Event: 2025 Prague Chess Festival
Official Website
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PRAGUE - The seventh edition of the Prague Chess Festival is set to take place from 26 February to 7 March at the Hotel Don Giovanni in Czechia's capital. Six different players have won the previous six Masters events. The one previous Masters' champion in the lineup this year is Sam Shankland, who won the event in 2021 after outscoring Jan-Krzysztof Duda in an exciting final sprint. Joining Shankland will be Vincent Keymer, who won the Challengers in 2022 and recently secured victory in the inaugural event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam after knocking out Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana in the final stages of the knockout. Also in the lineup is Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who recently obtained his first-ever victory in a super-tournament after beating world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in the tiebreaks of the Tata Steel Chess Masters.
Participants
| # | Title | Name | FED | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Wei Yi | 🇨🇳 CHN | 2755 |
| 2 | GM | R Praggnanandhaa | 🇮🇳 IND | 2741 |
| 3 | GM | Lê Quang Liêm | 🇻🇳 VIE | 2739 |
| 4 | GM | Vincent Keymer | 🇩🇪 GER | 2731 |
| 5 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram | 🇮🇳 IND | 2729 |
| 6 | GM | Anish Giri | 🇳🇱 NED | 2728 |
| 7 | GM | David Navara | 🇨🇿 CZE | 2677 |
| 8 | GM | Sam Shankland | 🇺🇸 USA | 2670 |
| 9 | GM | Thai Dai Van Nguyen | 🇨🇿 CZE | 2668 |
| 10 | GM | Ediz Gürel | 🇹🇷 TUR | 2624 |
Format/Time Controls
The Masters is a 10-player round-robin tournament.
Players receive 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a 30-second increment starting from move one. A tie for 1st place will be settled by a blitz playoff.
Schedule
All times are local (CEST)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Feb | 15:00 | Round 1 |
| 27 Feb | 15:00 | Round 2 |
| 28 Feb | 15:00 | Round 3 |
| 1 Mar | 15:00 | Round 4 |
| 2 Mar | 15:00 | Round 5 |
| 3 Mar | -- | Rest day |
| 4 Mar | 15:00 | Round 6 |
| 5 Mar | 15:00 | Round 7 |
| 6 Mar | 15:00 | Round 8 |
| 7 Mar | 11:00 | Round 9 |