8th Prague Masters 2026 R6: Aravindh Chithambaram upsets the World Champion Gukesh

By admin March 4, 2026 Updated: May 13, 2026 0 comments

The World Champion suffered his third defeat of the tournament in the sixth round of 8th Prague International Chess Festival 2026 Masters. Aravindh Chithambaram scored his first-ever victory in a Classical battle against D Gukesh. Jorden van Foreest (NED) drew against David Navara (CZE) to maintain his sole lead 4.5/6.

Masters: Jorden still ahead, Karel Janeček Open: Mayank Chakraborty in a five-way lead

David Navara and Nodirbek Abdusattorov are trailing the leader by a half point at 4/6 each. The sole decisive game of the round in the Masters section was Aravindh’s win over Gukesh.

IM Vaclav Finek (CZE) drew against GM Jiner Zhu (CHN) to maintain his sole lead 4.5/6 in the Challengers. GM Divya Deshmukh and GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly drew against GM Thomas Beerdsen (NED) and GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP) respectively.

IM Mayank Chakraborty won against FM Jachym Smolik (CZE) to get into a five-way lead in the Karel Janeček Open. IM Christian Gloeckler (GER), IM Richard Stalmach (CZE), GM Evgenios Ioannidis (GRE) and FM Havard Haug (NOR) are the remaning four players at 5.5/6 each.

Aravindh Chithambaram defeated the World Champion, D Gukesh for the first time in a Classical rated game | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Jorden van Foreest (NED) maintained his sole lead with a draw against David Navara (CZE) | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Gukesh – Aravindh: 0-1

D Gukesh (2754) and Aravindh Chithambaram (2700) have played four Classical rated games against each other. Gukesh won two and the remaining two ended in draws. This time Aravindh scored his first win against Gukesh in a Classical rated game.

Position after 40.Rgf3??

Gukesh blundered 40.Rgf3?? Aravindh had no difficulty spotting 40…Ne3! 41.Rxe2 Ng4+ 42.Kg3 Rxe2 and he won the game in the next few moves.

Interview with Aravindh Chithambaram | Video: Prague International Chess Festival

Hans Niemann (USA) and Vincent Keymer (GER) played an exciting draw | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

David Anton Guijarro (ESP) missed a great winning opportunitya against Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

The All-Uzbek clash between Nodirbek Yakubboev and Nodirbek Abdusattorov ended in a draw | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Tata Steel Chess Tournament Director – Jeroen van den Berg (NED) made the ceremonial first move of Round 6 on Jorden van Foreest and David Navara’s board | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

David Navara received Best Game of Round 5 award | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Challengers: GM Divya Deshmukh – GM Thomas Beerdsen (NED): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP) – GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Karel Janeček Open

Smolik – Mayank

Position after 34.Rg4??

FM Jachym Smolik (CZE, 2401) blundered 34.Rg4?? threatening Qxg7# Find out the winning continuation which IM Mayank Chakraborty (2478) played in the game.