Prague Chess Festival 2026 R1: Gukesh and Divya starts with a draw
The 8th edition of the Prague International Chess Festival 2026 started with many interesting games and some huge upsets. Masters section witnessed 4 decisive results with the white side winning in all 4 games. The only game that ended in a draw was between World Champion D Gukesh and Hans Niemann. In the Challengers section, there were 3 decisive results in which Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND) lost to Thomas Beerdsen (NED). GM Divya Deshmukh (IND) drew her game against Benjamin Gledura (HUN) to start her campaign. The second round for Masters, Challengers, and Futures, and Round 1 of Open starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Abhyudaya Ram
A round full of upsets
In the first round of the Prague International Chess Festival 2026, we saw some huge upsets in the Challengers section, as IM Stepan Hrbek (CZE) won his game against GM Daniil Yuffa with the black pieces, and his countryman IM Jachym Nemec beat GM Zhu Ziner (CHN) with the black pieces in the starting round of the Festival.
In the Masters, Jorden Van Foreest, who recently won a head-to-head match against Ediz Gürel in Ankara, won his first round against World No. 4 Vincent Keymer of Germany, showing his tremendous form. In another important encounter, 13-time Czech National Champion David Navara won his game against GM Parham Maghsoodloo.
Prague Masters 2026
In masters section, we saw 4 decisive results with just 1 draw in the game of D Gukesh and Hans Niemann. In the other 4 games, Nodirbek Yakubboev won his game against David Anton Guijarro, Jorden Van Foreest played an excellent game to win against Vincent Keymer, Parham Maghsoodloo blundered an equal position, and Czech star GM David Navara won his game against Parham. On board 5, Nodirbek Abdusattorov won his game against the reigning champion Aravindh Chithambaram.
D Gukesh vs Hans Niemann (0.5-0.5)
The game between World Champion D Gukesh and Hans Niemann was a complex, long battle. It started with Hans sacrificing his knight on move 13 for two pawns and better activity. Hans was slightly better throughout the game, but Gukesh showed great resilience to hold the position, and eventually he drew the game.
Playing with the black pieces, once Hans saw 13.f4, he took almost 10 minutes, and then he captured the pawn on d3 using his knight 13...Nxd3 followed by 13...Qxd3 to gain a space advantage. On one side, Hans sacrificed the material, and he was dependent on his pawns to win him a game, while Gukesh was trying to hold the position and managed to do so.
David Navara vs Parham Maghsoodloo (1-0)
After playing a draw in 2022 and 2024 of the Prague Masters, David managed to win his game against Parham this time in the 8th edition of the Prague Masters. The game was heading towards a draw, and Parham made a huge blunder, and David won the game after a few moves.
Parham played 29...b5 and missed the white's idea of capturing on b5 with a5 pawn, followed by 31.g5 to fix the pawn on g5 square and capture the h4 pawn. David won this game in 40 moves when Parham resigned after getting his rook trapped on g5.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Aravindh Chithambaram (1-0)
The defending champion, Aravindh Chithambaram, was in a comfortable position against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and then he missed a backrank weakness on his side, which led to Nodirbek capturing an extra pawn, and that single pawn decided the game.
Prague Challengers 2026
The event started with 3 decisive results in the first round, where IM Stepan Hrbek won against GM Daniil Yuffa, Jachym Nemec won against Zhu Jiner, and Thomas Beerdsen won his game against GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly. The game between Divya Deshmukh and Benjamin Gledura ended in a draw, and the last game between Vaclav Finek and Jonas Buhl Bjerre also ended in a draw.
Don't forget to cast your vote for the best game of this round: Here
Photo Gallery: Here
Venue: Don Giovanni Hotel Prague
Don Giovanni Hotel Prague is a 4-star hotel located in Prague's popular residential area of Vinohrady in proximity to the city centre. It is a modern city hotel built in 1995, and it is named after Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. The Hotel provides 412 spacious, air-conditioned guest rooms, and the majority of them offer exceptional views of Prague. Don Giovanni has 5 restaurants and bars. The Hotel also has one of the biggest conference capacities in Prague.
Schedule
The Round-Robin tournaments will take place from 25th February to 6th March 2026. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Monday, 2nd March, is a rest day. The ninth game on 6th March will start at 11 a.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST.
Live Stream
Replay Round 1 Masters games
Replay Round 1 Challengers games
Round 1 Masters results
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 2754 | GM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2725 | 10 | |||||
2 | 2 | 2691 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2666 | 9 | |||||
3 | 3 | 2705 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2776 | 8 | |||||
4 | 4 | 2628 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2708 | 7 | |||||
5 | 5 | 2751 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2700 | 6 |
Standings after Round 1
1 | 2 | GM | 2691 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
3 | GM | 2705 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
4 | GM | 2628 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
5 | GM | 2751 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
5 | 1 | GM | 2754 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | |||
10 | GM | 2725 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | ||||
7 | 6 | GM | 2700 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
7 | GM | 2708 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
8 | GM | 2776 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
9 | GM | 2666 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 2 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | 2725 | GM | GM | 2700 | 6 | ||||||
2 | 7 | 2708 | GM | GM | 2751 | 5 | ||||||
3 | 8 | 2776 | GM | GM | 2628 | 4 | ||||||
4 | 9 | 2666 | GM | GM | 2705 | 3 | ||||||
5 | 1 | 2754 | GM | GM | 2691 | 2 |
Round 1 Challengers results
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 2497 | GM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2652 | 10 | |||||
2 | 2 | 2604 | GM | 0 - 1 | IM | 2463 | 9 | |||||
3 | 3 | 2578 | GM | 0 - 1 | IM | 2466 | 8 | |||||
4 | 4 | 2538 | IM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2629 | 7 | |||||
5 | 5 | 2568 | GM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2525 | 6 |
Standings after Round 1
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | GM | 2525 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
8 | IM | 2466 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
9 | IM | 2463 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
4 | 1 | GM | 2497 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | |||
4 | IM | 2538 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | ||||
7 | GM | 2629 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | ||||
10 | GM | 2652 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 0 | ||||
8 | 2 | GM | 2604 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
3 | GM | 2578 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
5 | GM | 2568 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 2 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | 2652 | GM | GM | 2525 | 6 | ||||||
2 | 7 | 2629 | GM | GM | 2568 | 5 | ||||||
3 | 8 | 2466 | IM | IM | 2538 | 4 | ||||||
4 | 9 | 2463 | IM | GM | 2578 | 3 | ||||||
5 | 1 | 2497 | GM | GM | 2604 | 2 |
Time Control
90 Minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 Minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1
Links
Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers, Futures, Open
Prague Chess Festival: Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
