GM Gukesh Dommaraju dug deep to rescue a 91-move draw against GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in round seven of the Prague Masters. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov shrugged off defeat the day before to beat GM Vincent Keymer and retain the sole lead, though GM Parham Maghsoodloo is just half a point behind after trapping GM Vidit Gujrathi‘s queen. Local hero GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen has been the surprise package—GM Richard Rapport became his second 2700-victim in two days.
Round eight starts on Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 p.m. IST.
“I think partly it’s because we’re getting tired!” was Abdusattorov’s explanation for another action-packed round in Prague. Three of the five Masters games were decisive, though it could very easily have been four.
Prague Masters | Round 7 Results
Abdusattorov has played so well in Prague that he could afford to lose to Praggnanandhaa in round six and still maintain the sole lead. He explained that the game hadn’t been too heavy a blow:
“It felt like the classic Pragg kind of game—he just tricks you at the end when you’re low on time! I was not disappointed, it was kind of a normal game.”Â
It felt like the classic Pragg kind of game—he just tricks you at the end when you’re low on time!Â
—Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Abdusattorov struck back immediately after going for a sharp line of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. When Keymer failed to take en passant on move 11, Black had won the opening battle and soon went on to win the positional war that followed.Â
That meant Abdusattorov kept the sole lead, and also returned to the world number-five spot on the live rating list. He can’t relax just yet, however, since Maghsoodloo kept up the pressure by inflicting more misery on Vidit, who blundered a queen for a second day in a row! This time, at least, it was somewhat less visible to the naked eye why his 26…Nf6?? was so unfortunate.
The third decisive game was also decided by one careless move, though by now you wouldn’t expect anyone to underestimate 22-year-old local Czech star Nguyen. After starting with two losses he’s now scored 4/5!Â
His latest victim was Rapport, who had been on the back foot for a while before collapsing after 21…c4. Taking the pawn should be more or less equal, but instead he spent just over two minutes on a move that left him dead in the water.
Of the two draws the clash between Polish GM Mateusz Bartel and Czech GM David Navara was as close as we got to a quiet game, after a 6.Bg5 Najdorf Sicilian fizzled out the way such aggressive opening lines sometimes do.
The other game, Praggnanandhaa vs. Gukesh, was instead a huge battle between two of the Indian qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament, with it seeming for most of the game that momentum might continue—with Pragg winning a third game in a row while Gukesh suffered a third loss. It didn’t quite happen, however, since a few inaccuracies allowed Gukesh to demonstrate fantastic defense and hold a five-and-a-half-hour draw.Â
That’s our Game of the Day, with analysis by GM Rafael Leitao.
That means that with just two rounds to go Abdusattorov could be hard to catch—at least if he beats his round-eight opponent and closest pursuer, Maghsoodloo.
Prague Masters | Round 7 Standings
There was no less action in the Prague Challengers, with again just one draw, this time a good result for Turkish IM Ediz Gurel as he seeks his final GM norm.
Prague Challengers | Round 7 Results
The draw did allow GM Anton Korobov to catch him in the lead, however, with GMs Erwin l’Ami, Abhimanyu Mishra, and Maxim Rodshtein all winning on demand to keep in contention for the title and a spot in the Masters in 2025.
Prague Challengers | Round 7 Standings
The 2024 Prague Chess Festival takes place February 27-March 7 at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. The format is a single round-robin. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting on move one.
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