Prague Chess Festival 2022 Masters R1: Harikrishna beats Vidit
The battle between India no.3 Pentala Harikrishna and India no.2 Vidit Gujrathi ended in favor of the former. It was an interesting battle where Harikrishna sacrificed pawns for initiative in the first round of Prague International Chess Festival 2022 Masters. Vidit exchanged first a bishop then a rook for four pawns. However, he never got enough compensation for it and eventually lost the game. Sasikiran started his campaign in the Challengers section with a draw against Max Warmerdam (NED). He will face Vincent Keymer (GER) in Round 2. Vidit and Harikrishna will be up against top Spanish players David Anton Guijarro and Francisco Vallejo Pons respectively. Round 2 starts today at 3 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. IST). Photo: Prague International Chess Festival
Sasikiran draws with Warmerdam
Both Masters and Challengers section had an identical three decisive games and two draws. White won them all.
Masters: Harikrishna - Vidit: 1-0
Pentala Harikrishna sacrificed two pawns to gain control in the center. Vidit Gujrathi decided to give up his bishop for two central pawns which means he had four pawns for a bishop. Although one of the pawns was a goner.
Black played the obvious 16...Bxe5 17.dxe5 Rxe5. However, after 18.Bc3 instead of Nc6, the better option was 18...Bxb5. The game continued 19.Rd1 Qe7 20.Bxe5 Nxe5 21.0-0 and White went on to win the game. Giving up the entire rook for four pawns was a bit too much as Black did not have enough compensation for it.
Replay Round 1 Masters games
Replay Round 1 Challengers games
Schedule
The Round-Robin tournament will take place from 8th to 17th June 2022. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. IST). Sunday 12th June is a rest day. The ninth round game on 17th June will start at 11 a.m. local time (2:30 p.m. IST).
Masters Round 1 results
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
1 | 1 | 2681 | GM | Navara David | 1 - 0 | GM | Anton Guijarro David | 2692 | 10 | ||
2 | 2 | 2610 | GM | Nguyen Thai Dai Van | ½ - ½ | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2716 | 9 | ||
3 | 3 | 2709 | GM | Le Quang Liem | 1 - 0 | GM | Shankland Sam | 2718 | 8 | ||
4 | 4 | 2679 | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | ½ - ½ | GM | Vallejo Pons Francisco | 2703 | 7 | ||
5 | 5 | 2701 | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | 1 - 0 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2723 | 6 |
Round 2 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
1 | 10 | 2692 | GM | Anton Guijarro David | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2723 | 6 | |||
2 | 7 | 2703 | GM | Vallejo Pons Francisco | GM | Harikrishna Pentala | 2701 | 5 | |||
3 | 8 | 2718 | GM | Shankland Sam | GM | Salem A.R. Saleh | 2679 | 4 | |||
4 | 9 | 2716 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | GM | Le Quang Liem | 2709 | 3 | |||
5 | 1 | 2681 | GM | Navara David | GM | Nguyen Thai Dai Van | 2610 | 2 |
Challengers Round 1 results
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
1 | 1 | 2675 | GM | Keymer Vincent | 1 - 0 | GM | Hracek Zbynek | 2564 | 10 | ||
2 | 2 | 2635 | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | ½ - ½ | GM | Warmerdam Max | 2613 | 9 | ||
3 | 3 | 2598 | GM | Pechac Jergus | 1 - 0 | GM | Stocek Jiri | 2541 | 8 | ||
4 | 4 | 2678 | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2661 | 7 | ||
5 | 5 | 2577 | GM | Michalik Peter | 1 - 0 | GM | Krzyzanowski Marcin | 2535 | 6 |
Round 2 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
1 | 10 | 2564 | GM | Hracek Zbynek | GM | Krzyzanowski Marcin | 2535 | 6 | |||
2 | 7 | 2661 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | GM | Michalik Peter | 2577 | 5 | |||
3 | 8 | 2541 | GM | Stocek Jiri | GM | Niemann Hans Moke | 2678 | 4 | |||
4 | 9 | 2613 | GM | Warmerdam Max | GM | Pechac Jergus | 2598 | 3 | |||
5 | 1 | 2675 | GM | Keymer Vincent | GM | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2635 | 2 |
Time Control
The time control is 90'/40 moves + 30'/end & 30"/move.
Links
Prague Chess Festival: fb. twitter, instagram and youtube