Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram handed world champion Gukesh Dommaraju his third loss in four games at the 2026 Prague Chess Festival Masters, dropping Gukesh to last place and world number 20 in live ratings. The sole decisive result came amid four draws, with Jorden van Foreest maintaining his half-point lead. In the Challengers section, Vaclav Finek held a full-point advantage after Benjamin Gledura's only win.
In round six of the 2026 Prague Chess Festival Masters, held at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic, Indian grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram defeated compatriot and reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju with the black pieces. The game, a complex Sicilian Defense, saw Gukesh sacrifice a pawn early for tactical chances, leading to a middlegame where he held a rook and pawn against Aravindh's two knights. However, severe time pressure proved decisive: Gukesh blundered on move 40 with just three seconds left, playing 40.Rgf3? instead of the saving 40.Rd3, allowing Aravindh to respond with 40...Ne3! and convert to a winning rook endgame eight moves later.
"It was very hard to actually play this game," Aravindh said post-match, adding, "Both of us are having a very bad tournament, but I knew that one would be happy at the end of the day and it turned out to be me." The 25-year-old Aravindh, the defending Prague champion whose 2025 victory had briefly pushed him near 2750 Elo, snapped a three-loss streak in 2026, improving to 2.5/6. For 19-year-old Gukesh, the loss marked his third defeat in four rounds, leaving him at 1.5/6—last in the 10-player round-robin—and dropping him to world number 20 on the live FIDE ratings list after losing 19 points overall in the event.
The other Masters games ended in draws. Leader Jorden van Foreest (4.5/6) pressed but split the point with local hero David Navara (4/6) after 56 moves; Navara noted the tournament was going "surprisingly well," though he credited luck in the game. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (4/6) held Nodirbek Yakubboev quickly in a Petroff Defense. David Anton Guijarro (3.5/6) missed a win against Parham Maghsoodloo (3/6) in time trouble, while Hans Niemann and Vincent Keymer drew the longest game at 92 moves.
In the Challengers, 16-year-old IM Vaclav Finek maintained his full-point lead at 4.5/6 despite missing a win against Zhu Jiner. Top seed Benjamin Gledura (3/6) secured the only victory, dramatically beating Jachym Nemec (3/6) with 37.Ne7+!! after 36...Qd6?.
With three rounds remaining, round seven pairings include Abdusattorov vs. van Foreest and Finek vs. Gledura. The event runs February 25 to March 6 under a 90-minute time control for 40 moves plus 30 minutes thereafter, with a 30-second increment from move one.
