Aravindh Chithambaram defeats world champion Gukesh in Prague

Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram defeated fellow Indian D Gukesh in the sixth round of the Masters section at the Prague International Chess Festival.

Aravindh used a strong tactical idea to beat Gukesh, who is the current FIDE world champion.



After this loss, Gukesh dropped to last place in the standings. His live world ranking has also fallen to No. 20. Since winning the world title in December 2024, Gukesh has struggled with form.

One of his better results this year was at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January 2025, where he tied for first but lost in the tiebreak to R Praggnanandhaa. Recently, however, he has lost more than 50 rating points.

In their game, Aravindh played the Sicilian Defence after earlier trying the Philidor Defence in the tournament. Gukesh sacrificed a pawn early to create attacking chances. At one point, Aravindh seemed satisfied with a draw. But on move 40, with very little time left, Gukesh made a big mistake. Aravindh quickly converted the advantage and won the game a few moves later.

This was the only game in the round that produced a winner. The other four games ended in draws.

Jorden van Foreest remains the sole leader with 4.5 points after drawing with local star David Navara. Navara is tied for second place along with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who is just half a point behind the leader.

Spain’s David Anton Guijarro has 3.5 points after drawing with Parham Maghsoodloo. Aravindh, Vincent Keymer, and Nodirbek Yakubboev are next in the standings. Hans Niemann is just above Gukesh with 1.5 points.

Foreest finally had a draw after five decisive games and this time too it seemed his extra pawn would do the trick. The Dutchman has been in the form of his life but in the sixth round Navara held his nerve to keep the opposition pieces and attack at bay.

The result was a draw, letting Foreest keep the lead, but both Navara and Abdusattorov remain in hunt with three rounds still to come in the second super tournament of the year.

In the masters section, world women's cup winner Divya Deshmukh played out a draw with Thomas Beerdsen of Holland while Surya Shekhar Ganguly split the point with Daniil Yuffa of Spain.

Results round 6 Masters: D Gukesh (Ind, 1.5) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 2.5); David Anton Guijarro (Esp, 3.5) drew with Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 3); Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 2) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 2.5); Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 2.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 4); Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 4.5) drew with David Navara (Cze, 4).

Challengers: Daniil Yuffa (Esp, 3) drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly (Ind, 1.5); Benjamin Gledura (Hun, 3) beat Nemec Jachym (Cze, 3); Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 3) drew with Thomas Beerdsen (Ned, 3.5); Hrbek Stepan (Cze, 3.5) drew with Jonas Buhl Bjerre (Den, 3); Zhu Jiner (Chn, 2) drew with Finek Vanclav (Cze, 4.5).


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