In round five of the 2026 Prague Chess Festival Masters, all games were decisive, highlighted by Nodirbek Abdusattorov's victory over World Champion D Gukesh via a late blunder. Jorden van Foreest took sole lead by beating Hans Niemann, while David Navara won a brilliant game against Nodirbek Yakubboev. Van Foreest leads at 4/5, with Abdusattorov and Navara at 3.5.
The Prague International Chess Festival 2026, in its eighth edition, is a 10-player round-robin Masters tournament at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, organized by the Nový Bor club. Running February 25 to March 6, it features nine rounds with 90 minutes for the first 40 moves plus 30 minutes and a 30-second increment. Games start at 3 p.m. local time, except the final round at 11 a.m., with a rest day on March 2.
Round five on March 1 produced no draws. Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated India's World Champion D Gukesh in a rollercoaster game—the second time this year Abdusattorov capitalized on a Gukesh blunder, following Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel Masters). Playing Black, Gukesh gained an advantage with a new opening idea but faltered in time trouble. After 67...Qf7?? (instead of Qd6), Abdusattorov played 68.g5, forcing pawn promotion and resignation on move 69. Abdusattorov noted: "It was a completely crazy game. Closer to the time control I started to outplay him... he was low on time and he panicked." A video of Gukesh's time trouble went viral, amid discussions of his form (now 1.5/5, no wins, two losses including to Van Foreest in round 3; live rating 2734.5). Abdusattorov rose to 2778.3. Their history includes Abdusattorov's 2022 Chennai Olympiad win and a 2024 Budapest draw.
Netherlands' Jorden van Foreest (now world #11 after +40 rating points this year) extended his lead to 4/5, exploiting one error by USA's Hans Niemann in an engine-inspired opening. Van Foreest said: "I’ve been somehow winning a lot of games... things are just really going my way."
Czech home hero David Navara delivered the round's gem, beating Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Yakubboev in a Closed Catalan with sacrifices (21.Nf6+, 30.Qxb5, 39.Qxf7+!, 41.Re7+), ending in checkmate. Iran's Parham Maghsoodloo won his first game against Germany's Vincent Keymer after a shaky Marshall Attack, and Spain's David Anton Guijarro beat India's defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram (third loss).
Standings: 1. Van Foreest 4; 2-3. Abdusattorov, Navara 3.5; 4. Anton 3; 5. Maghsoodloo 2.5; 6-7. Keymer, Yakubboev 2; 8-10. Gukesh, Aravindh, Niemann 1.5.
In Challengers, 16-year-old IM Vaclav Finek leads at 4/5 after beating Daniil Yuffa; India's Divya Deshmukh got her first win vs. Surya Shekhar Ganguly. Round six resumes March 3 at 3 p.m.
