Praggnanandhaa, Vidit and Gukesh set to battle world's best at Prague International Chess Festival 2024 Masters
The sixth edition of Prague International Chess Festival 2024 starts today. Four Indian Candidates will be seen in action - R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, D Gukesh and R Vaishali. The first three will play in the Masters section, while Vaishali will battle in the Challengers. That's not all. The reigning 36th National Under-11 Open 2023 champion, Aansh Nandan Nerurkar will play in the Futures group. This year, the Indian participation in the round-robin events is the highest ever at this event. The legend - Vishy Anand opened the festival. ChessBase India cofounders IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal will be the Official Commentators. Round 1 for Masters and Challengers start today at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal
Vaishali in the Challengers, Aansh Nerurkar in the Futures; Sagar and Amruta are the Official Commentators
World no.13 and India no.2 - R Praggnanandhaa, World no.14 and India no.3 - Vidit Gujrathi, World no.15, Uzbekistan no.1 and former World Rapid champion - Nodirbek Abdusattorov, World no.16 and India no.5 - D Gukesh, World no.17 and Germany no.1 - Vincent Keymer, World no.28 and Romania no.1 - Richard Rapport, World no.29 and Iran no.1 - Parham Maghsoodloo, Czech Republic no.1 - David Navara, Poland no.3 and the winner of last year's Challengers section - Mateusz Bartel and Czech Republic no.2 - Thai Dai Van Nguyen comprise the Masters section. The average rating of the Masters event is 2711, 21 points more than the previous edition. GM R Vaishali is playing in the Challengers section and Aansh Nandan Nerurkar, the Futures, both of them have the exact same format and schedule. The average rating of the Challengers section is 2546.
Masters participants
The Masters section participants are - R Praggnanandhaa (2747), Vidit Gujrathi (2747), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2744), D Gukesh (2743), Vincent Keymer (GER, 2738), Richard Rapport (ROU, 2717), Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI, 2715) David Navara (CZE, 2667), Mateusz Bartel (POL, 2660) and Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE, 2630).
Challengers participants
The Challengers section participants are - GM Anton Korobov (UKR, 2666), GM Erwin L'ami (NED, 2636), GM Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 2627), GM Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP, 2612), GM Maxim Rodshtein (ISR, 2590), IM Ediz Gurel (TUR, 2560), GM R Vaishali (2481), IM Richard Stalmach (CZE, 2434), IM Vaclav Finek (CZE, 2429) and IM Stepan Hrbek (CZE, 2426).
Futures
The reigning National Under-11 Open champion, Aansh Nandan Nerurkar (1786) will be the sole Indian player in the Futures section.
Innovative Draw of lots
Organizers implemented a very nice idea at the Draw of Lots. A participant from the Futures group is called to burst the balloon which contains a photo of a player from the Masters group. The Masters player comes and draws their number. They are paired. At the end of the event, the pair with the highest score will be awarded trophies. This is such a beautiful idea which will certainly inspired the Futures player and also create good memories for the Masters participants.
Pairings and Schedule
The Round-Robin tournaments will take place from 27th February to 7th March 2024. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Sunday 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.
Photo Gallery
For more photos, please click here.
Round 1 Masters pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2747 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Navara David | 2667 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | 2744 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | GM | Nguyen Thai Dai Van | 2630 | 9 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | 2743 | GM | Gukesh D | GM | Rapport Richard | 2717 | 8 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 2660 | GM | Bartel Mateusz | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2715 | 7 | ||||
| 5 | 5 | 2747 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | GM | Keymer Vincent | 2738 | 6 |
Round 1 Challengers pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2627 | GM | Mishra Abhimanyu | IM | Gurel Ediz | 2560 | 10 | ||||
| 2 | 2 | 2590 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2636 | 9 | ||||
| 3 | 3 | 2429 | IM | Finek Vaclav | IM | Stalmach Richard | 2434 | 8 | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 2612 | GM | Santos Latasa Jaime | IM | Hrbek Stepan | 2426 | 7 | ||||
| 5 | 5 | 2666 | GM | Korobov Anton | IM | Vaishali Rameshbabu | 2481 | 6 |
Round 1 Futures pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1822 | Peglau Paul David | Siskou Evangelia | 1745 | 10 | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | 1915 | Andre Tomas | Brzezina Pawel | 1914 | 9 | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | 1738 | Jakubse Tamae Severina | Stara Zuzana | 1678 | 8 | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | 1724 | Markina Sofiia | Mrozowski Nikodem | 1636 | 7 | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | 1786 | Aansh Nandan Nerurkar | Guntaka Aayansh R | 1767 | 6 |
Time Control
The time control is 90'/40 moves + 30'/end & 30"/move.
Links
Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers and Open
Prague Chess Festival: fb. twitter, instagram and youtube
