Prague R4: Pragg beats Keymer, catches Aravindh

by Stefan Liebig
3/2/2025 – Vincent Keymer continues to go all-in at the Masters section of the Chess Festival in Prague: the German went for an attack against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, and lost. As a result, Pragg caught up with his compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram in the lead. Meanwhile, Wei Yi bounced back from his loss on Friday with a win over David Navara. | Photo: Petr Vrabec

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Two Indians on top

Vincent Keymer has two wins and two defeats to his name after four days of play in Prague. He came out of the opening with a very strong position. Perhaps surprisingly, he started with 1.e4 and emerged out of a French Defence with an advantage. But his middlegame plan was not convincing. Instead of going for 19.Rxh7 and 20.c3, further advancing the a-pawn or activating the queenside rook via a3 would probably have been more advisable.

As a result, Pragg caught up with his compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram, who was the sole leader after three rounds. He was able to salvage a draw while a pawn down against Sam Shankland, who started the tournament with a victory in the first round.

Chess fans can look forward to the top match between the two leading Indians in Sunday's fifth round, the last one before the rest day.

Vincent Keymer

Vincent Keymer has played four decisive games so far in Prague | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Wei Yi, who was in last place after three rounds with only half a point, was able to redeem himself, as he beat local hero David Navara out of an Italian Opening. The Chinese player responded strongly to the unconvincing novelty 11...h5 with 12.h4 and his precise tactical play quickly led to a deadly king attack, in which the black pieces on the queenside must have felt somewhat lost...

David Navara

Wei Yi defeated David Navara | Photo: Petr Vrabec

The remaining games, featuring the four players still without a win in Prague, ended in draws: Ediz Gürel drew against Anish Giri while Le Quang Liem drew with Thai Dan Van Nguyen.

Round 4 results

Standings

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Challengers: Maurizzi and Stalmach win with black

The two players sharing the lead in the Challengers, Danish GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre and Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev, faced each other on Saturday and agreed a draw after 37 moves. The only excitement came on moves 26 and 27. Yakubboev blundered, but Bjerre immediately gave up the advantage.

The runner-up and surprise third-placed Jachym Nemec could have drawn level with the two, but he lost the all-Czech duel against Richard Stalmach.

Marc'Andria Maurizzi defeated Vaclav Finek, while the games Ma Qun v. Divya Deshmukh and Ivan Salgado v. Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis ended in draws.

Prague Chess Festival 2025

Richard Stalmach beat Jachym Nemec with the black pieces | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Round 4 results

Standings

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  • Start an analysis engine:
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  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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Stefan Liebig, born in 1974, is a journalist and co-owner of a marketing agency. He now lives in Barterode near Göttingen. At the age of five, strange pieces on his neighbour’s shelf aroused his curiosity. Since then, the game of chess has cast a spell over him. Flying high in the NRW youth league with his home club SV Bad Laasphe and several appearances in the second division team of Tempo Göttingen were highlights for the former youth South Westphalia champion.
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