Harikrishna clinches Prague Chess Masters 2022 convincingly

by Shahid Ahmed - 18/06/2022

Pentala Harikrishna defeated Spain no.2 David Anton Guijarro emphatically in the final round to win Prague Chess Masters 2022. Harikrishna accepted Anton's knight sacrifice in the middlegame and once again for the second time in this event, he showed his endgame prowess. He scored the sole win of the round and Liem could not manage to win the game. Thus, he finished a half point behind to finish second. Local talent, Nguyen Thai Dai Van scored 5/9 to secure third place. Vidit drew his final round game to be placed seventh 4/9. Sasikiran finished the event on a winning note to finish fourth 5/9 in the Challengers section. Photo: Prague International Chess Festival

Harikrishna is now World #25

Pentala Harikrishna has hit his form at the right time. With the 44th Chess Olympiad being a little over a month away, the entire team India and the country would be delighted of his triumph. Harikrishna has also moved to World no. 25 in the live ratings.

Harikrishna won the tournament convincingly | Photo: Prague International Chess Festival

Top 3 (L to R) - 2nd Liem Le Quang 6/9, 1st Pentala Harikrishna 6.5/9 and 3rd Nguyen Thai Dai Van 5/9 | Photo: Prague International Chess Festival

Masters: Harikrishna - Anton: 1-0

Pentala Harikrishna (2701) scored an emphatic victory in the final round against David Anton Guijarro (ESP, 2692).

Position after 22...f5

Black opted for the bold 22...f5. White pounced on his opportunity 23.f3 Qxg3 24.fxe4 dxe4 25.Qc2 Rd3 26.Qf2 and White went on to win the game. Although Black had a tiny window to get back in the game after 26...Qg5 27.h4 Qg4 28.Re3 Rxe3 29.Qxe3, he needed to go f4 here. Instead, 29...Qxh4 allowed White to prevent f4 with 30.Rf1.

Harikrishna pondering over his position against David Anton Guijarro | Photo: Vladimir Jagr/Prague International Chess Festival 2022

Vidit Gujrathi - Salem Saleh (UAE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Petr Vrabec/Prague International Chess Festival 2022

Challengers: Sasikiran - Abdusattorov: 0.5-0.5

Krishnan Sasikiran (2635) scored a prolonged victory over Jiri Stocek (CZE, 2541).

Position after 37.Qd5

Black could have finished things much earlier 37...Qb1+ 38.Kh2 Qe1 threatening attack on the back rank via Rb1, followed by Qg1/h1.

Krishnan Sasikiran defeated Jiri Stocek (CZE) in the final round to finish fourth | Photo: Vladimir Jagr/Prague International Chess Festival 2022

Suyog Wagh scores second IM-norm

A little over four months after scoring his maiden IM-norm, FM Suyog Wagh earned his second IM-norm at the Open event. He scored 6.5/9 with a performance of 2443, including a win over GM Harshit Raja in the final round. Suyog now needs his final IM-norm and 2400 in the live ratings to become the next International Master of India.

FM Suyog Wagh in action at Prague International Chess Festival 2022 Open | Photo: Petr Vrabec/Prague International Chess Festival

Suyog Wagh's second IM-norm certificate

Suyog Wagh (second from left) receiving his IM-norm certificate

Prague International Chess Festival 2022 Masters Round 9 Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 9 Masters games

Replay Round 9 Challengers games

Schedule

The Round-Robin tournament will take place from 8th to 17th June 2022. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. IST). Sunday 12th June is a rest day. The ninth round game on 17th June will start at 11 a.m. local time (2:30 p.m. IST).

Masters Round 9 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	2701	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	1 - 0	GM	Anton Guijarro David	2692	10
2	6	2723	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	½ - ½	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	2679	4
3	7	2703	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	½ - ½	GM	Le Quang Liem	2709	3
4	8	2718	GM	Shankland Sam	½ - ½	GM	Nguyen Thai Dai Van	2610	2
5	9	2716	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	½ - ½	GM	Navara David	2681	1

Details

Final standings after Round 9

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	5	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2701	6,5	0,0	25,75	4
2	3	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2709	6,0	0,0	26,00	4
3	2	GM	Nguyen Thai Dai Van	CZE	2610	5,0	1,0	21,00	4
4	8	GM	Shankland Sam	USA	2718	5,0	1,0	20,50	5
5	1	GM	Navara David	CZE	2681	5,0	1,0	19,50	4
6	7	GM	Vallejo Pons Francisco	ESP	2703	4,5	0,0	19,25	5
7	6	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2723	4,0	0,5	17,25	5
8	9	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	IRI	2716	4,0	0,5	17,00	5
9	4	GM	Salem A.R. Saleh	UAE	2679	3,0	0,0	10,75	4
10	10	GM	Anton Guijarro David	ESP	2692	2,0	0,0	9,50	5

Details

Challengers Round 9 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.
1	5	2577	GM	Michalik Peter	½ - ½	GM	Hracek Zbynek	2564	10
2	6	2535	GM	Krzyzanowski Marcin	0 - 1	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2678	4
3	7	2661	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	½ - ½	GM	Pechac Jergus	2598	3
4	8	2541	GM	Stocek Jiri	0 - 1	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2635	2
5	9	2613	GM	Warmerdam Max	0 - 1	GM	Keymer Vincent	2675	1

Details

Final standings after Round 9

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	1	GM	Keymer Vincent	GER	2675	6,5	0,5	26,75	4
	4	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	USA	2678	6,5	0,5	26,75	4
3	7	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	UZB	2661	6,0	0,0	24,75	5
4	2	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2635	5,0	0,0	18,25	4
5	3	GM	Pechac Jergus	SVK	2598	4,0	0,5	19,00	4
6	9	GM	Warmerdam Max	NED	2613	4,0	0,5	14,00	5
7	6	GM	Krzyzanowski Marcin	POL	2535	3,5	1,0	16,25	5
8	8	GM	Stocek Jiri	CZE	2541	3,5	0,0	16,75	5
9	10	GM	Hracek Zbynek	CZE	2564	3,0	0,5	11,75	5
10	5	GM	Michalik Peter	CZE	2577	3,0	0,5	10,75	4

Details

Time Control

The time control is 90'/40 moves + 30'/end & 30"/move.

Links

Official site

Prague Chess Festival: fb. twitter, instagram and youtube

Update: 27/06/2022 - FM Suyog Wagh's second IM-norm details added.

Related news:

	Harikrishna or Liem - Who will win Prague Chess Masters 2022? @ 17/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Vaibhav Jayant Raut clinches Prague International Chess Festival 2022 Blitz @ 16/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Chess Festival 2022 Masters R5-6: Liem leads, Harikrishna trails @ 15/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Chess Festival 2022 Masters R3-4: Harikrishna's beautiful Knightmare @ 12/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Chess Festival 2022 Masters R2: A tough day @ 10/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Chess Festival 2022 Masters R1: Harikrishna beats Vidit @ 09/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Vidit and Harikrishna set to square off today at Prague International Chess Festival 2022 Masters @ 08/06/2022 by Shahid Ahmed (en)