A late bloomer

Aravindh Chithambaram has been regarded as one of India's greatest talents ever since he won the 2013 Chennai Open at the age of 14 with a Tournament Performance Rating of 2728. But while players like Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Arjun gradually rose to the top of the world rankings and were able to establish themselves as elite GMs, Aravindh did not seem to be able to realise his potential for a long time.

Recently, however, things have been looking up for the 25-year-old, and at the Masters event in Prague he showed that he can also hold his own against the best players in the world.

Aravindh won a brilliant game with black against Anish Giri in round seven, which also left him as the sole leader with two rounds to go.

Giri, Anish2728

0–1

Aravindh, Chithambaram VR2729

Prague Festival Masters 2025 05.03.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nf3 c6 8.Nh4 Bg4 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.h3 Be6 11.Nf3

11...Ne4!? This aggressive knight move, offering a pawn sacrifice, is a novelty. 12.Bd3 White could have taken the pawn. After 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Qxe4 Qa5+ 14.Nd2 Nf6 Black has compensation, but nothing more. However, as Aravindh mentioned after the game, he was "sure that Anish would decline the pawn sacrifice". 12...f5 13.Bh2 0-0 14.0-0 Kh8 15.Ne2 a5 To make a potential b2-b4 advance more difficult. 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Bf6 18.f3 Nd6 19.g4!? White follows Black's example and also plays aggressively. 19.f4 would have been safer and more solid, leading to approximate equality. 19...Qe7 20.Ng3 g6 21.Rae1? After this natural move, White falls into a disadvantage - though it is hard to see. Engines recommend 21.Kh2 with approximate equality. 21...Bxe5 22.dxe5 Nf7 23.f4 Qh4 24.Kg2

24...Ng5‼ A surprising counterattack that gives Black a devastating attack. However, after the game, Aravindh mentioned that finding ...Ng5 was "easy because everything is more or less forced after that". 25.Rh1 White cannot take the knight because after 25.fxg5 fxg4 Black's attack breaks through. 25...d4! A pawn sacrifice to further open the position. 26.fxg5 dxe3 27.gxf5 gxf5 28.Rxe3 White returns material to lessen the force of Black's attack. f4 29.Rf3 fxg3 30.Be4 Rxf3 31.Bxf3

31...Rf8! with the devastating threat of ...Rxf3, against which White has no adequate defence. 32.Qe4 Rf4 33.Qd3 Rxf3! 34.Qd8+ After 34.Qxf3 follows Bd5 winning the queen. And after 34.Kxf3 Bd5+ 35.Ke3 Qxg5+ 36.Ke2 Qxe5+ 37.Kd2 Bxh1 Black wins everything. 34...Kg7 35.Kxf3 Bd5+ 36.Ke3 Qe4+ 37.Kd2 Qf4+ 38.Kc2 Qf5+ 39.Kd2 Bxh1 0–1

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Anish Giri | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Entering into the seventh round, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Aravindh were sharing the lead. Pragg failed to convert a strong position into a win against Wei Yi.

Praggnanandhaa R2741

½–½

Wei, Yi2755

Prague Festival Masters 2025 05.03.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Na4 Bb6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.Qc2 Bd7 14.a4 Re8 15.b4 Ne4 16.Be3 Nd6 17.Bd4 Nf5 18.Bc3 d4 19.Bb2 Qe7 20.b5 Qxe2 21.Rfc1 d3 22.Qxe2 Rxe2 23.bxc6 Be6 24.Bc3 Rc8 25.Rd1 Bc4

26.Rab1? White misses a good opportunity. 26.a5! bxa5 27.Bxa5 g6 28.c7 The passed white pawn on c7 costs Black material. 26...Rc2 27.Ba1 Ne7 28.Rxb6 f6 29.Be4 Re2 30.Bf3 Ra2 31.Rb4 Be6 32.Bb2 Bd5 33.Bxd5+ Nxd5 34.Rb7 Rxc6 35.Rxd3 Rb6 36.Ra7 Rbxb2 37.Rxd5 Rd2 38.Rxd2 Rxd2 Once again, a rook endgame appears on the board, where White has a passed a-pawn and both sides have three kingside pawns. Objectively, the endgame should be a draw, but if Black plays inaccurately, White can win. However, Wei Yi defends precisely. 39.Kg2 Rd3 40.g4 h5 41.gxh5 Kh7 42.Ra8 Rd4 43.a5 Rd5 44.a6 Rxh5 45.Kf3 Rh4 46.Ke3 Kg6 47.Kd3 Kf5 48.Kc3 Ra4 49.Kb3 Ra1 50.Kc4 Ra2 51.Kb5 Rb2+ 52.Kc6 Rc2+ 53.Kb7 Rb2+ 54.Kc7 Rc2+ 55.Kb6 Rb2+ 56.Kc6 Rc2+ 57.Kb7 Rb2+ 58.Ka7 Rxf2 59.Rh8 g5 60.Ka8 g4 61.a7 ½–½

Wei Yi | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Vincent Keymer was also unable to score a full point in an endgame with an extra pawn against David Navara.

Navara, David2677

½–½

Keymer, Vincent2731

Prague Festival Masters 2025 05.03.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.Nd2 dxc4 8.Bxf6 Nxf6 9.Nxc4 Qc7 10.Rc1 Bd6 11.f4 0-0 12.Bd3 Be7 13.0-0 c5 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Kh1 Qe7 Up to this point, the entire variation was already known, but White's next move is a novelty. 16.e4

16...e5! With this surprising counter, Black maintains equality. The position now becomes highly tactical. 17.Nxe5 Be3 18.Rc2 Bxf4 19.Nxf7 Bxh2 20.Bc4 Be6 21.Bxe6 Qxe6 22.Ng5 Qg4 23.Nd5 Qxg5 24.Nxf6+ Rxf6 25.Rxf6 Qxf6 26.Kxh2 Qh4+ 27.Kg1 Qxe4 At the end of a long tactical skirmish, Black emerges with an extra pawn in a heavy-piece endgame. However, as the game progresses, he is unable to convert this advantage. 28.Rf2 h6 29.Qb3+ Kh8 30.Qf3 Qe1+ 31.Kh2 Re8 32.Qg3 Qb4 33.Rc2 Qd4 34.Qc3 Qd6+ 35.Kg1 Qd1+ 36.Kh2 Qd5 37.Rd2 Qf7 38.Rd4 Qf5 39.Qd2 Qh5+ 40.Kg1 Qc5 41.b4 Qe7 42.Qf2 b5 43.Kh2 Qe5+ 44.Qf4 Qh5+ 45.Qh4 Qf7 46.Rd6 Qc7 47.Qg3 Qe7 48.Qf4 Rc8 49.Qd4 Qc7 50.Qe5 Kg8 51.Qe6+ Kh7 52.Qf5+ Kh8 53.Qe5 Kg8 ½–½

Sam Shankland played for a win in almost every game of the tournament so far, but had little luck. Against Le Quang Liem, who suffered a blackout shortly after the opening, the US grandmaster scored an unexpectedly easy win with black in round seven.

Le, Quang Liem2739

0–1

Shankland, S.2670

7th Prague Masters 2025 Prague CZE05.03.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.f4 0-0 9.Kh1 Nc6 10.a4 Bd7 11.Nb3 e5 12.Be3 exf4 13.Rxf4 Be6 14.Nd5 Nd7 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Nd2 d5 17.Qg1 Rfe8 18.Raf1 Nde5

19.c3? A blackout, after which White loses material. After 19.Bc5 Qg5 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.Ne4 the position remains balanced. 19...Ng6! With this knight retreat, Black suddenly has a winning position. 20.Bc5 20.R4f2 does not help. After dxe4 21.Nxe4 Bd5 White loses a piece. 20...Qg5 21.Qe3 Nxf4 22.Rxf4 Black is a piece up and has a winning position. As the game continues, Shankland slowly but surely converts his advantage. Ne5 23.Kg1 Ng6 24.Rf3 Qxe3+ 25.Rxe3 dxe4 26.Nxe4 Bd5 27.Nd6 Rxe3 28.Bxe3 Rd8 29.Bc5 Nf4 30.Bf1 b6 31.Ba3 a5 32.Kf2 g6 33.g3 Ne6 34.Bb5 f5 35.Ke3 Nc5 36.Ne8 Kf7 37.Nc7 Ne6 38.Nxd5 Rxd5 39.b4 g5 40.bxa5 bxa5 41.Ke2 Re5+ 42.Kf1 Nc5 43.Bc1 Kg6 44.Bd2 Ne4 45.Be1 Nd6 46.c4 Re4 47.Bxa5 Nxb5 48.cxb5 Rxa4 49.Bc7 Rb4 50.b6 Rb2 51.Ke1 Kf7 52.Kd1 Ke6 53.Kc1 Rb5 54.Kd2 Kd5 55.Kd3 Rb3+ 56.Kc2 Kc4 57.Kd2 Kd4 58.Kc2 Rb5 59.Kd2 Ke4 60.Kc3 f4 61.gxf4 gxf4 62.Kc4 Rb1 63.Kc5 f3 64.Bg3 Ke3 0–1

How to Avoid Mistakes and Boost Your Winning Rate

Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.

Sam Shankland | Photo: Petr Vrabec

The tournament has not gone well for young Turkish grandmaster Ediz Gürel. But in round seven, he scored his first victory in the Master while playing white against Thai Dai Van Nguyen - and he did it in convincing fashion to boot.

Gurel, Ediz2624

1–0

Nguyen, Thai Dai Van2668

7th Prague Masters 2025 Prague CZE05.03.2025

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.d3 Nd7 8.Be3 0-0 9.Nc3 Re8 10.a4 b6 11.Ne2 b5 12.Ng3 Bf8 13.Kh1 Nb6 14.b3 Bd7 15.Nd2 Bb4 16.f4 exf4 17.Bxf4 Bc3 18.a5 Nc8 19.Ra2 Be6 20.Nf3 Bg4 21.h3 Bxf3 22.Qxf3 Qd7 23.Ne2 Bb4 24.c3 Bf8 25.Bg3 f6 26.Nf4 Bd6 27.Nh5 Bxg3 28.Qxg3 Kh8

29.e5! Qf7 30.exf6 g6 31.Ng7 Rf8 32.Re2 Nd6 33.Ne6 Rae8 34.Ng5 Qd5 35.c4 bxc4 36.bxc4 Qxa5 37.Rxe8 Nxe8 38.c5 Qa2 39.Qe5 1–0

Two rounds remain to be played at the Masters tournament in Prague, and it looks as if Aravindh and Praggnanandhaa will battle in a two-horse race for overall victory. Aravind has a 1½-point lead over the chasing pack, while Pragg stands a half point behind his compatriot.

Round 7 results

Standings

All games

Challengers: Bjerre and Yakubboev keep on winning

The Art of Initiative - The key to Opening Success

Unleash your chess potential with this dynamic course focused on mastering the initiative.

Jonas Buhl Bjerre and Nodirbek Yakubboev are fighting for the tournament victory in the Challengers. Both co-leaders scored victories in round seven, over Ivan Salgado and Divya Deshmukh respectively, and are now 1½ points ahead of their closest rivals.

Jonas Buhl Bjerre | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Round 7 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)