8th Prague Masters 2026 R3: Jorden van Foreest stuns the World Champion

By admin February 28, 2026 Updated: May 11, 2026 0 comments

Jorden van Foreest (NED) defeated the World Champion, D Gukesh in Round 3 of 8th Prague International Chess Festival 2026. Aravindh Chithambaram played a relatively calm draw against Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI).

Aravindh draws against Parham

The Masters section had only one decisive game, whereas all five games in the Challengers ended decisively. Both GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly and GM Divya Deshmukh lost their respective games against IM Jachym Nemek (CZE) and GM Jiner Zhu (CHN). In Karel Janeček Open, GM Sasikiran Krishnan, IM Mayank Chakraborty and IM Utsab Chatterjee are at 2/2. Praveen K B held GM Laurent Guidarelli (FRA) to a draw.

David Anton Guijarro (ESP) won the Best Game of Round 2 award by getting 40% votes.

Jorden – Gukesh: 1-0

Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2705) and the World Champion, D Gukesh (2754) played seven Classical rated games against each other. Gukesh won three and the remaining four ended in draws.

Position after 17…Qb8?

17…Qb8? allowed his opponent to play in his signature style 18.Rxd4 exd4 19.e5 dxc3 20.Qh4 Nh5 21.Bxe7 g6 22.Bxf8 Qxf8 23.bxc3 Qc5 White not only gained a pawn but also a commanding position. White’s connected passed pawns on the kingside proved to be much stronger than Black’s isolated one on the a-file.

Jorden van Foreest scored his first win over D Gukesh in a Classical battle | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Aravindh – Parham: 0.5-0.5

Aravindh Chithambaram (2700) played six Classical rated games against Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI, 2708). Aravindh won two, lost one and drew the remaining three. Their seventh battle was a tepid draw in 30 moves.