 "Aravindh Chithambaram (R) with Raveesh Kumar, Ambassador of India to Czech Republic. Image: Raveesh Kumar on X")
It was a memorable day for Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram, who defeated German ace chess player Vincent Keymer at the Prague Chess Festival Masters 2025 on Thursday to be in joint lead, while R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw against Turkey’s Ediz Gruel. Meanwhile, American GM Sam Shankland is also in the lead after playing out a draw against the Czech Republic’s Thai Dai Van Nguyen.
Aravindh Chithambaram’s victory over Keymer, who recently won the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025, was the only match in the second round of the Masters section to produce a decisive result, as all other matches ended in a draw.
How Aravindh Chithambaram stunned Keymer
Aravindh Chithambaram made a strong start against Keymer after he accepted a Queen’s Gambit Accepted line. The opening went smoothly for Aravindh, and by move 14, he was already in a winning position. However, the key was finding the stunning yet nearly impossible-to-spot quiet move 14…Be7!!. The main idea was that Black could now capture on g2, as the e4-knight was no longer hanging with check.
But navigating the position required precise calculation, especially against the discovered attack 15.Ne5. In the end, all variations favoured Black, but simply considering the quiet bishop move was the biggest challenge.
Instead, 14…Nxd4 appeared on the board, and although Keymer still ended up a pawn down in the endgame, his resilience was on full display. In the end, Aravindh landed the decisive punch with the brilliant and only winning move 29…Re5!.
The Praggnanandhaa vs Gurel match remained evenly balanced, with neither player gaining a significant edge. Both played a highly accurate game in the French Defense, Tarrasch Variation, keeping the position level throughout.
India’s International Master, Divya Deshmukh, secured a win in the second round of the Challengers section as she defeated Richard Stalmach. She had lost to Ivan Salgado Lopez in the first round . Divya will take on Nodirbek Yakubboev in Round 3.
Aravindh faces Chinese GM Wei Yi in Round 3, while Praggnanandhaa will take on Thai Dai Van Nguyen.
Prague Chess Masters 2025 standings
| Ranking | Name | Pts. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ARAVINDH Chithambaram Vr. | 1,5 |
| 2 | SHANKLAND Sam | 1,5 |
| 3 | NGUYEN Thai Dai Van | 1 |
| 4 | LE Quang Liem | 1 |
| 5 | NAVARA David | 1 |
| 6 | GIRI Anish | 1 |
| 7 | PRAGGNANANDHAA R | 1 |
| 8 | KEYMER Vincent | 1 |
| 9 | GUREL Ediz | 0,5 |
| 10 | WEI Yi | 0,5 |
Prague Chess Challengers 2025 standings
| Ranking | Name | Pts. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SALGADO LOPEZ Ivan | 1,5 |
| 2 | BJERRE Jonas Buhl | 1,5 |
| 3 | YAKUBBOEV Nodirbek | 1,5 |
| 4 | MA Qun | 1 |
| 5 | FINEK Vaclav | 1 |
| 6 | NEMEC Jachym | 1 |
| 7 | DIVYA Deshmukh | 1 |
| 8 | KOURKOULOS-ARDITIS Stamatis | 0,5 |
| 9 | STALMACH Richard | 0,5 |
| 10 | MAURIZZI Marc`andria | 0,5 |