Prague Masters 2025 R4: Praggnanandhaa prevails Keymer, joins the lead with Aravindh

by Shahid Ahmed - 02/03/2025

Aravindh Chithambaram had a solid draw with Sam Shankland (USA) in the fourth round of the 7th Prague International Chess Festival 2025 Masters. He moved to 4/5. R Praggnanandhaa managed to get back in the game after a slightly shaky start in the opening. Vincent Keymer (GER) could not manage to capitalize on his chances and suffered his second defeat of the event. This win allowed Praggnanandhaa to join the lead with Aravindh. They both will face each other in the fifth round. IM Divya Deshmukh drew with GM Qun Ma (CHN) in the Challengers. GM Raja Rithvik R scored a hat-trick of wins by defeating FM Simon Rybka (SVK). The fifth round for Masters, Challengers and Futures, and Round 4 Open starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Karel Janeček Open: Raja Rithvik R and Vantika Agrawal score a hat-trick each

R Praggnanandhaa defeated Vincent Keymer (GER) to join the lead with Aravindh Chithambaram

Keymer - Praggnanandhaa: 0-1

GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2719) defeated GM R Praggnanandhaa (2758) last month at 87th Tata Steel Masters 2025. A month later, Praggnanandhaa avenged his loss, although he mentioned that he does not remember these things. Keymer seemingly gained a pleasant position out of the opening. However, the turning point of the game was 14.h6. According to him, even though computer says that it's the best move, Praggnanandhaa felt that that's when the balance started shifting.

Position after 14.h6

14.h6 gxh6 15.Rxh6 Rg8 16.g5 cxd4 17.Bxd4 Bb5 18.a4 Ba6 19.Rxh7 Rc8 20.c3 Qc4 White's advantage started dissipating.

Position after 27.g6

27.g6? in time trouble, Keymer started sacrificing pawns to open up lines and also he moved his rook multiple times which did him no good. Praggnanandhaa seized his opportunity and won the game comfortably.

Wei Yi (CHN) scored his first win of the tournament against the Czech Republic no.1 - David Navara

Ediz Gurel (TUR) - Anish Giri (NED): 0.5-0.5

Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) - Liem Quang Le (VIE): 0.5-0.5

Aravindh Chithambaram - Sam Shankland (USA): 0.5-0.5

Karel Janeček Open: GM Raja Rithvik R 3/3

IM Vantika Agrawal 3/3

Challengers: IM Divya Deshmukh - GM Qun Ma (CHN): 0.5-0.5

GM R Praggnanandhaa won game of the round 3 award with 48% of total votes, 9% more than the next best voted game

GM Pontus Carlsson (SWE), winner of the K Cero Invest Rapid, made the ceremonial first move of Round 3

Round 4 in progress

Don't forget to cast your vote for the best game of Round 4. For more Round 4 photos and Karel Janeček Open 2025 Round 3 photos, please click at the respective links.

Weekend means the tournament hall was packed to the brim.

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 4 Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah, IM Sopiko Guramishvili and GM Harshit Raja | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 4 Masters games

Replay Round 4 Challengers games

Round 4 Masters results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	10	2755	GM	WEI Yi	1 - 0	GM	NAVARA David	2677	7
2	8	2624	GM	GUREL Ediz	½ - ½	GM	GIRI Anish	2728	6
3	9	2668	GM	NGUYEN Thai Dai Van	½ - ½	GM	LE Quang Liem	2739	5
4	1	2731	GM	KEYMER Vincent	0 - 1	GM	PRAGGNANANDHAA R	2741	4
5	2	2729	GM	ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr.	½ - ½	GM	SHANKLAND Sam	2670	3

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2729	3	5,25	1
2	4	GM	PRAGGNANANDHAA R	IND	2741	3	5,00	2
3	3	GM	SHANKLAND Sam	USA	2670	2	3,75	2
4	1	GM	KEYMER Vincent	GER	2731	2	3,50	1
5	6	GM	GIRI Anish	NED	2728	2	3,25	3
6	5	GM	LE Quang Liem	VIE	2739	2	3,25	2
7	7	GM	NAVARA David	CZE	2677	1,5	3,50	3
8	8	GM	GUREL Ediz	TUR	2624	1,5	3,50	2
	9	GM	NGUYEN Thai Dai Van	CZE	2668	1,5	3,50	2
10	10	GM	WEI Yi	CHN	2755	1,5	2,50	2

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	3	2670	GM	SHANKLAND Sam		GM	WEI Yi	2755	10
2	4	2741	GM	PRAGGNANANDHAA R		GM	ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr.	2729	2
3	5	2739	GM	LE Quang Liem		GM	KEYMER Vincent	2731	1
4	6	2728	GM	GIRI Anish		GM	NGUYEN Thai Dai Van	2668	9
5	7	2677	GM	NAVARA David		GM	GUREL Ediz	2624	8

Details

Round 4 Challengers results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	10	2478	IM	FINEK Vaclav	0 - 1	GM	MAURIZZI Marc`andria	2581	7
2	8	2490	IM	DIVYA Deshmukh	½ - ½	GM	MA Qun	2645	6
3	9	2640	GM	BJERRE Jonas Buhl	½ - ½	GM	YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek	2659	5
4	1	2433	FM	NEMEC Jachym	0 - 1	IM	STALMACH Richard	2449	4
5	2	2580	GM	KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis	½ - ½	GM	SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan	2599	3

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	GM	YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek	UZB	2659	3	0,5	6,00	2
2	9	GM	BJERRE Jonas Buhl	DEN	2640	3	0,5	5,50	2
3	6	GM	MA Qun	CHN	2645	2	0	4,00	3
4	3	GM	SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan	ESP	2599	2	0	3,75	2
5	1	FM	NEMEC Jachym	CZE	2433	2	0	3,50	1
6	7	GM	MAURIZZI Marc`andria	FRA	2581	2	0	3,25	3
7	4	IM	STALMACH Richard	CZE	2449	1,5	0	3,00	2
8	10	IM	FINEK Vaclav	CZE	2478	1,5	0	2,75	2
9	2	GM	KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis	GRE	2580	1,5	0	2,75	1
10	8	IM	DIVYA Deshmukh	IND	2490	1,5	0	2,50	2

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	3	2599	GM	SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan		IM	FINEK Vaclav	2478	10
2	4	2449	IM	STALMACH Richard		GM	KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis	2580	2
3	5	2659	GM	YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek		FM	NEMEC Jachym	2433	1
4	6	2645	GM	MA Qun		GM	BJERRE Jonas Buhl	2640	9
5	7	2581	GM	MAURIZZI Marc`andria		IM	DIVYA Deshmukh	2490	8

Details

Time Control

The time control is 90'/40 moves + 30'/end & 30"/move.

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers, Futures and Open

Prague Chess Festival: fb. twitter, instagram and youtube

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