Prague Masters 2025 R2: Aravindh Chithambaram astonishes the in-form Vincent Keymer
Vincent Keymer (GER) was in terrific form since his triumph at Freestyle Grand Slam Tour Stage 1. He started Prague Chess Festival 2025 Masters with a victory. However, in the second round, Aravindh Chithambaram managed to stop his momentum. In a wild game, the India no.5 and World no.21 prevailed by playing fantastic chess. He found some great resources. Ediz Gurel (TUR) held R Praggnanandhaa to a solid draw. IM Divya Deshmukh bounced back well with a victory over IM Richard Stalmach (CZE). In Karel Janeček Open, GM Sasikiran Krishnan and GM Raja Rithvik R made a winning start. The third round for Masters, Challengers and Futures, and Round 2 Open starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed
Ediz Gurel plays a solid draw against Praggnanandhaa, Divya bounces back
Over 370 players are taking part in the Karel Janeček Open and seven different round-robin tournaments combined.
Masters: Keymer - Aravindh: 0-1
GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2729) opted for the Queen's Gambit Accepted line against GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2731). The position became messy early in the middlegame.
12.exd4 0-0-0 13.Nbd2 Nd5 is what the computer recommends. In the game, White went for 12.Bxd4 Ne4 13.Qc2 Qg4 14.Be2 Nxd4 the position became messy in a hurry. 15.Nxd4 Qxg2 White never got compensation for the lost pawn.
White misplaced his rook on c5 29.Rc5? Aravindh the strong Re5! which turned things completely in his favor. Even if White had exchanged the rooks, the resultant knight would have been winning for Black.
Challengers: Divya - Stalmach : 1-0
IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) launched a brutal attack on IM Richard Stalmach's (CZE, 2449) kingside after the latter virtually locked the center 14...c4.
20.f5 f6 21.Qg2 Ne7 22.Rf2 fxg5 23.Qxg5 Rf6 24.Rbf1 and White went on to win the game eventually. It was not the smoothest conversion but White was never in any danger.
Don't forget to cast your vote for the best game of Round 2. For more Round 2 photos and Karel Janeček Open 2025 Round 1 photos, please click at the respective links.
Schedule
The Round-Robin tournaments will take place from 26th February to 7th March 2025. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Monday 3rd March is a rest day. The ninth round game on 7th March will start at 11 a.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST.
Replay Round 2 Masters games
Replay Round 2 Challengers games
Round 2 Masters results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2755 | GM | WEI Yi | ½ - ½ | GM | GIRI Anish | 2728 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 7 | 2677 | GM | NAVARA David | ½ - ½ | GM | LE Quang Liem | 2739 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 8 | 2624 | GM | GUREL Ediz | ½ - ½ | GM | PRAGGNANANDHAA R | 2741 | 4 | |||
| 4 | 9 | 2668 | GM | NGUYEN Thai Dai Van | ½ - ½ | GM | SHANKLAND Sam | 2670 | 3 | |||
| 5 | 1 | 2731 | GM | KEYMER Vincent | 0 - 1 | GM | ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr. | 2729 | 2 |
Standings after Round 2
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GM | ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2729 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,50 | 1 | |
| 2 | 3 | GM | SHANKLAND Sam | USA | 2670 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | |
| 3 | 9 | GM | NGUYEN Thai Dai Van | CZE | 2668 | 1 | 0 | 1,50 | 1 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | LE Quang Liem | VIE | 2739 | 1 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | |
| 7 | GM | NAVARA David | CZE | 2677 | 1 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 6 | GM | GIRI Anish | NED | 2728 | 1 | 0 | 0,75 | 2 | |
| 7 | 4 | GM | PRAGGNANANDHAA R | IND | 2741 | 1 | 0 | 0,75 | 1 | |
| 8 | 1 | GM | KEYMER Vincent | GER | 2731 | 1 | 0 | 0,50 | 0 | |
| 9 | 8 | GM | GUREL Ediz | TUR | 2624 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,50 | 1 | |
| 10 | GM | WEI Yi | CHN | 2755 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,50 | 1 |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2729 | GM | ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr. | GM | WEI Yi | 2755 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 2670 | GM | SHANKLAND Sam | GM | KEYMER Vincent | 2731 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 4 | 2741 | GM | PRAGGNANANDHAA R | GM | NGUYEN Thai Dai Van | 2668 | 9 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 2739 | GM | LE Quang Liem | GM | GUREL Ediz | 2624 | 8 | ||||
| 5 | 6 | 2728 | GM | GIRI Anish | GM | NAVARA David | 2677 | 7 |
Round 2 Challengers results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 2478 | IM | FINEK Vaclav | ½ - ½ | GM | MA Qun | 2645 | 6 | |||
| 2 | 7 | 2581 | GM | MAURIZZI Marc`andria | 0 - 1 | GM | YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek | 2659 | 5 | |||
| 3 | 8 | 2490 | IM | DIVYA Deshmukh | 1 - 0 | IM | STALMACH Richard | 2449 | 4 | |||
| 4 | 9 | 2640 | GM | BJERRE Jonas Buhl | ½ - ½ | GM | SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan | 2599 | 3 | |||
| 5 | 1 | 2433 | FM | NEMEC Jachym | ½ - ½ | GM | KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis | 2580 | 2 |
Standings after Round 2
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | GM | SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan | ESP | 2599 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,75 | 1 | |
| 2 | 9 | GM | BJERRE Jonas Buhl | DEN | 2640 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,25 | 1 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek | UZB | 2659 | 1,5 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | |
| 4 | 6 | GM | MA Qun | CHN | 2645 | 1 | 0 | 1,25 | 2 | |
| 5 | 10 | IM | FINEK Vaclav | CZE | 2478 | 1 | 0 | 1,00 | 1 | |
| 6 | 1 | FM | NEMEC Jachym | CZE | 2433 | 1 | 0 | 0,75 | 0 | |
| 7 | 8 | IM | DIVYA Deshmukh | IND | 2490 | 1 | 0 | 0,50 | 1 | |
| 8 | 2 | GM | KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis | GRE | 2580 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,50 | 1 | |
| 9 | 4 | IM | STALMACH Richard | CZE | 2449 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 1 | |
| 7 | GM | MAURIZZI Marc`andria | FRA | 2581 | 0,5 | 0 | 0,25 | 1 |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 2580 | GM | KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis | IM | FINEK Vaclav | 2478 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 2599 | GM | SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan | FM | NEMEC Jachym | 2433 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 4 | 2449 | IM | STALMACH Richard | GM | BJERRE Jonas Buhl | 2640 | 9 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 2659 | GM | YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek | IM | DIVYA Deshmukh | 2490 | 8 | ||||
| 5 | 6 | 2645 | GM | MA Qun | GM | MAURIZZI Marc`andria | 2581 | 7 |
Time Control
The time control is 90'/40 moves + 30'/end & 30"/move.
Links
Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers, Futures and Open
Prague Chess Festival: fb. twitter, instagram and youtube
