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

Giri, Anish2728

1–0

Praggnanandhaa R2741

Prague Festival Masters 2025 07.03.2025[CC]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0-0 exd4 8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 10.Kh1 Nbd7 11.Be3 a6 12.Nc2 Ne5 13.f4 Neg4 14.Bg1 h5 15.Bf3 Be6

Up to this point, the contenders were following Kramnik v. Ponomariov from the 2011 Dortmund super tournament. Kramnik, known for doing well against the King's Indian, won that game. Here Giri deviates from that encounter, though. 16.Qd3 The game in Dortmund continued with 16.b3 Qa5 17.Qe1 b5 18.c5 b4 19.Na4 Bc4 20.Qxb4 Qxb4 21.Nxb4 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Nxe4 23.Nb6 Ra7 24.cxd6 Nxd6 25.Bxc6 Re2 and White has a pawn for the exchange, plus very active pieces - engines, in fact, evaluate the position as slightly better for White. 16...b5 17.cxb5 axb5 18.Rfd1 d5 19.e5 Nd7 20.Nd4 Ndxe5 21.fxe5 Nxe5 22.Qc2 Black has correctly given up a knight for two pawns. The position is dynamic, with chances for both sides - though White's position is favoured by engines. Bd7 23.a3 Remarkably, all this had been played previously, in a game between players rated around 2200. h4 This novelty by Pragg turned out to be an inaccuracy. The strongest move in the position is 23...c5 when White should not play 24.Ndxb5 due to Correct is 24.Nb3 Nxf3 25.gxf3 d4 26.Ne4 Bc6 27.Nbxc5 f5 28.Nd2 Qd5 29.Rf1 with a double-edged position. 24...Nxf3 25.Rxd5 Nxg1 26.Rxg1 Re5 27.Rxe5 Bxe5 28.Qe4 Bg7 with an advantage for Black. 24.h3 c5

A bit too late, as now White can play 25.Bxd5 cxd4 26.Bxd4 White gives back the piece, but gets plenty of activity and a visibly better position. Rb8 Another mistake by Pragg - though figuring out the nuances in this sharp position is surely difficult. 26...Rc8 27.Qb3 Nc4 28.Nxb5 Bxb5 29.Qxb5 Nd6 30.Qb4 and only now Rb8 31.Qc3 Rc8 going back and forth with the rook to deal with White's tactical threats - still, White emerges with an extra pawn and two dangerous passers on the queenside. There might follow 32.Qf3 Qe7 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 and the battle goes on. 27.Ne4 Bg4 The decisive mistake. Black needed to give up a queen with 27...Bf5 28.Bxe5 Bxe5 29.Bxf7+ Kxf7 30.Rxd8 Rbxd8 31.Qb3+ Kg7 32.Ng5 which is surely a major concession - it is understandable for Pragg not to have chosen this line. 28.Bxf7+ Kxf7 29.hxg4 Qe7 30.Bc5 Qc7 31.Qb3+ Nc4 32.Nd6+

A good-looking move that proves White's positional superiority. The c4-knight is pinned and the black monarch's weakness gives Giri a winning position. 32...Kg8 33.Nxe8 Rxe8 34.Qxb5 Re4 35.Bd4 Ne3 35...Rxd4 36.Rxd4 Bxd4 37.Qd5+ Kh7 38.Qxd4+- 36.Bxe3 Rxe3 37.Rd3 Rg3 38.Rd7 Qf4 39.Qb7 Qf6 40.Re1 An impressive showing of opening preparation and tactical play by Giri! 1–0

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)