Aravindh scalps Wei Yi, Pragg, Keymer win @ Prague Masters
With his second 2700+ scalp in a row, GM Aravindh Chithambaram announced his arrival in the big league. A fine win over top seed GM Wei Yi saw the Indian Grandmaster moving into sole lead with 2.5 points after the third round of the Prague International Chess Festival 2025 organised by Novy Bor Chess Club at Hotel Don Giovanni, Prague. Behind GM Aravindh are GMs Keymer and Praggnanandhaa at 2.0 points.
In the Queen’s Gambit Declined game it was aggression all the way for GM Aravindh who never released his foot from the pedal. By move 15 the black monarch was holding a scattered king-side together and white was very much holding the cards. With 19. g4 Aravindh showed he’s going all out for the win. The pawn capture on the rim 22…Bxa2 kept the black’s bishop off-side for long. Running low on time, both the players missed mutual chances to up the ante. Missing a few wins on the way, GM Aravindh sewed it up with a queen and knight mating net by 44 moves.
By accounting for super solid Wei Yi, Chennai Grandmaster 2024 winner Aravindh showed he’s ready to barge into the world Top 10. Today’s win inches GM Aravindh’s LIVE ratings to Elo 2740.1 pushing up his ranking to World No. 16 ahead of several established stars.
Also winning their games today were GMs Praggnanandhaa and Keymer against GMs Thai Dai Van and Shankland respectively. The games between Le Quang Liem – Gurel Ediz, Giri Anish – Navara David ended in draws.
Scoring the first win of the day was Tata Steel 2025 champion GM Praggnanandhaa who swept GM Thai Dai Van in 29 moves. Pragg faced the Nimzo-Indian from local star GM Nguyen (2668) and looked set for a long solid game. But GM Nguyen’s over-ambitious 14…f5 opened the Pandora’s Box.
Grabbing the chance, Pragg pressed for more initiative and was rewarded when GM Nguyen slipped with 21…Bb7?, when 21…Nb7 could have given black more fighting chances. Giving up his rook for the knight couldn’t ease the pressure as the position was going downhill very fast. Facing further loss of material with an ominous double rook landing on the seventh rank GM Nguyen resigned after playing 29…Bc6.
Weissenhaus Freestyle winner Vincent Keymer kept his no-draw record intact here defeating GM Sam Shankland (USA). Bouncing back after his painful loss to GM Aravindh yesterday, GM Keymer took his chances that came his way. The English Opening game went on an even keel until GM Shankland started to show greater keenness to play for a win before going bust. The rook and pawn ending appeared heading GM Keymer’s way when black’s pawns on the flank proved fatal.
Unable to stop either of the “a” or “b” pawn getting promoted GM Shankland gave up on the 54th turn. The turn around win keeps GM Keymer right behind the leader GM Aravindh at 2.0 points. In an interesting 4th round battle Keymer takes on Pragg, while Aravindh faces Shankland.
In Challengers section, GMs Yakubboev Nodirbek and Bjerre Jonas Buhl shared the lead with 2.5 points after the third round. Czech FIDE Master Nemec Jachym is in the third place with 2.0 points. Round four starts by Saturday, 1st March at 9 AM ET / 3 PM CET / 7:30 PM IST.
Aravindh Chithambaram (2729) – Wei Yi (2755) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qb3 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Bg5 Qa5 8. Bxf6 dxc4 9. Qxc4 gxf6 10. Rc1 Qxc5 11. Qf4 Ke7 12. g3 e5 13. Qe4 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Be6 15. Bg2 Kf8 16. Qh4 Kg7 17. Nd2 Qe7 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. g4 Rhg8 20. Ne4 Bd5 21. Ng3 Kh8 22. O-O Bxa2 23. c4 Qe6 24. h3 Rg6 25. Rfd1 f5 26. f3 Rag8 27. Rd8 fxg4 28. hxg4 Bxc4 29. Rxg8+ Rxg8 30. Kf2 Bb5 31. Ne4 Kg7 32. Rh1 Qg6 33. Qe7 Qe6 34. Qg5+ Kf8 35. Qd2 Rg6 36. Qd8+ Qe8 37. Qh4 h6 38. Rd1 Qe6 39. Qd8+ Kg7 40. Rd6 Qc4 41. Rxg6+ fxg6 42. Qf6+ Kh7 43. Qe7+ Kh8 44. Kg3 1-0
Shankland Sam (2670) – Keymer Vincent (2731) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nf3 Bxc3 4. dxc3 d6 5. e4 Nd7 6. Bd3 Ne7 7. Be3 b6 8. Bc2 a5 9. Nh4 Ba6 10. b3 h6 11. a4 Bb7 12. Qe2 Nf6 13. f3 g5 14. Nf5 Nxf5 15. exf5 Qe7 16. O-O-O O-O-O 17. Kb2 Qf8 18. h4 Qg7 19. g4 Rhe8 20. Rhg1 d5 21. hxg5 hxg5 22. Qf2 dxc4 23. bxc4 Nd7 24. c5 Qf6 25. cxb6 Nxb6 26. Bb3 Rh8 27. Bxb6 Qxb6 28. Qxb6 cxb6 29. Rxd8+ Kxd8 30. Rd1+ Kc7 31. Bd5 Bxd5 32. Rxd5 f6 33. Rd3 Rh3 34. Kc2 Rg3 35. Kd2 Rg2+ 36. Ke3 Ra2 37. Ke4 Rxa4+ 38. Kd5 Kd7 39. Rd1 Ra2 40. Kc4+ Kc6 41. Rd8 b5+ 42. Kd3 Ra3 43. Rf8 b4 44. Rxf6+ Kb5 45. Rf8 Rxc3+ 46. Ke4 Rc7 47. f6 Rb7 48. Re8 b3 49. Kd3 Ka4 50. Rxe5 b2 51. Re1 Kb3 52. f4 a4 53. fxg5 a3 54. Kd4 0-1
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2741) – Nguyen Thai Dai Van (2668) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 dxc4 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Be7 9. e4 Rb8 10. Bf4 b5 11. Re1 a6 12. d5 Na5 13. Qc2 Nh5 14. Be3 f5 15. dxe6 f4 16. Rad1 Qe8 17. gxf4 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 Rxf4 19. Nd5 Rg4 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Qd2 Bb7 22. Ne5 Rg5 23. f4 Rxe5 24. fxe5 Nc6 25. Qd7 Re8 26. Qxe7 Rxe7 27. Rd7 Rxe6 28. Rxc7 Na5 29. Rd1 Bc6 1-0
Masters (Round 3 Results): Le Quang Liem (1.5) drew with Gurel Ediz (1.0), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2.0) bt Nguyen Thai Dai Van (1.0), Giri Anish (1.5) drew with Navara David (1.5), Shankland Sam (1.5) lost to Keymer Vincent (2.0), Aravindh Chithambaram (2.5) bt Wei Yi (0.5)
Challengers (Round 3 Results): Yakubboev Nodirbek (2.5) bt Divya Deshmukh (1.0), Salgado Lopez Ivan (1.5) lost to Nemec Jachym (2.0), Stalmach Richard (0.5) lost to Bjerre Jonas Buhl (2.5), Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis (1.0) drew with Finek Vaclav (1.5), Ma Qun (1.5) drew with Maurizzi Marc’Andria(1.0)
Picture Courtesy: Prague Chess Festival 2025
Official Site: https://praguechessfestival.com/en/2025
