8th Prague Masters 2026 R4-5: Jorden van Foreest emerges sole leader

By admin March 2, 2026 Updated: May 13, 2026 0 comments

Jorden van Foreest (NED) scored a hat-trick to gain sole lead at 8th Prague International Chess Festival 2026 Masters. The Netherlands no.2, is now a half point ahead of the rest at 4/5. David Navara (CZE) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) are at 3.5/5 each. Gukesh suffered his second loss of the event. It was against Abdusattorov in Round 5.

Jorden scores a hat-trick, Divya Deshmukh beats Surya Sekhar Ganguly

After losing against David Anton Guijarro (ESP) in Round 2, Jorden defeated the World Champion, D Gukesh and then won his next two games against Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) and Hans Niemann (USA) respectively.

All five games ended decisively in the fifth round of Masters section.

Jorden van Foreest (NED) emerged sole leader 4/5 | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Round 4: D Gukesh – David Navara (CZE): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Yakubboev – Jorden, Round 4

Position after 36.Rc2??

36.Rc2?? allowed Qh3+ 37.Ke1 Qxh2 38.Qxd5 Qg1+ and Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2705) went on to convert his advantage into a win against Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB, 2691).

Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) – Jorden van Foreest (NED): 0-1 | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Jorden van Foreest won Game of the Round 4 award prize by receiving | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Jorden – Hans, Round 5

Position after 18.0-0-0+

18…Ke7 was the only way for Hans Niemann (USA, 2725) to avoid material loss. Instead, he opted for 18…Bd3?? 19.b4+- Na4+ 20.Bc5 Nxc5 21.bxc5 Rxc5+ 22.Kb2 Re2+ 23.Kb3 Rb5+ 24.Ka4 Jorden managed to tuck his king safely at a4 and Black can no longer save the pinned bishop at d3.

Interview with Jorden van Foreest | Video: Prague International Chess Festival

Navara – Yakubboev

Position after 38…Rf7

Navara found the winning continuation 39.Qxf7+ Kxf7 40.d7 Nxg2 41.Re7+ Kxe7 42.d8Q+ Kf7 43.Rd7+ Kg6 44.Qe8+ Kg5 45.Qe4 f5 46.Rg7+ Rg6 47.h4+ Kf6 48.Qe7#

David Navara (CZE) checkmated Nodirbek Yakubboev (UZB) | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Abdusattorov – Gukesh: 1-0

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2751) and D Gukesh (2754) have played 15 Classical rated games against each other. Gukesh and Abdusattorov won two games each. The remaning eleven games ended in draws. Their 16th Classical battle ended in favor of Abdusattorov.

Position after 26.Qf2

It was Gukesh who gained the upperhand first 26…e4 is what he needed to play to seize the advantage. Instead, he opted for 26…g5 27.Kg1 and eventually White managed to turn things around.

Position after 67.Kh4

Black’s final mistake was 67…Qf7?? 68.g5 and g6 became unstoppable. 67…Qd6 would have kept the game going for Black.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) handed the World Champion, D Gukesh, his second loss of the event | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Challengers: Surya – Divya, Round 5

Position after 18…Qe5

GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly (2568) made a questionable decision 19.Nxh7?? Qh5!-+ gave GM Divya Deshmukh (2497) a decisive advantage as it attacks the rook at d1, knight at h7 and also an x-ray attack on the h2-pawn. 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.f3 Qxh2+ 22.Kf2 Qh4+ 23.Kf1 Nd5 and Black won in a dozen more moves.

GM Divya Deshmukh scored her first win against GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly in a Classical rated game | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

Vincent Keymer (GER) won Best game of Round 4 prize for his win against Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival

The legend, GM Pia Cramling (SWE) ambassador of the Futures group, made the ceremonial first move of Round 5 | Photo: Petr Vrabec / Prague International Chess Festival