New Delhi: World Champion D Gukesh endured another setback at the Prague International Chess Festival, suffering a painful defeat to long time rival Nodirbek Abdusattorov after letting a promising position slip.
For the fifth consecutive day, fortunes refused to turn in Gukesh’s favour. Just a month after losing to Abdusattorov at the Tata Steel Masters from a stable position, the Indian grandmaster once again faltered despite controlling much of the game. Playing with the black pieces, Gukesh adopted a fresh approach in the opening and quickly put pressure on the white king. His aggressive strategy created structural weaknesses and, for a significant phase of the middlegame, he appeared firmly on course for his first victory in the Masters section.
However, time pressure proved decisive. As the first time control approached, Gukesh made a critical error that shifted the balance. Although Abdusattorov momentarily allowed chances to swing back, another late blunder from Gukesh enabled the Uzbek to push a decisive pawn and seal the result.
The tournament witnessed decisive outcomes across all boards in the 10 player round robin. Jorden van Foreest continued his impressive run, defeating Hans Niemann to register his fourth win in five games and climb to 11th in the live world rankings. Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram suffered his third defeat, going down to Spain’s David Anton Guijarro.
Czech star David Navara maintained his strong form with a hard fought victory over Nodirbek Yakubboev, while Parham Maghsoodloo overcame Germany’s Vincent Keymer.
Van Foreest leads with four points, followed closely by Abdusattorov and Navara. Gukesh, Aravindh and Niemann are placed at the bottom on 1.5 points each.
In the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh secured her first win, defeating Surya Shekhar Ganguly to reach an even score. Czech player Finek Vanclav leads that section with four points.
