2/13/2024 – In about two weeks, on 26 February 2024, the sixth Prague International Chess Festival (PICF) will begin. This year the four best juniors in the world - Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Abdusattorov and Keymer - will be in Prague to complete the strong field of Vidit, Rapport, Maghsoodloo, Navara, Bartel and Nguyen. But as tournament director Petr Boleslav explains in an interview, this is just one reason to combine a visit to one of Europe's most beautiful cities with chess. | Picture: Festival logo 2024

6/15/2022 – In 2019, the Prague Chess Festival took place for the first time and currently, the 4th Prague Chess Festival is played - with two interesting grandmaster tournaments, the Masters and the Challengers, an Open, the Futures, a tournament for young players, and a number of side events. In an interview, Petr Boleslav, organiser and tournament director of the Prague Chess Festival, talks about the background of the tournament and reveals why he decided to become a chess organiser. | Photo: Petr Boleslav at the opening of the Chess Festival | Photo: Petr Vrabec

2/7/2020 – The Chinese grandmaster is healthy, but the virus' spread has forced the cancellation of many international flights and, for the second year running, Wei Yi has had to pull out of the Prague Masters just days in advance. He will be replaced by the current top junior in the world, GM Alireza Firouzja from Iran, who now lives in France. An open question is whether the Coronavirus outbreak may impact other top Chinese players heading for next month's Candiates Tournament in Russia. | Photo: Niki Riga

3/16/2019 – Nikita Vitiugov won the 1st Prague Masters with a last round draw against Richard Rapport, that was enough to keep his half point lead intact. The 'Polish derby' between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Radoslaw Wojtaszek ended drawn, and so with a last round win Vidit snuck into second place. It was the centrepiece of a new chess festival in Prague that proponents hope will continue for many years to come. | Photo: Vladimir Jagr