Prague R8: Giri scores, Aravindh closer to tournament victory

by Johannes Fischer
3/7/2025 – In round seven of the Masters tournament at the Prague Chess Festival, Indian grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram took the lead in the standings, and in round eight he defended it with a draw against David Navara, as the second-placed player, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, also signed a draw. The wins of the round were achieved by Anish Giri, who won with black against Sam Shankland, and Wei Yi, who benefited from a mistake by Thai Dai Van Nguyen in a rook ending. | Photo: Petr Vrabec
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Giri and Wei bounce back

Anish Giri recovered well from his defeat against Aravindh Chithambaram in round seven by beating US grandmaster Sam Shankland in round eight. Giri showed why bishops of opposite colours are good for the attacker in the middlegame.

Shankland, S.26700–1Giri, A.2728
7th Prague Masters 2025
Prague CZE06.03.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.0-0-0 Be7 In this position, White has already tried many moves, but the continuation in the game is nevertheless a novelty. However, it does not pose major problems for Black. 10.f4 d5 11.Qe1 Rb8 12.exd5 cxd5 13.Bc4 0-0 14.Bb3 a5 15.Kb1 Bd7 16.a4 Rb4 17.f5 Qb6 18.fxe6 fxe6
19.Rxd5? A spectacular move, but not a good one. At the end of the complications, White ends up in a clearly worse position. After a quiet move such as 19.Rf1 the position remains balanced. 19...Nxd5 20.Nxd5 exd5 21.Qxe7
21...Rxb3! Black returns the exchange but retains the advantage. 22.cxb3 Bf5+ 23.Ka1 The position with opposite-coloured bishops is clearly better for Black, despite White being a pawn up. After 23.Ka2 Bc2 24.Qa3 d4 White is passive and helpless. 23...Qxb3 24.Qa3 Qc2 25.Be3 Qxg2 26.Rg1 Qe4 27.Bb6 Bg6 28.Bxa5 Rf4 29.Bd2 Rg4 30.Rf1 h5 31.h3 Rg2 32.Ba5 Kh7 33.Qb4 Qd3 34.Rc1 Qxh3 35.Qb5 d4 36.Qd5 Qe3 37.Rd1 Qe2 38.Qxd4 Rg4 39.Qd7 Qc2 0–1

Anish Giri

Anish Giri signing an autograph | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Chinese grandmaster Wei Yi started the tournament as the top seed, but only scored half a point in the first three rounds. But then he recovered and scored 4 points from the next 5 games, and now even has a theoretical chance of winning the tournament. Before the final round, he stands one point behind leader Aravindh and half a point behind second-placed Praggnanandhaa. If Wei Yi wins in the final round, Praggnanandhaa draws and Aravindh loses, the three would be tied for first place and would have to decide the tournament winner in a play-off. However, such a scenario is not very likely.

Wei had an advantage in his encounter against Thai Dai Van Nguyen for almost the entire game, but only won after Nguyen erred in a balanced ending.

Wei Yi27551–0Nguyen, Thai Dai Van2668
7th Prague Masters 2025
Prague CZE06.03.2025[Johannes Fischer]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Qe2 Be7 8.Nf3 Nxd5 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Nxe5 Qf5 11.d4 Nb4 12.Na3 0-0-0 13.Be3 Nbc6 14.Nxc6 Nxc6 15.c3 Bxa3 16.bxa3 Ne7 17.0-0 Rhe8 18.c4 Qe4 19.d5 Nf5 20.Rae1 h6 21.h3 g6 22.a4 Re7 23.Rc1 Rde8 24.Rc3 Qd4 25.Qd2 Qxd2 26.Bxd2 Re2 27.Rd1 h5 28.Kf1 Nd6 29.Rcc1 b6 30.a5 Kd7 31.a3 R2e4 32.axb6 cxb6 33.c5 bxc5 34.Rxc5 Rd4 35.Rc7+ Kxc7 36.Ba5+ Kd7 37.Rxd4 Re4 38.Rd3 Ra4 39.Bd2 Nc4 40.Bb4 a5 41.Bf8 Nd6 42.Rc3 Ne4 43.Rc2 Rd4 44.f3 Ng3+ 45.Kf2 Nf5 46.g4 hxg4 47.hxg4 Ne7 48.Rc5 Nxd5 49.Rxa5 Rd2+ 50.Ke1 Rd3 51.Bh6 Ke6 52.Ke2 Rb3 53.Ra6+ Ke7 54.a4 Rb2+ 55.Bd2 Ra2 56.a5 f6 57.Kd3 Kd7 58.g5 fxg5 59.Rxg6 Nf4+ 60.Bxf4 Ra3+ 61.Ke2 gxf4 62.a6 Ke7 63.Rb6 Kf7 64.Rb7+ Kf6 65.a7 Ke5 66.Kd2 Kd4 67.Rd7+ Kc4 68.Kc2 Ra2+ 69.Kb1 Ra6 70.Kb2 Ra5 71.Rc7+
71...Kd4? The wrong direction. After 71...Kb5! White cannot make progress, e.g. 72.Kb3 Ra1 73.Rh7 Kc5 74.Rg7 Kb5 75.Rb7+ Kc6 76.Rg7 Kb5 and White cannot make any advances. 72.Kb3 Ke3 73.Kb4 Ra1 Even 73...Ra6 does not save Black. After 74.Rc3+ Kf2 75.Ra3 Rxa7 76.Rxa7 Kxf3 77.Kc3 Kg2 78.Kd4 f3 79.Ke3 f2 80.Rg7+ White arrives just in time to stop Black's pawn. 74.Rc3+ Kd4 75.Ra3 Rb1+ 76.Ka5 1–0

Wei Yi

Wei Yi | Photo: Petr Vrabec

The three remaining games of the round ended in draws. Aravindh played it safe against David Navara, Praggnanandhaa played a tactically and strategically demanding game against Le Quang Liem, which ended in a draw by repetition, and Vincent Keymer put Ediz Gürel under constant pressure, but was unable to turn this pressure into anything tangible.

Round 8 results

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Challengers: Yakubboev beats Stalmach, leads

In the Challengers, Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Yakubboev has the best chance of winning the tournament. He won convincingly with black against Richard Stalmach in the eighth round and secured the sole lead in the table, since Jonas Buhl Bjerre could not go beyond a draw against Vaclav Finek.

Yakubboev therefore goes into the final round with a half-point lead and will win the tournament and qualify for next year's Masters if he beats Finek.

Nodirbek Yakubboev

Nodirbek Yakubboev during round seven | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Round 8 results

Standings

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Topics: Anish Giri, Prague Chess Festival 2025, Wei Yi
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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Prague R5: Wei scores second win in a row

3/3/2025 – The fifth round of the Masters tournament in Prague brought only one victory. Wei Yi managed it against Sam Shankland, who completely failed in the opening. All four other games ended in draws, with Vincent Keymer missing a good chance to score. At the halfway stage, Aravindh Chithambaram and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu are in the joint lead with 3½ out of 5 points each, a full point ahead of the chasing pack. In the Challengers, Nodirbek Yakubboev leads the field with 4 out of 5 points. | Photo: Petr Vrabec
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Prague R4: Pragg beats Keymer, catches Aravindh

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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