Felix Blohberger Wins Friendly Match Against David Navara in Vienna

About the Match

The match was initiated by GM Blohberger with the support of a private sponsor and was organized in cooperation with the Austrian Chess Federation, which hosted the event at its headquarters. The event was organized to a very high standard and featured excellent live commentary by GM Alex Colovic, who was joined by several well-known and interesting guests, including GM Markus Ragger, Austria’s leading player for many years; strong British GM and commentator David Howell; GM Simon Williams; IM Kostya Kavutskiy; WGM Jennifer Shahade, and the known Dutch FM and author Michiel Abeln.

Each guest brought a unique perspective and style to the commentary. Some also shared personal stories about Felix and David, helping the audience gain a deeper understanding of both participants, as players and as individuals. It is worth noting that both players appeared for every game in exceptionally elegant outfits and showed great mutual respect throughout the match, which further enhanced the prestige of the event.

About the Players

GM Felix Blohberger (2548) - Austria

Felix Blohberger was born in Vienna in 2002 and is one of the leading representatives of Austria's current young generation of chess players. He earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19. In 2018, he won the European U16 Rapid Championship. He became Austrian Rapid and Blitz Champion in 2021 and Austrian National Champion in 2022. He represented Austria at the 2022 and 2024 Chess Olympiads. In 2026, he won the Sligo Open in Ireland.

In addition to being a professional player, Felix runs an excellent YouTube channel, featuring a wide variety of high-quality content. He shares analyses of his own games—often immediately after they are played and does so with remarkable honesty. He also analyzes games by elite players from major tournaments, presents new opening ideas, and offers viewers insight into the various aspects of a professional chess player's life, along with useful advice for improving at chess. The diversity of content on his channel is truly exceptional. He is a wonderful ambassador for the game and helps bring chess to a wide range of communities.

Blohberger is also an experienced coach who has assisted several strong players, the most notable being top Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna.

GM David Navara (2639) - Czech Republic

David Navara was born in Prague in 1985. He is a true chess legend in the Czech Republic and has been the country's leading chess player for an astonishing 23 consecutive years. He has won the Czech Championship no fewer than 14 (!) times, with his most recent title coming this year. He was a prodigy and one of his first coaches was the legendary GM Luděk Pachman. He also trained with GM Vlastimil Jansa. At the age of 16 he was already invited to play for the national team. He became a GM at the age of 17.

In the 2006 Olympiad he scored 8.5/12 against world-class opposition. From 2007 he began to play in super tournaments, in particular Wijk aan Zee. In the 2012 Olympiad he won an individual gold on board 2. He won the European Blitz Championship in 2014. Navara has a long tradition of playing matches, as part of the ČEZ Chess Trophy festival in Prague. His opponents along the years were Wesley So, Richard Rapport, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand and Judit Polgar. He played for the Czech Republic in many Olympiads (mostly on board 1). At his peak he was rated 2751 and his peak ranking was 13.

Navara has a degree in logic. He is one of the nicest and kindest personalities in the chess world!

The Match Flow

Blohberger played White in the odd games.

Game 1:

In Game 1, Navara chose the Ragozin Variation of QGD, which is currently experiencing something of a renaissance and was played frequently in the recent Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. After Black's 18th move Ndf8, a roughly equal position was reached.

Here, Blohberger chose an ambitious and aggressive continuation, which turned out to be inaccurate: 19. g4?!; the alternatives 19. Qb5 or Qd1 would have given White a slight advantage and a comfortable position.

The game continued with 19... Ne6 (stronger was 19... h5! 20. h3 Qd7 with pressure on the position of the White's king) 20. h4 (White is consistent with his plan) 21. cxd4 Rc4 22. Qf5 Qc6.

Black has a small but stable advantage and the more comfortable game. He controls the c-file, White's king position is somewhat weakened, and Black's two knights occupy active posts.

Navara pressed for many moves, but Blohberger demonstrated excellent defensive resourcefulness. Following an inaccuracy by Navara in time trouble, the position became equal after the time control on move 40.

The players eventually reached a balanced endgame on move 44.

After 45. R6b4 Blohberger lost the e3 pawn but managed to defend the rook endgame and a draw was agreed on move 72.

Game 2:

The second game was a rather quiet draw. It started with a long theoretical battle in a well-known endgame in the exchange variation of the Queen's Gambit (leading to the Carlsbad structure) that arises after Bxf6 Qxf6 Qxf6 gxf6.

Black's compensation for the ruined pawn structure on the kingside is the bishop pair. Typically, black has little counterplay in this endgame, but its position is very solid. A famous game in this line is Carlsen's win over Kramnik in Norway Chess 2016; a more recent theoretical battle took place at the 2026 Candidates Tournament, in the game Giri-Blübaum (draw). Blohberger was well-prepared and defended very well. Draw was agreed on move 35.

Game 3:

David Navara vs. Felix Blohberger The third game featured the Cambridge Springs Variation of QGD. On move 14 Blohberger introduced a novelty - 14. Qc2, and a complicated position arose after Navara's 16... Qxc5 (16... Bxd4 17. exd4 Rxd4 would simplify the position).

17. Bxe6! Qa5 18. Bxc8 Raxc8 19. 0-0 Rxc3 20. Qxc3 bxc3 White is a pawn up, has a strong knight and thus a comfortable advantage. Blohberger brought the king to the middle, but the weak c3 pawn gives Black counterplay. On move 35 Navara took a critical decision and exchanged rooks.

Maybe better was 35... Ra4 or Rb5, but White still has chances. The light piece endgame is tough to defend in practice. Blohberger, who is known for his endgame skills, showed a very good technique. The following position arose after 57 moves.

White is winning, but must find a correct plan to break through. Blohberger correctly understands that he needs to eliminate the f7 pawn, and better with the knight, keeping his king on g6 or f6, preventing any counterplay of black with Kg5.

58. g3! a nice deflection (58. g4? throws the win) 58... Bxg3 59. Kf6 Bf2 (on 59... Bh4+ 60. Kxf7 Kg5 61. e6 wins, as the knight is in time to protect the h-pawn) 60. Ne7! (on 60. Kxf7?? Kg5 saves Black) h4 61. Nf5+ with later Nd6 and Black lost the f7 pawn and the game. Blohberger takes the lead in the match.

Game 4:

The most complex and crazy game of the match. In the analysis video on his channel, Blohberger said "It was the most complex game of my life!".

This time Navara chose the double fianchetto variation of the English, but got outplayed. In the opening, the natural 13. Nbd2 played by Navara is a serious inaccuracy due to e5! (which was probably prepared by the Austrian GM) and the b2-bishop is locked; 13. Nxd4 (13. Bxd4? Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Be5 -/+) Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Bxg3 and White has a small edge.

In a complex middlegame Navara sacrificed an exchange for a blockade, and then a piece for an attack. A position arose after 35. Rg4, which looked very scary for Black, in spite of the fact that White is a rook down.

Blohberger defended well and ran with the king to c3 along the dark squares. Navara had to sacrifice the rook for the a-pawn and a queen endgame occurred on move 45.

After a tense pawn race a position with 4 queens was reached. Black is slightly better, but Navara found a perpetual.

Anecdotes worth mentioning: 5 queens appeared in a game of Alekhine vs. NN from 1915. Six queens appeared in a game between Emil Szalanczy and Thi Mai Hung Nguyen from 2009.

Game 5:

The fifth game was another Ragozin, this time with Bxf6. In the critical structure, Nd5 is a strong threat:

11... dxe4 (more popular today than Bxc3) 12. Nd5 Qd6 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Nxb4 =. Later Navara defended well and found counterplay. Draw was agreed on move 40.

Game 6:

The final game was quite interesting. Navara switched to 1.e4 and played the Giuoco Piano, main line. Blohberger chose the h6, g5 line and was well-prepared. After 20. f3 the following combination occurred:

20... Nxh4 21. Bxh4 Nxg2! a nice shot! 22. Bxg5 Nxf1 23. Bxh6 with equality. On 22. Kxg2? Black has 22... gxf3+ 23. Kxf3 Qg4+ and the bishop on h4 is lost.

Later the players reached an equal rook ending, where Black was a pawn down but had a very active king. Black's active king, mating threats and passed e-pawn are enough for a draw.

Blohberger calculated well and the game ended in a draw on move 68, securing the victory of the Austrian GM in the match.

Match Summary

Blohberger was better prepared in the openings and showed some interesting novel ideas. Navara had several chances (mainly in games 1 and 4), but Blohberger showed very good defensive skills. A deserved victory for the Austrian GM.

Let us hope that this match will help to develop a tradition of matches between GMs, a format which usually brings many fighting and exciting games.

The report is edited by Devansh Singh