In a thrilling second round of the Prague Masters in the Czech Republic, Aravindh Chithambaram secured an impressive victory, while R Praggnanandhaa settled for a draw against Turkey’s Gurel Ediz.
Chithambaram, who has been steadily climbing the ranks, played an exceptional game with black pieces against Germany’s Vincent Keymer. After navigating through some tough moments in his first-round match, he showed resilience, squeezing out a victory. Chithambaram’s tactical brilliance earned him a pawn advantage in the middle game, and he dominated the position until Keymer eventually faltered, losing a rook and pawns in the endgame. The game lasted 45 moves, with Chithambaram leading the charge from start to finish.
Meanwhile, Praggnanandhaa had a solid outing but could not break the deadlock in his game against Ediz. The match, played with the French Defense, ended in a draw after both players agreed to a peaceful result on move 46. Despite creating no major imbalances, Praggnanandhaa showed his strategic depth, but the rook endgame proved too balanced for either player to claim victory.
Other notable games in the second round included top seed Wei Yi from China, who drew with Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri, and Vietnam’s Le Quang Le, who also shared points with Czech Grandmaster David Navara. The only decisive game of the day was between Chithambaram and Keymer, where the Indian Grandmaster triumphed.
With seven rounds still to go, Chithambaram now shares the lead with Sam Shankland of the USA, both sitting on 1.5 points out of two games. Following them are Giri, Le, Dai Van, David, Keymer, and Praggnanandhaa. Ediz and Wei Yi are at the bottom with just half a point each.
In the challengers’ section, Indian talent Divya Deshmukh marked a milestone, securing an impressive win over Czech’s Richard Stalmach. With her king actively supporting her pawns, she advanced two connected passed pawns to victory, making her mark in the tournament.
Round 2 Results:
- Aravindh Chithambaram (IND, 1.5) beat Vincent Keymer (GER, 1)
- Wei Yi (CHN, 0.5) drew with Anish Giri (NED, 1)
- Nguyen Thai Dai Van (CZE, 1) drew with Sam Shankland (USA, 1.5)
- Gurel Ediz (TUR, 0.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (IND, 1)
- David Navara (CZE, 1) drew with Le Quang Leim (VIE, 1)
Challengers Section Results:
- Vaclav Finek (CZE, 1) drew with Ma Qun (CHN, 1)
- Marc’andria Maurizzi (FRA, 0.5) drew with Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB, 1.5)
- Divya Deshmukh (IND, 1) beat Richard Stalmach (CZE, 0.5)
- Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN, 1.5) drew with Ivan Salgado Lopez (ESP, 1.5)
- Jachym Nemec (CZE, 0.5) drew with Stamatis Kourkoulous-Arditis (GER, 0.5)
