Firouzja Wins Prague Chess Festival Masters
GM Alireza Firouzja won the Prague Chess Festival's Masters tournament after beating GM Vidit Gujrathi 2-0 in a playoff. The two had the best tiebreak in a group of five players finishing on 5/9.
GM Jorden van Foreest emerged as the sole winner of the Challengers after beating GM Hannes Stefansson, while GM Andrey Esipenko drew his last game and GM Kacper Piorun lost.
The last day in Prague was another dramatic affair especially in the Masters group, with three decisive games and a rollercoaster of a draw between GM David Anton Guijarro and Firouzja. The Iranian teenager played the King's Indian but was initially outplayed by the Spaniard who employed the Petrosian variation.
Shortly before the time control, Anton could have decided the game (and the tournament!) in his favor, but he let it slip away:
Meanwhile, tournament leader Vidit wasn't able to recover from his most unfortunate loss the other day and went down against Duda.
GM Sam Shankland then joined the group of players on five points thanks to a win against GM Nikita Vitiugov.
Prague Masters | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1 | Vidit Gujrathi | 2721 | 2744 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 5.0/9 | 22.5 | ||
| 2 | Alireza Firouzja | 2726 | 2743 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.0/9 | 22.25 | ||
| 3 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2755 | 2741 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.0/9 | 22 | ||
| 4 | David Anton Guijarro | 2697 | 2747 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0/9 | 21.25 | ||
| 5 | Sam Shankland | 2683 | 2748 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0/9 | 21.25 | ||
| 6 | Nikita Vitiugov | 2731 | 2705 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/9 | 20.25 | ||
| 7 | Pentala Harikrishna | 2713 | 2707 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 4.5/9 | 19.75 | ||
| 8 | Markus Ragger | 2670 | 2672 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.0/9 | 18 | ||
| 9 | David Navara | 2717 | 2668 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 4.0/9 | 17.25 | ||
| 10 | Nils Grandelius | 2659 | 2593 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 3.0/9 |
The regulations stipulated a playoff between the top two players in the final standings, determined by head-to-head results, Sonneborn-Berger tiebreaks, and the number of games played with Black (in that order). This meant that Firouzja and Vidit advanced to the tiebreak match despite a five-way tie.
It was the 16-year-old Iranian who won both 5+3 games (the last one on time) to clinch his first big tournament victory. At the same time, the grapes were sour for Vidit, who lost his last four games in this event.
Game 1:
Game 2:
Like Vidit, Stefansson was leading the Challengers for most of the event but then suffered two consecutive losses in the final rounds. After van Foreest beat him on Friday, the Dutch grandmaster finished clear first, scoring six points.
While there was not a clear blunder from the Icelandic grandmaster, he started to make some dubious choices right after the opening and then reached a horribly passive position.
Prague Challengers | Final Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1 | Jorden van Foreest | 2667 | 2696 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6.0/9 | |||
| 2 | Nijat Abasov | 2670 | 2655 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5/9 | 23.75 | ||
| 3 | Andrey Esipenko | 2654 | 2656 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.5/9 | 22.5 | ||
| 4 | Mateusz Bartel | 2639 | 2619 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.0/9 | 21.5 | ||
| 5 | Kacper Piorun | 2611 | 2621 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.0/9 | 20.75 | ||
| 6 | Hannes Stefansson | 2529 | 2630 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.0/9 | 18.75 | ||
| 7 | Nguyen Thai Dai Van | 2560 | 2588 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 4.5/9 | |||
| 8 | Lukas Cernousek | 2442 | 2522 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 3.5/9 | |||
| 9 | Jan Krejci | 2559 | 2423 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 2.5/9 | 12 | ||
| 10 | Tadeas Kriebel | 2524 | 2427 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 2.5/9 | 10.25 |
The Prague Chess Festival had a prize fund of 44,000 euros ($48,000) and ran February 12-21 in Hotel Don Giovanni in Prague.
Previous reports:
- Prague Chess Festival R8: Vidit Loses Won Game, Still Leads
- Prague Chess Festival R7: Firouzja Wins Again, Shankland Scores 1st
- Prague Chess Festival R5: Vidit Beats Firouzja, Increases Lead
- Prague Chess Festival R3: Vidit Grabs The Lead
- Prague Chess Festival R1: Favorites Strike
- 2nd Prague Chess Festival: The Czech Wijk aan Zee?
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
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