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The sixth round of play in the Masters section of the Prague Chess Festival ended with five draws. Vincent Keymer, who started his tournament with four decisive games, wins and losses, this time played white against Anish Giri. Out of a Catalan opening, Keymer gained the initiative and found himself a pawn up in a bishop versus knight endgame. But that advantage was not enough to win.
Co-leader Aravindh Chithambaram, playing white in a Queen's Gambit Declined against Le Quang Liem, achieved little or nothing in the opening. This trend continued in the middlegame, although the Indian GM endeavoured to apply pressure on the queenside. The game finally turned into a rook ending with an equal number of pawns.
Le Quang Liem | Photo: Petr Vrabec
The eternal Italian Giuoco Piano was discussed by Sam Shankland and Praggnanandhaa in this round. After the usual manoeuvres in the opening, the game picked up speed after the US grandmaster first gave up a pawn in the centre and then sacrificed a knight looking for a mating attack. Pragg had to defend carefully and give back some material. Despite the turbulence, the game ended in a draw on move 43 with a threefold repetition.
Shankland here found 23.Nxh6 gxh6 24.f5, a sacrifice fully approved by the engines - i.e. it does not evaluate the position as favourable for Black despite the material imbalance.
Getting the initiative is usually a key factor in games between humans, though. Pragg nonetheless showed a precise defensive effort to keep the balance throughout.
The black minor pieces duly defended the black monarch on the kingside.
Sam Shankland and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Petr Vrabec
Thai Dai Van Nguyen and David Navara, on the other hand, explored the Berlin Defence and produced some new positional ideas. White entered the endgame with some pressure and reached a rook ending with a passed pawn. But even this material and positional advantage was not enough for a win.
Ediz Gürel defended against Wei Yi with the Sicilian Paulsen and held the balance quite easily in a typical hedgehog position. In the end, the Turkish prodigy broke into the white position with a rook and forced a draw by perpetual check.
Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa remain in the lead with 4 points each, and have a full point advantage over their closest chasers.
Ediz Gürel | Photo: Petr Vrabec
In the Challengers, leader Nodirbek Yakkubboev only managed a draw with the black pieces out of a Najdorf Sicilian against the Greek Stammatis Kourkoulos-Arditis, which gave Jonas Buhl Bjerre the opportunity to draw level at the top with a win over Marc'Andria Maurizzi.
Vaclaf Finek against Divya Deshmuk and Ma Qun, with the black pieces, against Jachym Nemec also scored full points.
Jonas Buhl Bjerre | Photo: Petr Vrabec
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