Prague Challengers 2026: Vaclav Finek wins the Challengers, Divya Deshmukh secures 3rd place
16-year-old local star from the Czech Republic, Vaclav Finek, wins the Prague Challengers 2026 with a clear half-point lead over the field by scoring 6.5/9 points. Daniil Yuffa scored 6/9 points to secure 2nd place. Women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh scored 5/9 points to finish in third place. In the last round of Challengers, all games were decisive. Surya Shekhar Ganguly finished the event with a nice win over Benjamin Gledura, while Divya turned the tables in the game with Stepan Hrbek. Vaclav Finek won his last round against Thomas Beerdsen to secure the title and place in the Masters next year. Photos: Abhyudaya Ram, Prajwal Bhat
Divya enters the World Top-10 just before Candidates 2026
The FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 starts this month and will be the most important tournament for Divya, as she can qualify for the World Championship by winning it. In Prague, Divya showed a great resilience throughout the tournament with some solid draws and beautiful wins. In the last round, Divya was in a tough position, but she kept fighting and eventually won the game to secure 3rd place.
With that win, Divya reached World no 10 in live ratings, and now we will be seeing her competing in the Candidates 2026
The last round!
The last round of Prague Challengers 2026 was filled with decisive results and some heartbreaking blunders. Divya Deshmukh won her game against Stepan Hrbek when he blundered the rook in a great position. For Zhu Jiner, this event was a bad experience that she would like to forget before the 2026 Candidates. Going into the last round, Vaclav had a half-point lead over Daniil Yuffa, and both players won their games to finish on 1st and 2nd positions, respectively.
Stepan Hrbek vs Divya Deshmukh (0-1)
In a better position, Stepan made a terrible mistake and played 26.h4 and allowed a simple 26.f6, overloading the queen on e5, and if the queen moves, the rook on c5 falls. Stepan resigned after Divya played f6.
Photo Gallery from this round and Prize Distribution: Here
Participants
Venue: Don Giovanni Hotel Prague
Don Giovanni Hotel Prague is a 4-star hotel located in Prague's popular residential area of Vinohrady in proximity to the city centre. It is a modern city hotel built in 1995, and it is named after Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. The Hotel offers 412 spacious, air-conditioned guest rooms, and most of them offer exceptional views of Prague. Don Giovanni has 5 restaurants and bars. The Hotel also has one of the biggest conference capacities in Prague.
Live Stream
Replay Round 9 Challengers games
Final Round results
Bo. | No. | Rtg |
| White | Result | Black |
| Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 | 2568 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2652 | 10 | |||||
2 | 6 | 2525 | GM | 0 - 1 | IM | 2538 | 4 | |||||
3 | 7 | 2629 | GM | 1 - 0 | GM | 2578 | 3 | |||||
4 | 8 | 2466 | IM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2604 | 2 | |||||
5 | 9 | 2463 | IM | 0 - 1 | GM | 2497 | 1 |
Final Standings
Rk. | SNo |
| Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | IM | 2538 | 6,5 | 0 | 28,25 | 4 | |||
2 | 2 | GM | 2604 | 6 | 0 | 24,5 | 5 | |||
3 | 1 | GM | 2497 | 5 | 0 | 22,5 | 2 | |||
4 | 10 | GM | 2652 | 4,5 | 1 | 19,5 | 3 | |||
5 | 7 | GM | 2629 | 4,5 | 2 | 18,25 | 2 | |||
6 | 8 | IM | 2466 | 4,5 | 2 | 16,75 | 3 | |||
7 | 6 | GM | 2525 | 4 | 1 | 16,25 | 2 | |||
8 | 5 | GM | 2568 | 4 | 2 | 17,25 | 2 | |||
9 | 9 | IM | 2463 | 3,5 | 0 | 14,75 | 2 | |||
10 | 3 | GM | 2578 | 2,5 | 0 | 12,5 | 1 |
Time Control
90 Minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 Minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from move 1
Links
Tournament Regulations: Masters, Challengers, Futures, Open
Prague Chess Festival: Facebook. Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube
Related News
Prague Masters 2026: Abdusattorov wins the Masters, Aravindh finishes third
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R8: Nodirbek Abdusattorov in sole lead after winning against David Navara
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R7: Jorden maintains sole lead going into the penultimate round
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R6: Tough time continues for Gukesh in Prague as he lost to Aravindh
प्राग शतरंज महोत्सव 2026 में 'चेस विमेंस डे' का आयोजन
Chess Women’s Day at Prague Chess Festival 2026
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R5: A day filled with decisive results, Divya scores her first win
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R4: Vincent gets his first win, Jorden on a winning streak
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R3: Jorden van Foreest beats Gukesh, Divya lost to Zhu Jiner
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R2: Aravindh gets the winning start after beating Hans
Prague Chess Festival 2026 R1: Gukesh and Divya starts with a draw