Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
The seventh edition of the Prague Chess Festival is set to take place from 26 February to 7 March at the Hotel Don Giovanni in Czechia's capital. The event is once again organised by the well-known Novy Bor Chess Club, headed by Petr Boleslav. Mimicking the Wijk aan Zee tournament, with Masters, Challengers, and Futures sections, the festival aims to solidify its place in the yearly chess calendar.
Six different players have won the previous six Masters events, with Nikita Vitiugov and Alireza Firouzja the first two winners, and Nodirbek Abdusattorov the winner of last year's edition. The one previous Masters' champion in the lineup this year is Sam Shankland, who won the event in 2021 after outscoring Jan-Krzysztof Duda in an exciting final sprint.
The Keymer Variation - 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
Joining Shankland will be Vincent Keymer, who won the Challengers in 2022 (at 17 years of age) and recently secured victory in the inaugural event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after knocking out Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in the final stages of the knockout. Also in the lineup is Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who recently obtained his first-ever victory in a super-tournament after beating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in the tiebreaks of the Tata Steel Chess Masters.
A smiling 17-year-old Vincent Keymer receives the first prize after winning the Challengers tournament in 2022 | Photo: Vladimír Jagr
Keymer and Pragg, aged 20 and 19 respectively, will be among the favourites to take the title in Prague. However, they will need to outscore formidable 2700+ rated opponents: Wei Yi, the rating favourite; Le Quang Liem, who does not play often but consistently proves to be a dangerous opponent; Aravindh Chithambaram, who will be highly motivated to show his strength in one of his first participations in an invitational tournament; and Anish Giri, a long-time member of the sport's elite.
Besides Shankland, three other players in the 2600-2700 rating band will aim for glory in the single round-robin: Czech stars David Navara and Thai Dai Van Nguyen (the latter recently won the Tata Steel Challengers) and Ediz Gürel, the Turkish rising star who won the Challengers section in Prague last year.
Rounds will take place daily from 26 February until 7 March, except on 3 March, which will serve as the event's single rest day. Games will be played with a classical time control, and a playoff will decide the winner in case of a tie for first place.
Praggnanandhaa scored 5/9 in 2024, with wins over Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Vincent Keymer and Vidit Gujrathi | Photo: Petr Vrabec
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.
All participants - Masters
All participants - Challengers
| Advertising |
