GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the 2024 Prague Masters with a fast draw against GM Richard Rapport, maintaining his newly achieved global ranking of number four. All boards were tied in the final round on Thursday, giving Abdusattorov a 1.5-point lead over the winner.
GM-elect Ediz Gurel defeated the powerful Ukrainian grandmaster GM Anton Korobov in the last round to put the icing on his chess cake. Because GM Jaime Santos and GM-elect Vaishali Rameshbabu drew their games, 15-year-old Gurel won the Challengers by himself and earned a spot in the Masters the following year.
After winning the event with one round remaining, Abdusattorov said yesterday, “I’m a bit tired but, really, very happy that I managed to win.” In my career, this achievement ranks highly. It was among my best competitions ever,” he continued. The winner was no longer put to the test today.
At 11 a.m., neither Rapport nor Abdusattorov was in the mood to fight, and neither of them had any desire to play for a victory. The title of the game, French Exchange, pretty much says it all. In the remaining portion, both parties appeared ready to trade whenever it was feasible:
This final round had more violence than expected because the previous four games were quite exciting. Is it not the case that players of this generation enjoy competing aggressively on the chessboard?
Our longest game of the day included a beautiful move that GM Parham Maghsoodloo missed, and it warrants a puzzle here. White to participate and rule:
This position was created shortly after Gukesh, having been defeated by Maghsoodloo, had sacrificed a knight for two pawns in a desperate attempt to find a perpetual. It turned out to be a very wise decision that did manage to save Black the half point. Rafael Leitao, GM, examines:
GM Mateusz Bartel was stronger after the opening (which, additionally, saw a novelty in the Queen’s Gambit as early as move six), thus GM Vincent Keymer cannot be too upset with his draw with him. If the Polish GM had been able to exchange queens, Black might have had an almost winning advantage thanks to his critical control of the h-file.
The unlucky tournament for GM Vidit Gujrathi might have gone much worse. GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen had the Indian GM in danger as he passed up multiple opportunities to make an already excellent event even better:
Black held a strong advantage in the double rook endgame compared to GM David Navara, despite GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu winning a pawn. Since I first saw him at Wijk aan Zed in 2007, Navara has been interested in and has studied rook endgames extensively, according to this source. It was evident once more in this match, as he played flawless defense:
This brings an end to a fantastic Prague Masters event filled with excellent chess play. On the final day, Abdusattorov said, “I enjoyed every game.” “It was a very competitive tournament.” Yes, in fact!
In terms of over-the-board chess, the upcoming major competitions include the Candidates Tournament (April 4), the Grenke Chess Classic (March 26), and the American Cup (beginning on March 12).
On missing the Candidates, Abdusattorov stated today, “I feel that this cycle is not my cycle. I don’t feel bad about missing out on the Candidates this year. I don’t think I’ve arrived yet. I’ll get more experience and have more time before the next round. I’m hoping to be prepared for the upcoming competition.”
In the Challengers group, Gurel’s victory over Korobov was the lone match that mattered. The Turkish adolescent scored an impressive 6.5 out of 9, stating that his next goal is to hit 2701. Having achieved a performance rating of 2710, he showed that this is indeed feasible.
The 2024 Prague Chess Festival was held in the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic, from February 27 to March 7. There was just one round-robin format. With a 30-second increment for every move beginning on move one, the time limit was set for 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and another 30 minutes for the remaining moves.