The field keeps getting stronger
From 24 February to 6 March 2026, the eighth edition of the Prague International Chess Festival will be held at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague. Organised by the Nový Bor Chess Club, the festival has established itself as one of the most important regular chess events in Central Europe, combining elite competition with a broad programme aimed at players of all ages and levels.
As in previous years, the sporting core of the festival will consist of three closed round-robin tournaments: the Masters, the Challengers and the Futures.
In the first part of the video series, we will look at White’s four main moves: 6. Bg5, 6. Be3, 6. Be2 and 6. Bc4.The Masters is a super-grandmaster event, while the Challengers offers ambitious grandmasters the chance to earn promotion to the Masters in 2027. The Futures tournament is reserved for young talents, with the winner gaining a place in the Open Tournament at the following edition of the festival. All three events will be 10-player single round-robins played at a classical time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move one.
The invitational tournaments are played next to the open tournament at the Don Giovanni Hotel | Photo: Official website
The Masters tournament will be headlined by reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, who will face a strong and diverse field. Joining the world champ will be a group of established world-class players, including Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Hans Niemann Parham Maghsoodloo, defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram, Jorden van Foreest, Nodirbek Yakubboev, David Antón and local hero David Navara.
The Challengers tournament will again underline the festival's emphasis on opportunity and diversity. The field includes some of the most prominent female players on the global scene, notably Zhu Jiner, currently ranked world number two among women, who will be making her first appearance in Prague. She will be joined by Divya Deshmukh, returning after a well-received debut, and by the experienced Indian grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly. The tournament also features Thomas Beerdsen, winner of the 2025 Prague Open, alongside several of the strongest Czech players of the younger generation.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Aravindh Chithambaram won the 2025 edition | Photo: Official website
Nodirbek Abdusattorov was the clear winner in 2024 | Photo: Official website
Beyond the closed tournaments, the festival programme encompasses a wide range of open and side events. These include open tournaments with norm possibilities, rating-limited competitions, rapid and blitz events, and alternative formats such as Basque Chess, Fischer Random Chess and Bughouse. In total, twelve tournaments are scheduled, with results contributing to the Don Giovanni Grand Prix 2026 standings.
Full schedule
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Judit Polgar. Let them show you which openings Polgar chose to play, where her strength in middlegames were, or how she outplayed her opponents in the endgame.
Links
.jpeg)