Prague Masters & Challengers: Firouzja beats Vidit in playoff to take the title

Vidit falls at the final hurdle

India's number two Vidit Gujrathi could not recover from a painful loss in round eight — on the final day of action, he was quickly defeated by Jan-Krzysztof Duda and had to wait for other results to favour him in order to at least get to a playoff. The other key game for the title was David Anton versus Alireza Firouzja, as a win for either player would be enough to get first place outright. Anton missed his chances during time trouble; Firouzja got the upper hand in the endgame; but the game finally ended up drawn.

These results meant five players tied atop the standings on 5 out of 9. According to the regulations, in this case the two players with the best tiebreak scores — Vidit and Firouzja — were to play a blitz playoff to decide the champion. The 16-year-old showed his prowess in quick-time play and got the title with a 2:0 victory over the long-time leader.   

Replay the games with commentary analysis. Full report will be published shortly.

Report on Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8

Live games and commentary

Players receive 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, plus 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

Commentary by GM Pavel Simacek and GM Vlastimil Babula

Current standings and results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Challengers

Current standings and results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Continuing a tradition

The 2nd Prague Chess Festival was officially opened on February 11^th. Former President Vaclav Klaus was one of the guests of honour. The tournament director Petr Boleslav, who is also the driving force behind the success of the Novy Bor team, envisioned the festival with its Masters and Challengers tournaments as a Prague version of Tata Steel Chess in Wijk aan Zee — a symbiosis of top chess and amateur events. Prague, the "golden city", can look back on a long chess tradition, and was the birthplace of the first official World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz. 

The opening ceremony was held at the Hotel Don Giovanni, which also serves as the playing venue. In his welcoming speech Boleslav underscored the momentum gained from last year's successful inaugural festival.

I wish the players give their best and fulfill both their ambitions and the expectations of the fans. It was their, I dare to say, enthusiastic response to the last year's premiere, which filled us with the new energy for the months of organizational preparations. I'm glad you are here and now again with us.

Masters players by starting rank

Challengers players by starting rank

Links

• Official site
• Full festival schedule