World champion D Gukesh drew with Hans Moke Niemann in the opening round of the Prague International Chess Festival 2026 Masters section. Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram bounced back with a victory over Niemann in round two. In the Challengers section, Divya Deshmukh held higher-rated opponents to draws in both rounds.
The Prague International Chess Festival 2026 began on February 25 at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czechia, featuring a 10-player round-robin Masters section and a Challengers group over nine rounds.
In the Masters first round, Gukesh of India, playing white, faced early pressure from Niemann of the United States in a Berlin Defense. Niemann sacrificed a knight on move 13, but Gukesh fought back through a queen exchange on move 18 and held the position to a 62-move draw in a rook endgame. This was the only draw of the round, with all other white players winning: Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan defeated Aravindh Chithambaram of India using the Philidor Defense; Jorden van Foreest of the Netherlands beat Vincent Keymer of Germany in another Berlin Defense; David Navara of Czechia overcame Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran; and Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan won against David Anton Guijarro of Spain.
Round two saw Aravindh, as black, defeat Niemann in 53 moves with the Philidor Defense. Niemann, under time pressure with less than a minute left, blundered with 31.Bd3, allowing Aravindh to capitalize. Guijarro beat van Foreest in 27 moves after a middlegame blunder in a King's Indian Defense. Gukesh drew with Yakubboev after the Uzbek sacrificed a rook for repetition. Other games ended in draws: Maghsoodloo versus Abdusattorov, and Keymer versus Navara.
In the Challengers, women's World Cup winner Divya Deshmukh of India drew her first round against Benjamin Gledura of Hungary from a strong position and her second against Daniil Yuffa of Spain. Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India lost his opener to Thomas Beerdsen of the Netherlands but drew with Jonas Buhl Bjerre in round two. Other results included wins for Stepan Hrbek over Zhu Jiner, Beerdsen over Gledura, and Vaclav Finek over Jachym Nemec.
Niemann, who previously defeated Magnus Carlsen in a game set to feature in a Netflix series, continues to compete amid past controversy.