THE 3RD Prague International Masters Tournament unfolded June 13 in the Czech Republic capital of Prague with eight strong grandmasters taking part.
The competition – the main feature of the 3rd Prague International Chess Festival – is an all-GM, single round robin Category 18 (average Elo: 2677) event with Jan Krzysztof Duda (2729), Jorden Van Foreest (2701), David Navara (2697), Sam Shankland (2691), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2687), Nils Grandelius (2670), Nijat Abasov (2665), and Thai Dai Van Nguyen (2577). The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes to finish, and a 30-second increment from the opening move.
After two rounds of play, Shankland, Abasov, and Wojtaszek share the lead with 1½ points each. Surprisingly, Czech Republic’s top player Navara started badly with two successive losses. Also, the lowest-rated player Nguyen is holding his own against the biggies.
Standings after Round 2: 1-3. Shankland, Abasov, Wojtaszek, 1½; 4-6. Van Foreest, Nguyen, Duda, 1; 7. Grandelius, ½; 8. Navara, 0.
Duda, J-K (2729)-Navara, D (2697) [C65]
Prague (1.4) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nc3 Qe7 7.h3 a5 8.Bg5 a4 9.a3 0-0 10.Bh4 Re8 11.Qe2 b5 12.Nd1 Qd6 13.g4 Nd7 14.Ne3 Bxe3 15.Qxe3 c5 16.Bg3 Nf8 17.Nh4 Qd4 18.Qxd4 cxd4 19.f4 exf4 20.Bxf4 Ra6 21.Bxc7 Rc6 22.Bg3 Rxc2 23.Rh2 Rc6 24.Kd2 Ne6 25.Nf5 Ba6 26.Bd6 Kh8 27.Bb4 Rec8 28.Kd1 Nc5 29.Ne7 Nb3 30.Nxc6 Nxa1 31.Nxd4 Rd8 32.Bc3 b4 33.axb4 Bxd3 34.Rd2 Bxe4 35.Nf5 Re8 36.Rd7 Bf3+ 37.Kc1 Nb3+ 38.Kb1 Bc6 39.Rxf7 Be4+ 40.Ka2 Nd4 41.Rxg7 Bd5+ 42.Ka3 Nb5+ 43.Kxa4 Bc6 44.Ka5 Nxc3 45.bxc3 Bg2 46.Re7 Ra8+ 47.Kb6 Bxh3 48.Ne3 Rc8 49.c4 Bxg4 50.Nxg4 Rxc4 51.Nf6 Rxb4+ 52.Kc6 Rh4 53.Kd7 Rh1 54.Ke8 Ra1 55.Rxh7# 1-0
Abasov, N (2665)-Grandelius, N (2670) [B23]
Prague (2.1) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Qf2 Nbd7 9.h3 Nc5 10.Be3 b6 11.0-0-0 Nxd3+ 12.Rxd3 Bb7 13.Bd4 b5 14.Re1 Qa5 15.Kb1 b4 16.Nd5 Rae8 17.Bxf6 exf6 18.Nd2 f5 19.Nb3 Qd8 20.exf5 a5 21.f6 Bxf6 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Red1 a4 24.Rxd6 Re6 25.Rxe6 fxe6 26.Nc5 Bd5 27.g3 Rc8 28.Nxa4 Qf5 29.Rd2 Qxh3 30.b3 Qh1+ 31.Kb2 Qe4 32.Nc5 Qf5 33.Qd4 Qg4 34.Nd7 Qxg3 35.Nf6+ Kf7 36.Nxd5 exd5 37.Qxd5+ 1-0
Shankland, S (2691)-Duda, J-K (2729) [B90]
Prague (2.2) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.g5 b4 13.Ne2 Ne8 14.f4 a5 15.f5 a4 16.fxe6 axb3 17.cxb3 fxe6 18.Bh3 Nc7 19.Kb1 d5 20.exd5 exd5 21.Bg2 Ra5 22.a4 Kh8 23.Rhe1 Ra6 24.h4 Rd6 25.Bg1 h6 26.Qxb4 d4 27.Nc1 Nd5 28.Qb5 Nf4 29.Bc6 hxg5 30.hxg5 Nb8 31.Be4 Nd7 32.g6 Rb6 33.Qc4 Nxg6 34.Nd3 Nf4 35.Bc6 Bh4 36.Rxe5 Nxe5 37.Nxe5 Qf6 38.Bxd4 Rbb8 39.Nd7 1-0
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (2687)-Navara, D (2697) [E06]
Prague (2.3) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 Bd6 11.Qc1 Nbd7 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.a5 Rfe8 14.Re1 Bxf4 15.Qxf4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 c6 17.Na4 e5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Qc3 Nd5 20.Qc5 Nc7 21.Rad1 Rab8 22.f4 Nd7 23.Qxe7 Rxe7 24.e4 g6 25.Bh3 b5 26.axb6 Nxb6 27.Nc5 Nc4 28.Bf1 Nxb2 29.Rd2 Kg7 30.Ra1 Ne6 31.Nxe6+ fxe6 32.Ra2 Reb7 33.Rxa6 e5 34.fxe5 Rb4 35.Rd7+ Kh6 36.Raa7 Nc4 37.Rxh7+ Kg5 38.Raf7 Ne3 1-0
Nguyen, TDV (2577)-Van Foreest, J (2701) [D15]
Prague (2.4) 2021
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 g6 6.Bf4 Nh5 7.Be5 f6 8.Bxb8 Rxb8 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Be6 11.g3 Bh6 12.Bg2 0-0 13.0-0 Ng7 14.Re1 Bf7 15.h4 Ne6 16.Nc3 b6 17.Na4 bxc5 18.dxc5 Qa5 19.Qc2 Rfd8 20.a3 Qc7 21.b4 Nd4 22.Nxd4 Rxd4 23.Rad1 Rbd8 24.Rxd4 Rxd4 25.Nb6 Rd2 26.Qe4 Qd8 27.Re2 Rd1+ 28.Kh2 Bc1 29.Qxc6 Bxa3 30.Qa4 Rd3 31.Be4 Rc3 32.Bd5 a5 33.Bxf7+ Kxf7 34.bxa5 Qd3 35.Re3 Qd2 36.Rxc3 ½-½
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa6!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Nc7, Kh6 2.Be3#; 1…Nc5/d4/f4, Kf6 2.Bd8#; 1…Kg4 2.Rg7#./PN
