall winner had to be decided in a tiebreak of two blitz games (5 minutes + 3 seconds per move). The fans couldn’t have asked for a more dramatic ending. The first game, lasting 150(!) moves, saw Yakubboev gain a decisive advantage, but he allowed his opponent to equalize with imprecise play. However, Bjerre then returned the favor by making a mistake, and after losing a second pawn, the position looked better for Black again. A counterplay involving a mating attack complicated matters so much that it was suddenly the Danish player pressing for a full point. But in move 112, he chose the wrong continuation, and the game ended in a draw.

Yakubboev – Bjerre 1-0

The second game was just as thrilling. This time, Bjerre gained a pawn advantage, but a poor retreat put him under pressure, leading to the decisive blunder 21…Rc8??. After the follow-up 22.Bf5, it became clear that the 2022 Olympiad winner would secure a ticket to next year’s Masters tournament.

Final standings of this year's Challengers tournament:
 

Odkaz na výsledky na Chess-results

POŘ	Jméno	ELO	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	BODY	VP	SB
1.	GM YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek	2659	UZB		½	1	½	1	½	1	½	1	1	7	0,5	28,25
2.	GM BJERRE Jonas Buhl	2640	DEN	½		1	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	7	0,5	27,75
3.	GM MAURIZZI Marc`andria	2581	FRA	0	0		½		1	1	1	½	1	6	0	20,75
4.	GM MA Qun	2645	CHN	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	1	1	5,5	0	22,50
5.	GM SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan	2599	ESP	0	½		½		1	1	½	½	0	4	1	16,25
6.	IM FINEK Vaclav	2478	CZE	½	½	0	½	0		1	½	½	½	4	0	17,00
7.	IM DIVYA Deshmukh	2490	IND	0	0	0	½	0	0		1	1	½	3	2	10,00
8.	GM KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis	2580	GRE	½	0	0	½	½	½	0		½	½	3	0,5	13,00
9.	IM STALMACH Richard	2449	CZE	0	0	½	0	½	½	0	½		1	3	0,5	11,00
10.	FM NEMEC Jachym	2433	CZE	0	0	0	0	1	½	½	½	0		2,5	0	9,00

 

The first three in the Challengers.

 

FUTURES

Odkaz na výsledky na Chess-results

POŘ	Jméno	ELO	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	BODY	VP	SB
1.	SUNEA Sara Maria	1854	ROU		1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	7	0	31,50
2.	STARA Zuzana	1919	CZE	0		1	½	1	1	0	½	1		6	1	23,75
3.	VITI Greta	1971	ITA	0	0		1	1	0	1	1	1		6	0	22,00
4.	WCM RZADKOWSKA Lila	1743	POL	0	½	0		½	1	1	½	½	1	5	0	18,50
5.	ANISTOROAEI Maria	1820	ROU	1	0	0	½		1	0	1	1	0	4,5	0	20,00
6.	RZADKOWSKA Kaja	1798	POL	0	0	1	0	0		1	0	1	1	4	1	15,00
7.	TOLMACEVA Alona	1839	LAT	0	1	0	0	1	0		½	½		4	0	15,75
8.	WFM JAKUBSE Tamae Severina	1815	CZE	0	½	0	½	0	1	½		0	1	3,5	0	13,50
9.	WCM SCHIRMBECK Lilian	1754	GER	0	0	0	½	0	0	½	1			3	0	10,00
10.	MARKINA Sofiia	1891	CZE	1			0	1	0		0			2	0	11,50

 

Author: Lukáš Vlasák