Prague Chess Festival 2026 R8: Nodirbek Abdusattorov in sole lead after winning against David Navara
Nodirbek Abdusattorov scored a big win against David Navara in the penultimate round of the Prague Chess Festival 2026 to gain a sole lead going into the last round with 5.5/8 points. In the 8th round of the Prague Masters, there were some very important results for the leaderboard. Abdusattorov won his game, while Jorden van Foreest lost to Aravindh Chithambaram, slipping down to 2nd place with 5/8 points. David Navara is in 3rd place with 4.5/8 points. In the Challengers section, both Divya Deshmukh and Surya Shekhar Ganguly drew their respective games. The last round for Masters, Challengers, Futures, and Karel Janeček Open starts today at 11 a.m. local time, 3:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Abhyudaya Ram, Prajwal Bhat
Can Abdusattorov repeat Tata Steel Masters 2026?
Almost a month back, Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the 88th edition of Tata Steel Masters, or famously referred to as 'Wimbledon of chess.' Nodirbek had a half-point lead going into the last round in that tournament, too, and here at Prague Masters, he got the same half-point lead going into the last round over Jorden van Foreest. In the last round, Abdusattorov will play against Hans Niemann with white pieces, while Jorden is going to face Parham Maghsoodloo with black pieces.
Back in 2024, Nodirbek Abdusattorov clinched the Prague Masters 2024 with a round to spare and reached World no.4. Can he win the Masters again? We'll see it today.
Prague Masters 2026
In the penultimate round of the Prague Masters, there were 3 decisive results. Nodirbek Abdusattorov won an important game against David Navara to gain the sole lead. Before this round, both Abdusattorov and Navara were in joint 2nd place with 4.5/7 points, but this win helped Abdusattorov to climb up to first place. Jorden van Foreest, who was leading the field before this round, lost to Aravindh Chithambaram after making one move blunder in the endgame. In another decisive result, Hans Niemann won against David Anton Guijarro with white pieces. The games between D Gukesh vs Vincent Keymer and Parham Maghsoodloo vs Nodirbek Yakubboev ended in a draw.
David Navara vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov (0-1)
It was an important clash for both players as both of them were on 4.5/7 points, and Abdusattorov managed to cash in after Navara blundered his bishop in the endgame.
In a completely equal position, David Navara played 53.g4, and it turned out to be a game-losing mistake as Abdusattorov found a nice combination and follow-up, winning the pinned bishop on c2. He played 53...Kd5 with the idea of Kd4 and creating a blockade between white's rook and bishop. Navara lost his bishop, and Abdusattorov converted the game easily afterwards.
Jorden van Foreest vs Aravindh Chithambaram (0-1)
It was a very interesting game between both players as Aravindh Chithambaram was facing Jorden van Foreest, who has been in tremendous form recently, pumping his rating to 2745, becoming world number 11, and was leading the Prague Masters with 5/7 points. The game was heading towards a draw, but both players kept playing on, and Jorden made the last blunder.
The game was heading towards a draw but white's king was looking a little passive, and the black king was dominating in the position. Jorden played 60.Rf5??and Aravindh found a sequence winning that knight on f3, starting with 60.Rh6+ 61.Kg3 Ne2+, and Jorden resigned as the idea was followed by Nf4+, winning the knight.
Standings
Prague Challengers 2026
In the penultimate round of the Prague Challengers, Benjamin Gledura won his game against IM Stepan Hrbek, and GM Daniil Yuffa won against Jonas Buhl Bjerre; the other 3 games ended in a draw. Divya drew her game against Jachym Nemec, while Surya drew against the tournament leader, Vaclav Finek. In the Challengers, Vaclav Finek is still leading the tournament going into the last round, and in the last round, he will play against Thomas Beerdsen.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly vs Vaclav Finek (0.5-0.5)
Standings
Karel Janeček Open
GM Sasikiran Krishnan is leading the Open section with an unbeaten 7/8 points. He is the sole leader going into the last round, ahead of 10 players who are on 6.5/8 points. In the last round, Sasikiran will go against Samir Sahidi with the black pieces. IM Mayank Chakraborty is on 6/8 points, and IM Utsab Chatterjee is on 5.5/8 points.
Photo Gallery from this round: Here
Don't forget to cast your vote for the best game of this round: Here
Participants
Previous winners
Venue: Don Giovanni Hotel Prague
Don Giovanni Hotel Prague is a 4-star hotel located in Prague's popular residential area of Vinohrady in proximity to the city centre. It is a modern city hotel built in 1995, and it is named after Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. The Hotel offers 412 spacious, air-conditioned guest rooms, and most of them offer exceptional views of Prague. Don Giovanni has 5 restaurants and bars. The Hotel also has one of the biggest conference capacities in Prague.
Schedule
The Round-Robin tournaments will take place from 25th February to 6th March 2026. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time, 7:30 p.m. IST. Monday, 2nd March, is a rest day. The ninth game on 6th March will start at 11 a.m. local time (3:30 p.m. IST).
Live Stream
Replay Round 8 Masters games
Replay Round 8 Challengers games
Round 8 Masters results
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | 2725 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2666 | 9 | |||||
2 | 1 | 2754 | GM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2776 | 8 | |||||
3 | 2 | 2691 | GM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2708 | 7 | |||||
4 | 3 | 2705 | GM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2700 | 6 | |||||
5 | 4 | 2628 | GM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2751 | 5 |
Standings after Round 8
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | GM | 2751 | 5,5 | 0 | 21 | 3 | |||
2 | 3 | GM | 2705 | 5 | 0 | 18,5 | 4 | |||
3 | 4 | GM | 2628 | 4,5 | 0 | 16,75 | 2 | |||
4 | 7 | GM | 2708 | 4 | 1 | 15,25 | 1 | |||
5 | 8 | GM | 2776 | 4 | 2 | 15,5 | 2 | |||
6 | 6 | GM | 2700 | 4 | 3 | 14,75 | 3 | |||
7 | 2 | GM | 2691 | 3,5 | 1 | 13,25 | 1 | |||
8 | 10 | GM | 2725 | 3,5 | 1 | 12,75 | 1 | |||
9 | 9 | GM | 2666 | 3,5 | 3 | 16 | 2 | |||
10 | 1 | GM | 2754 | 2,5 | 0 | 9,75 | 0 |
Round 9 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 2751 | GM | GM | 2725 | 10 | ||||||
2 | 6 | 2700 | GM | GM | 2628 | 4 | ||||||
3 | 7 | 2708 | GM | GM | 2705 | 3 | ||||||
4 | 8 | 2776 | GM | GM | 2691 | 2 | ||||||
5 | 9 | 2666 | GM | GM | 2754 | 1 |
Round 8 Challengers results
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | 2652 | GM | 1 - 0 | IM | 2463 | 9 | |||||
2 | 1 | 2497 | GM | ½ - ½ | IM | 2466 | 8 | |||||
3 | 2 | 2604 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2629 | 7 | |||||
4 | 3 | 2578 | GM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2525 | 6 | |||||
5 | 4 | 2538 | IM | ½ - ½ | GM | 2568 | 5 |
Standings after Round 8
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | IM | 2538 | 5,5 | 0 | 21,75 | 3 | |||
2 | 2 | GM | 2604 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 4 | |||
3 | 10 | GM | 2652 | 4,5 | 1 | 17,5 | 3 | |||
4 | 8 | IM | 2466 | 4,5 | 2 | 14,75 | 3 | |||
5 | 1 | GM | 2497 | 4 | 0 | 16,5 | 1 | |||
6 | 6 | GM | 2525 | 4 | 0 | 14,75 | 2 | |||
7 | 7 | GM | 2629 | 3,5 | 0 | 14,25 | 1 | |||
8 | 9 | IM | 2463 | 3,5 | 0 | 12,75 | 2 | |||
9 | 5 | GM | 2568 | 3 | 0 | 11,25 | 1 | |||
10 | 3 | GM | 2578 | 2,5 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
Round 9 pairings
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 2568 | GM | GM | 2652 | 10 | ||||||
2 | 6 | 2525 | GM | IM | 2538 | 4 | ||||||
3 | 7 | 2629 | GM | GM | 2578 | 3 | ||||||
4 | 8 | 2466 | IM | GM | 2604 | 2 | ||||||
5 | 9 | 2463 | IM | GM | 2497 | 1 |
Time Control
90 Minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 Minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1
Links
Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers, Futures, Open
Prague Chess Festival: Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
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