Number 14 in the world rankings

Aravindh Chithambaram emerged as the champion of the Masters tournament in the seventh edition of the Prague Chess Festival. The 25-year-old Indian grandmaster, who entered the ten-player event as the fifth seed, secured outright victory with an undefeated 6/9 score. His path to the title was particularly impressive, as he secured three critical victories against direct contenders rated 2700 or above: Vincent Keymer, Wei Yi and Anish Giri. These victories demonstrated his strength against elite competition and played a decisive role in his tournament success.

This triumph in Prague is not Aravindh's first success on the elite stage. In November last year, he won the Chennai Grand Masters, finishing ahead of well-established players such as Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Arjun Erigaisi.

His performance in Prague was equally remarkable, achieving a tournament performance rating (TPR) of 2830. As a result, he gained 12 rating points, bringing his live rating to 2743. This achievement places him at number 14 in the live world rankings, where he is currently tied with legendary compatriot Vishy Anand, who has been semi-retired from competitive chess. Indian chess continues to assert its dominance on the global stage, with three players - Gukesh, Arjun and Praggnanandhaa - currently ranked within the world's top ten.

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It is a known fact that Aravindh has been coached by the extremely successful RB Ramesh, while he also confessed to have received direct help from Sundararajan Kidambi during this tournament.

Heading into the final round, Aravindh held the sole lead in the tournament standings. Playing with the black pieces, he opted for a solid approach and secured a draw against Ediz Gürel, ensuring he remained undefeated in the event. This result meant that only Praggnanandhaa, who was trailing by half a point, had a chance to catch up and force a tiebreak. However, Pragg was unable to capitalise on this opportunity, as he suffered a defeat with the black pieces against Anish Giri. This was the only decisive game of the final round and had a direct impact on the tournament standings.

Giri's tournament had been somewhat inconsistent. He started with six consecutive draws before suffering a setback against Aravindh on Wednesday. However, the Dutch grandmaster managed to finish the event on a high note, securing back-to-back wins in the last two rounds. His victory over Pragg allowed him to climb into shared second place with a final score of 5/9 points. He was joined in the shared second spot by both Pragg and Wei Yi, with the latter drawing his final-round game against Le Quang Liem.

Anish Giri finished the event with two wins in a row | Photo: Petr Vrabec

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Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Petr Vrabec

Giri 1 - 0 Wei

Round 9 results

Standings

All games

Challengers: Yakubboev beats Bjerre in blitz tiebreaker

Much like in the Tata Steel Chess tournaments in Wijk aan Zee, the Prague Chess Festival grants the winner of the Challengers section a spot in next year's Masters tournament. Heading into the final round, the competition for overall victory was closely contested, with Nodirbek Yakubboev leading Jonas Buhl Bjerre by half a point. Both contenders had the white pieces for their final-round games.

Yakubboev, despite aiming for a decisive result, was only able to draw his game against Vaclav Finek. Meanwhile, Bjerre managed to catch up with his rival by securing a victory over Jachym Nemec. The game, which started with a Sicilian Defence, saw the Danish grandmaster outplaying his opponent to force a tiebreaker for first place.

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The title was then decided by a blitz playoff. In the first blitz game, Yakubboev, playing with the black pieces, gained an extra pawn in an endgame featuring rooks and bishops of opposite colours. The position eventually simplified into a pure rook versus bishop endgame, which is theoretically drawn. Yakubboev, however, pressed on, forcing Bjerre to defend the position until move 150, when the draw was finally agreed.

In the second game, Yakubboev secured victory with the white pieces after Bjerre blundered on move 21. The Danish grandmaster's 21...Rc8 turned out to be a crucial mistake, as it allowed 22.Bf5, winning an exchange.

Since the rook could not leave the defence of the c6-knight, the correct move instead was 21...Ne7 to prevent this tactical sequence. After 22...Ne7 23.Bxc8 Nxc8, Bjerre soon made another error, leading to his resignation.

With this result, Yakubboev secured overall victory in the Challengers section and earned his place in next year's Masters tournament. Marc'Andria Maurizzi claimed third place after finishing a full point behind Yakubboev and Bjerre. Ma Qun followed in fourth place, half a point further back. Both Maurizzi and Ma ended their tournaments on a high note by winning their final-round encounters.

Tiebreak games

Round 9 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)