Prague R1: Keymer and Shankland start with wins

Two decisive games, a missed chance

Vincent Keymer got off to a good start at the Chess Festival in Prague, as he played a good game from start to finish against Chinese GM Wei Yi, who rarely loses and entered the Masters tournament as the top seed.

Keymer, Vincent2731

1–0

Wei, Yi2755

7th Prague Masters 2025 Prague CZE26.02.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 9.Bd3 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Ne2 Qa5+ 12.Kf1 f6 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.exf6 Rxf6 15.Be3 Bd7 16.Kg1

At the Freestyle Tournament in Weissenhaus, Magnus Carlsen praised Vincent Keymer's feel for the subtleties of the randomly drawn opening positions, but against Wei Yi, Keymer also demonstrates strong theoretical knowledge in classical chess. All this has been seen on the board before; only Black's next move is a novelty. 16...Raf8 17.h4 Ne7 18.Qxe4 White has won a pawn, but Black has very good compensation: White’s king is vulnerable, White has several weak pawns, and Black's pieces are very active. Overall, chances should be balanced. Nf5 19.Bg5!? The position now becomes sharp and tactically complex. Nd6 20.Qd3 Rxf2 21.Be7 Bc6 22.Rh2 Qf5 23.Qxf5 R8xf5

24.d5! Keymer chooses the continuation that causes Black the most difficulties. Also, with 24.Ng3 Nxc4 25.Nxf5 Rxf5 White wins an exchange, but here too, as in the game, Black has enough compensation to maintain equality. And after the immediate 24.Bxd6 the position simplifies after Rxe2 25.g4 Rxh2 26.Kxh2 Rf2+ 27.Kg3 Rd2 into an endgame with opposite-coloured bishops, in which White has no winning chances. 24...exd5 25.Ng3 Nxc4 26.Bc5 With this intermediate move, White wins the pawn on a7. R2f4 27.Nxf5 Rxf5 28.Bxa7 The complications are over, and White has won an exchange. However, in return, Black has a pawn and a potentially dangerous passed pawn on d4. Nevertheless, Black will have to defend carefully for a long time to secure a draw. b6 29.Rh3 Rf7 30.Bb8 d4 31.Rc1 b5 32.a4 White eliminates the weakness on a3 but, in doing so, exchanges another pawn. As the game progresses, White succeeds in creating threats against Black's king and neutralising Black's d-pawn. Rd7 33.axb5 Bxb5 34.Rb3 Rd5 35.Bf4 Ne5 36.Rc8+ Kf7 37.Rc7+ Kf6 38.Rb7 Bd7 39.Rg3 Ng4 40.Bg5+ Kf5 41.Rf3+ Kg6 42.Rb6+ Kh5 43.Rf7 Ra5 44.Rd6 Bf5 45.Bc1 d3 46.Rxg7 Kxh4 Now White has only one pawn left, but Black's king is in grave danger. 47.Rf7 Be4 48.Rd4 Bf5 49.Rf4 d2 Black gives up the passed pawn to exchange a pair of rooks and neutralise the threats against his king. 50.Bxd2 Ra1+ 51.Rf1 Rxf1+ 52.Kxf1 Bd3+ 53.Kg1 Be4 Black's pieces lack coordination. And even after 53...Ne5 54.Rf4+ Kh5 55.Rd4 White wins a piece and the game, as he threatens Bf4 and Rd5. 54.Ra7 Bc2 55.Ra5

Black resigned. White threatens 56.Be1+, and Black can only parry this threat at the cost of heavy material loss. 1–0

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It was a tough start for top seed Wei Yi | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Sam Shankland won the Masters in Prague in 2021 and would naturally like to repeat this success in 2025. He showed remarkable perseverance against the young Turkish grandmaster Ediz Gürel, who qualified for the event by winning the Challengers section in 2024.

Sam Shankland | Photo: Petr Vrabec

The three remaining games ended in draws, although Thai Dai Van Nguyen missed a very good opportunity to start the tournament with a win in his game with the black pieces against Aravindh Chithambaram.

Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.2729

½–½

Nguyen, Thai Dai Van2668

7th Prague Masters 2025 Prague CZE26.02.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.c4 c6 7.Qb3 a5 8.cxd5 a4 9.Qd1 cxd5 10.Nc3 Ne4 11.Ng5 Nxc3 12.bxc3 h6 13.Nh3 Qc7 14.Bd2 Bxh3 15.Bxh3 e6 16.Rb1 Nd7 17.Rb4 Nb6 18.Qb1 Ra6 19.Rc1 Nc4 20.Be1 Rb8 21.Qd3 Bf8 22.Rbb1 Ba3 23.Rc2 Rb6 24.Qd1 Nb2 25.Qd2 Nc4 26.Qd1 Rxb1 27.Qxb1 b5 28.Bf1 Kg7 29.e3 h5 30.Qd1 Rb6 31.Qf3 Qc6 32.h3 Qb7 33.Kh2 Bd6 34.Kg1 Ba3 35.Be2 Bd6 36.Rc1 Ba3 37.Rb1 Bd6 38.Bf1 Na3 39.Rc1 Qc6 40.Qd1 Rb8 41.Qd2 Bc7 42.h4 Rc8 43.Qb2 Nc4 44.Qb1 Ba5 45.Bd3 Nd6 46.Rc2 Nc4 47.Rc1 Nd6 48.Rc2 Qd7 49.Kg2 Qb7 50.Qd1 Rc7 51.Kh2 Qc8 52.Qc1 Rc6 53.Kg2 Qc7 54.Kh2 Qc8 55.Kg2 Qc7 56.Kh2 Qe7 57.Qb1 Qb7 58.Qc1 Qc7 59.Kg2 Qc8 60.Kh2 Rc7 61.Qa3 Nc4 62.Qc1 e5 63.dxe5 Nxe5 64.Be2 b4 65.Qd1 Qf5 66.Rc1 Rxc3 67.Bxc3 Qxf2+ 68.Kh3 bxc3 69.Qd4 Bc7 70.Rxc3

70...Qxe2? Here Black, who had played very strongly so far, misses the win. With 70...Bd6! Black would have kept up the pressure. White has difficulties avoiding a loss of material and fending off the mating attack, e.g. 71.Bd1 Kh7 72.Qxd5 Ng4 73.Qg2 Qe1 and Black wins. After the text move, the game quickly ends in a draw by perpetual check. 71.Rxc7 Qf1+ 72.Kh2 Qf2+ 73.Kh3 Qf1+ 74.Kh2 Qf2+ 75.Kh3 Qf1+ 76.Kh2 ½–½

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Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Round 1 results

Standings

All games

Challengers: Salgado and Bjerre score

The rating favourite in the Challengers is the Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Yakubboev. As luck would have it, he played against the second seed, China's Ma Qun, in the very first round. The game ended in a draw.

How to play the Caro-Kann Defence Vol. 1 & 2

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Meanwhile, both Jonas Buhl Bjerre, the third seed, and Ivan Salgado Lopez, the fourth seed, scored full points to become the early co-leaders.

The playing hall | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Round 1 results

Standings

All games

Links

• Official site
• Two Knights Talk: Who will win in Prague?
• Robson beats Deac in exciting playoff, wins Prague Masters (2023)
• 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)