Aravindh Plays Brilliant Knight Sacrifice, Jumps To Sole Lead

GM Aravindh Chithambaram won a golden game with Black against GM Anish Giri to take the sole lead in the 2025 Prague Chess Festival Masters after round seven. GM Ediz Gurel won his first game in the event against GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen with a sudden attack, while GM Sam Shankland's ambitious play in every round finally paid off with his second win, against GM Liem Le in a Sicilian Najdorf.

It looks like a two-horse race with two rounds to go between Aravindh and GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who is a half-point behind after his draw with GM Wei Yi.

Round eight is on Thursday, March 6, starting at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 p.m. IST.

Masters: Aravindh Plays Potential Game Of The Tournament

After the five draws yesterday, we came close to seeing five decisive results this round. Praggnanandhaa had more than a 40-minute time advantage and a good position against Wei, but the Chinese number-one slipped away. GM Vincent Keymer was better against GM David Navara with a pawn up in a heavy-piece endgame, but the latter also escaped.

Masters Round 7 Results

With the others a point and a half away from the leader, the most likely winner will either be Aravindh or Praggnanandhaa, barring some (always possible) calamity near the finish line.

Masters Standings After Round 7

Giri 0-1 Aravindh

Aravindh's victory with the black pieces is the Game of the Day, but it may also be the game of the tournament. Aravindh arrived expecting a confrontation since Giri had drawn his six previous games: "I thought it would be a fighting game because the tournament situation demands a win for Anish."

I thought it would be a fighting game.

—Aravindh Chithambaram

Giri did come looking for a fight, and in a Queen's Gambit Declined Exchange Variation, he expanded on the kingside with 10.h3 and later 18.f3 and 19.g4. However, Aravindh already believed he was better after his response: "At first it looked dangerous for Black because I'm kind of losing a pawn, but when I had a deeper look at the position actually after 19...Qe7 I think I'm better." The engine doesn't agree with that, but two moves later, he really did have an advantage.

The most memorable moves of the game were the knight sacrifice 24...Ng5!! (the move of the tournament?) and the follow-up 25...d4!!. Aravindh didn't have trouble finding all the moves to win in crushing style. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the game below.

"I never thought I would beat Anish... because he's too good and too solid with the white pieces," said Aravindh afterward. He, somewhat surprisingly, did not rate this as one of his best games, as he said it's harder to find subtle, quiet moves than it is to calculate forcing lines. "...Ng5 was easy actually, but everything was easy because I did not have any alternatives if I'm going for ...Qh4 and ...Ng5. Everything is more or less forced."

I never thought I would beat Anish.

—Aravindh Chithambaram

Aravindh is now 14th in the world on the live rating list with a rating of 2745. The 25-year-old crossed the 2700 threshold just last year, at a significantly older age than his top Indian contemporaries. But he said he always understood his potential: "I knew I had the potential to be a 2700+ player, but something was missing from my game or my mindset. Now I think I changed it and I am doing good."

Aravindh passes Anand on the live rating list and reaches world number-14 with his win!

(Courtesy to @2700chess) pic.twitter.com/REvN2gkYlS

— chess24 (@chess24com) March 5, 2025

Praggnanandhaa ½-½ Wei

Praggnanandhaa looked sure to win the game when Wei thought for over 20 minutes on move 21, leaving himself five minutes and 30 seconds to play the next 18 moves. His position was fine, but could he really defend against Praggnanandhaa, who had almost an hour?

Wei Yi is down to seven minutes against 49 minutes vs. Praggnanandhaa!https://t.co/psBQlpLjL4 pic.twitter.com/RfjZRIQXwD

— chess24 (@chess24com) March 5, 2025

Instead of trading queens, Praggnanandhaa could have gone for complications with 22.Qc3, which could lead to sharp positions with opposite-color bishops. Instead, they traded queens, and three moves later, Praggnanandhaa did have one clear win: 26.a5! is winning on the spot if you see it and then evaluate it correctly. But once that was missed, Wei pulled off what might be his best defense yet.

Praggnanandhaa is still a half-point behind the leader, and he'll have his last white game in the next round.

Le 0-1 Shankland

Although it wasn't the first game to end, it was the first board to clearly be over—when Shankland won an exchange. Shankland has been uncompromising in his approach this tournament, playing for a win with both colors in every round, even when it has backfired (most painfully against Keymer in round three). 

Bravery was finally rewarded as he earned his second victory since the very first round of the tournament. The decisive moment came abruptly, as Le pretty much lost the game in a span of two moves. After 19.c3? Ng6! (only move), Le should have just played a pawn down objectively. But mistakes often come in pairs and after 20.Bc5? Qg5 White lost a clear exchange and, eventually, the game.

Gurel 1-0 Van Nguyen

Gurel has at last won his first game of the tournament, and his first win ever at a super-tournament. It's well deserved, especially as he missed a shining chance in the previous round against Wei (another great escape by the Chinese number-one!). 

A slow, maneuvering game in the Ruy Lopez Delayed Exchange Variation slowly mounted into a kingside attack for White, and the crushing blow 29.e5!, making use of the weak back rank, was the move to highlight. Critically, this attack was made possible earlier when Black allowed 18.a5! Nc8, leaving the black army disconnected and unprepared to defend.

Navara ½-½ Keymer

Keymer was also a pawn up on the previous day, but there, he had no winning chances, and in round seven, he most definitely did. Navara prepared an interesting concept, 11.f4!? in the Semi-Slav Cambridge Springs Variation. Actually, he'd played it against Keymer in Poland last summer (that also ended in a draw)!

After a long tactical sequence, Keymer was a pawn up in a queen plus rook endgame, but he was never very clearly winning. According to the engine, trading queens on move 45 was his best chance of winning in scientific terms, but in practical terms, it was just too hard.

For both players, round eight will be the last game with the white pieces. Aravindh will play against Navara, while Praggnanandhaa will need to take his chances against Le.

Pairings For Round 8 | Masters 

Challengers: Many Decisive Games, Leaders Stay On Top

After another three decisive games, the leaders remain unchanged, but their margin ahead of the field has increased to a point and a half.

Both leaders won. GM Nodirbek Yakubboev defeated GM Ivan Salgado Lopez, while GM Jonas Bjerre struck with the black pieces against IM Divya Deshmukh, her third loss in a row. GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi won his third game, against FM Jachym Nemec, but is still a long distance away from the leaders.

Round 7 Results | Challengers

Even more so than in the Masters, it's a two-horse race in the Challengers between Bjerre and Yakubboev.

Standings After Round 7 | Challengers

The leaders will have the black pieces on Thursday. Bjerre will defend against IM Vaclav Finek, and Yakubboev will play against IM Richard Stalmach.

Pairings For Round 8 | Challengers

How to review?

The 2025 Prague Chess Festival takes place on February 26-March 7 at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. The format is a round-robin with 10 players. 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.

Previous coverage:

• Round 6: Gurel, Praggnanandhaa Come Close But No Cigar
• Round 5: Wei Scores 2nd Win In 27 Moves
• Round 4: Praggnanandhaa Beats Keymer, Leads With Aravindh By 1 Point
• Round 3: Aravindh Takes Sole Lead; Keymer, Praggnanandhaa Pick Up Wins
• Round 2: Aravindh Beats Keymer, Leads With Shankland
• Round 1: Keymer, Shankland Take Early Lead; Aravindh Survives