Prague Masters 2023 R1: Harikrishna draws with Czech Republic no.2 Thai Dai Van Nguyen

by Shahid Ahmed - 22/06/2023

Pentala Harikrishna started his title defense with a relatively quiet draw in the fifth edition of Prague International Chess Festival 2023 Masters. The result against the Czech Republic no.2 Thai Dai Van Nguyen turned out to be the same as their last two encounters. Germany no.1 Vincent Keymer scored the sole victory of the round against Hao Wang (CHN). A sharp middlegame liquidated into a rook endgame where the Chinese made some technical mistake which cost him the game. In the Challengers section, 12-year-old prodigy, FM Vaclav Finek (CZE) scored the sole win of the round against GM Akash G. Round 2 for Masters and Challengers, and Round 1 Open starts today at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. All photos in the article are by Petr Vrabec/Prague International Chess Festival

12-year-old prodigy Vaclav stuns Akash

Peter Leko made the ceremonial first move of the first round on Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Pentala Harikrishna's board

Leko's student Vincent Keymer scored the sole win of the round in the Masters section against Hao Wang

Thai Dai Van Nguyen had a relatively quiet draw against...

...Pentala Harikrishna

David Navara (CZE) - Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU): 0.5-0.5

Sam Shankland (USA) - Boris Gelfand (ISR): 0.5-0.5

Haik Martirosyan (ARM) - Ray Robson (USA): 0.5-0.5

12-year-old FM Vaclav Finek (CZE) got the better of GM Akash G

Masters section

The tournament hall at Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic

The playing area for the Masters and Challengers section of Prague International Chess Festival

Warning sign for the spectators to avoid any disturbance to the players

Schedule

The Round-Robin tournaments will take place from 21st to 30th June 2023. Every day except the last round, games will start at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST). Monday 26th June is a rest day. The ninth round game on 30th June will start at 11 a.m. local time, 2:30 p.m. IST.

Masters Crosstable after Round 1 | Photo: Prague International Chess Festival

Challengers Crosstable after Round 1 | Photo: Prague International Chess Festival

Replay Round 1 Masters games

Replay Round 1 Challengers games

Masters:

Round 1 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	1	2653	GM	NGUYEN Thai Dai Van	½ - ½	GM	HARIKRISHNA Pentala	2704	10	PGN
2	2	2690	GM	KEYMER Vincent	1 - 0	GM	WANG Hao	2722	9	PGN
3	3	2689	GM	NAVARA David	½ - ½	GM	DEAC Bogdan-Daniel	2693	8	PGN
4	4	2711	GM	SHANKLAND Sam	½ - ½	GM	GELFAND Boris	2668	7	PGN
5	5	2685	GM	MARTIROSYAN Haik M.	½ - ½	GM	ROBSON Ray	2689	6	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	KEYMER Vincent	GER	2690	1	0	0,00	0
2	6	GM	ROBSON Ray	USA	2689	0,5	0	0,25	1
	7	GM	GELFAND Boris	ISR	2668	0,5	0	0,25	1
	8	GM	DEAC Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2693	0,5	0	0,25	1
	10	GM	HARIKRISHNA Pentala	IND	2704	0,5	0	0,25	1
6	1	GM	NGUYEN Thai Dai Van	CZE	2653	0,5	0	0,25	0
	3	GM	NAVARA David	CZE	2689	0,5	0	0,25	0
	4	GM	SHANKLAND Sam	USA	2711	0,5	0	0,25	0
	5	GM	MARTIROSYAN Haik M.	ARM	2685	0,5	0	0,25	0
10	9	GM	WANG Hao	CHN	2722	0	0	0,00	1

Details

Round 2 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	2704	GM	HARIKRISHNA Pentala		GM	ROBSON Ray	2689	6
2	7	2668	GM	GELFAND Boris		GM	MARTIROSYAN Haik M.	2685	5
3	8	2693	GM	DEAC Bogdan-Daniel		GM	SHANKLAND Sam	2711	4
4	9	2722	GM	WANG Hao		GM	NAVARA David	2689	3
5	1	2653	GM	NGUYEN Thai Dai Van		GM	KEYMER Vincent	2690	2

Details

Challengers

Round 1 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	1	2609	GM	BARTEL Mateusz	½ - ½	GM	GLEDURA Benjamin	2645	10	PGN
2	2	2436	IM	STALMACH Richard	½ - ½	GM	PULTINEVICIUS Paulius	2530	9	PGN
3	3	2409	FM	FINEK Vaclav	1 - 0	GM	AKASH G	2483	8	PGN
4	4	2611	GM	PECHAC Jergus	½ - ½	IM	VYKOUK Jan	2467	7	PGN
5	5	2597	GM	MOTYLEV Alexander	½ - ½	GM	L'AMI Erwin	2645	6	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 1

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	FM	FINEK Vaclav	CZE	2409	1	0	0,00	0
2	6	GM	L'AMI Erwin	NED	2645	0,5	0	0,25	1
	7	IM	VYKOUK Jan	CZE	2467	0,5	0	0,25	1
	9	GM	PULTINEVICIUS Paulius	LTU	2530	0,5	0	0,25	1
	10	GM	GLEDURA Benjamin	HUN	2645	0,5	0	0,25	1
6	1	GM	BARTEL Mateusz	POL	2609	0,5	0	0,25	0
	2	IM	STALMACH Richard	CZE	2436	0,5	0	0,25	0
	4	GM	PECHAC Jergus	SVK	2611	0,5	0	0,25	0
	5	GM	MOTYLEV Alexander	ROU	2597	0,5	0	0,25	0
10	8	GM	AKASH G	IND	2483	0	0	0,00	1

Details

Round 2 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		Name	Result		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	10	2645	GM	GLEDURA Benjamin		GM	L'AMI Erwin	2645	6
2	7	2467	IM	VYKOUK Jan		GM	MOTYLEV Alexander	2597	5
3	8	2483	GM	AKASH G		GM	PECHAC Jergus	2611	4
4	9	2530	GM	PULTINEVICIUS Paulius		FM	FINEK Vaclav	2409	3
5	1	2609	GM	BARTEL Mateusz		IM	STALMACH Richard	2436	2

Details

Time Control

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

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers and Open

Prague Chess Festival: fb. twitter, instagram and youtube

Related news:

	Ray Robson wins 5th Prague International Chess Festival 2023 Masters, Harikrishna third @ 01/07/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Will Harikrishna win Prague Masters for the second year in-a-row? @ 30/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Masters 2023 R7: Ray Robson outplays Vincent Keymer, gains sole lead @ 29/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Open 2023 R6: Deep in the fray @ 28/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Open 2023 R5: Stavroula Tsolakidou emerges sole leader 5/5 @ 27/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Open 2023 R4: Sharan Rao makes a perfect start 4/4 @ 26/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Masters 2023 R4: Bogdan-Daniel breaks the Berlin, joins the lead with Keymer @ 25/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Prague Challengers 2023 R2-3: Akash misses a win against Motylev @ 24/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)
	Harikrishna set to defend his title at Prague International Chess Festival 2023 Masters @ 21/06/2023 by Shahid Ahmed (en)