Prague: Keymer stuns Wang

The top seed begins with a loss

After the 2020-21 Candidates Tournament came to an end, Wang Hao shocked the audience by announcing his retirement from competitive chess. The Chinese GM struggled in the double round-robin which faced many difficulties due to the pandemic, and noted his health issues had prompted him to make such a drastic decision. Since then, he played only two classical tournaments: Norway Chess and the Abu Dhabi Masters, both in 2022. Now, the 33-year-old from Harbin entered the Prague Masters as the top seed.

Middlegame Secrets Vol.1 + Vol.2

Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!

In the first round, Wang faced Vincent Keymer, who in contrast has been very active in the grandmaster circuit. The young German entered a sharp variation of the Slav, castling long and thus creating a double-edged battle. Following complications, Keymer emerged with a superior endgame position. The final, technical phase of the game was not a walk in the park, but Keymer managed to outplay his opponent to grab an early lead in Czechia’s capital.

All four remaining games finished drawn. Out of the eight players who collected a half point on Wednesday, Sam Shankland is the one that missed the biggest chance, as he got a favourable structure against Boris Gelfand in an endgame position with queens and knights.

Sam Shankland has played in all five editions of the Prague Festival | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Keymer, Vincent2690

1–0

Wang, Hao2722

Prague Festival Masters 2023 21.06.2023[Johannes Fischer]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Bd2 Be7 9.Qb3 Qc7 10.0-0-0 dxc4 11.Bxc4 b5 12.Be2 a6 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.f4 c5 15.Bf3 Nc6 16.dxc5 Na5 17.Qa3 Bxc5 18.b4 Nc4

A sharp variation has emerged that was probably part of Vincent Keymer's preparation. 19.Nxb5! Qc8?! This is inaccurate and gives White an additional option. More precise was 19...Qe7 and after 20.Nc7+ Qxc7 21.Qa4+ transposes to the match. 20.Nc7+?! Even better was 20.bxc5! 0-0 Or 20...Nxa3 21.Nd6+ Ke7 22.Nxc8+ Raxc8 23.Bb4 and White has an extra pawn and a clear advantage. 21.Nd6 Nxd6 21...Nxa3 22.Nxc8 Raxc8 23.Bb4 again leads to a clear advantage for White. 22.Bxa8 with a winning position for White. 20...Qxc7 21.Qa4+ Ke7 22.bxc5 Nxd2 23.Kxd2 Rad8+ 24.Ke2 Qxc5 25.Rc1 Qb5+ 26.Qxb5 axb5

After the tactical entanglements in the opening, an endgame has emerged in which White has the better chances. If the black b-pawn falls, White has a dangerous passed pawn on the a-file. In the game, Wang Hao found no way to stop this pawn. 27.Rc5 Nd5 28.Rb1 Ra8 29.Bxd5 exd5 30.Rb2 Rxh2 31.Kf3 Ra5 32.Rcxb5 Rxb5 33.Rxb5 Ke6 34.Rb6+ Kd7 35.Rb7+ Ke6 36.Rb1 g5 37.Rb6+ Ke7 38.fxg5 Rh4 39.g4 Rh2 40.a4 Ra2 41.Ra6 Rb2 42.a5 g6 43.Ra7+ Ke6 44.a6 Black gave up. Maybe a bit early, but he obviously didn't want to be shown the rest. A possible continuation is ...Ra2 45.Ra8 Kd6 46.a7 Ke7 47.Kg3 Ra4 48.Kf2 Ra6 49.Ke2 Ra2+ 50.Kd3 Ra4 51.Kc3 Ra5 52.Kd4 and White wins. 1–0

The Benko Gambit Explained

In this DVD, Erwin l'Ami guides you through the fascinating Benko Gambit. As early as move three Black starts a fight for the initiative, a strategy that has proved to be successful in countless amateur and master level games.

Peter Leko played the ceremonial first move in the game between Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Pentala Harikrishna — the Czech player went for 1.e4 as ‘suggested’ by Leko | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Results - Round 1

Standings - Round 1

All games

Finek scores in the Challengers

FM Vaclav Finek, aged 13, is the lowest-rated player in the Challengers. The youngster, a promising talent representing the host country, managed to start off on the right foot, as he got the better of Indian GM Akash G to grab an early lead in the 10-player single round-robin.

Finek, Vaclav2409

1–0

Akash G2483

Prague Festival Challengers 2023 21.06.2023[Johannes Fischer]

1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.0-0 h6 6.b3 g6 7.Bb2 Bg7 8.Nxd4 e5 9.Nf3 e4 10.Nd4 0-0 11.c4 dxc4 12.bxc4 Na6 13.Nc3 Qe7 14.Qc2 Re8 15.Rfd1 Bd7 16.Ncb5 Rec8 17.Ba3 Nc5 18.Rab1 a6 19.Nc3 Qe5 20.Nb3 Nxb3 21.axb3 Bc6 22.Bd6 Qe6 23.e3 Re8 24.Bc5 Nd7 25.Bd4 Bf8 26.Qe2 a5 27.Qb2 Rad8 28.Ne2

28...f5? After this move, White gains an advantage. Better was, for example: 28...Ne5 with a roughly balanced position. 29.Bc3 Ra8 30.Nd4 Qf7 31.Ra1 Black cannot defend the pawn on a5. a4 32.Nxc6 bxc6 33.Rxa4 Rxa4 34.bxa4 Nc5 35.Qa2 Bg7 36.Bxg7 Qxg7 37.Rd6 Nd3 38.Bf1 Ne5 39.c5+ Kh8 40.Qb3 Nf3+ 41.Kg2 h5 42.h4 g5 43.hxg5 Nxg5 44.Qd1 Nf3 45.Be2 Nh4+ 46.Kf1 f4 47.gxh4 f3 48.Qd4 fxe2+ 49.Kxe2 Re5 50.Rd8+ Kh7 51.Rd7 1–0

Attack like a Super Grandmaster

In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Vaclav Finek, the early leader | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Results - Round 1

Standings - Round 1

All games

Links

• Official site
• Harikrishna and Keymer clinch Prague Festival titles (2022)
• Shankland wins Prague Masters after dramatic final round (2021)
• Alireza Firouzja wins Prague Masters in blitz playoff (2020)
• Vitiugov victorious in Prague Masters (2019)