Breaking Update: Here’s a clear explanation of the latest developments related to Breaking News:Prague Masters 2026 Round 2: Aravindh, Anton Strike Back– What Just Happened and why it matters right now.
Defending Champion GM Aravindh Chithambaram looked to be in trouble again in round two of the 2026 Prague Chess Festival Masters, but GM Hans Niemann couldn’t find a hidden winning resource on low time and slumped to defeat. It was a similar story for GM Jorden van Foreest, who could have climbed to world number-15 but suddenly went from better to lost against GM David Anton. Elsewhere we saw solid draws in GM Parham Maghsoodloo vs. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, GM Vincent Keymer vs. GM David Navara, and GM Gukesh Dommaraju vs. GM Nodirbek Yakubboev.
Round three begins on Friday, February 27, starting at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 p.m. IST.
Masters: Aravindh, Anton Bounce Back From Defeats
It was a quieter day in Prague, but we still got two significant wins.
Round 2 Results: Masters
The three leaders—Abdusattorov, Yakubboev, and Navara—all backed up their wins in round one with draws in round two, while everyone is off the mark.
Standings After Round 2: Masters
Navara told us after round one that his opponent Maghsoodloo seemed to be unwell, and that perhaps explained why the Iranian star went for none of his usual attacking chess against Abdusattorov in round two.
It may also have been that the Uzbek star repeated a solid Queen’s Gambit Declined line he’d used to make a 23-move draw against GM Fabiano Caruana in the 2025 Superbet Romania Chess Classic. Maghsoodloo varied on move 11, but the game never caught fire.
It was a similar story in Keymer vs. Navara, with the Czech number-one for a second day in a row playing a long maneuvering game. His breakthrough against Maghsoodloo had won him the Game of the Day award, but this time there was no way to make progress, with only one set of pawns traded before the game ended in a closed same-colored bishops draw.
Gukesh vs. Yakubboev ending calmly meant the world champion’s start with two Whites hadn’t gone to plan, but at least when a sacrifice came this time around it was only enough to force a quick draw.
That brings us to the two wins.
Niemann 0-1 Aravindh
Aravindh knew it was going to be a tough start in Prague, facing Abdusattorov then Niemann with Black in the first two rounds. He did well out of the opening in round one, before it all fell apart, so he decided to repeat exactly the same offbeat opening.
” It feels great – after I lost the first round, to come back in the second round, it means a lot to me. I had two Blacks in a row, it wasn’t easy at all, I’m happy that I managed to win today!” – Aravindh @pawnof64squares Chithambaram after defeating Hans Niemann in Round 2 of… pic.twitter.com/6yvoiwouUP
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) February 26, 2026
Niemann varied only on move 12, with 12.h3 instead of 12.a4, and another fascinating struggle ensued. It all culminated in the strange position after 30…Nxg3.
The computer screams 31.Ne7+! wins for White, but spotting 31…Kf8 32.Qa5!! with 30 seconds on your clock was a huge ask. Aravindh was also unaware of that win after the game, but he pointed out that 31.Nf4 would likely have been a draw. Instead 31.Bd3? led to trouble.
That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.
So Aravindh got off the mark, moving to 50 percent, while Niemann was denied a 2/2 start. The same goes for Van Foreest, who had looked to have excellent chances of continuing his climb.
Anton 1-0 Van Foreest
Van Foreest had gained over 30 rating points this year, and with a win in this game would have climbed to world number-15 above the likes of GMs Liem Le, Richard Rapport, Leinier Dominguez, and Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
The Dutchman’s ambition to do just that was visible when he played the double-edged King’s Indian Defense. Anton confessed: “I got a normal position, but after that he kind of outplayed me. I think at some point I must be worse. I didn’t like my position, I was low on time, but then somehow everything worked out at the end.”
Somehow everything worked out at the end.
—David Anton
The turnaround was shocking, since Black was only slightly worse when the innocent-looking 20…h6? simply lost on the spot to some surprisingly unstoppable tactics.
“I’m not sure if I played well, so not very happy with my play, to be honest, but I won, so that’s the important part,” said Anton after the game.
If Van Foreest is going to recover after that loss he has to do it against the world champion, while Abdusattorov vs. Keymer will be a battle for the world number-four spot.
Masters Round 3 Pairings
Challengers: Beerdsen, Hrbek maintain perfect scores
For a second day in a row there were three decisive games in the Challengers.
Round 2 Results | Challengers
GM Thomas Beerdsen and IM Stepan Hrbek are the surprise early leaders.
Standings After Round 2 | Challengers
It’s been a tough start for GM Zhu Jiner, who after the rollercoaster loss in round one was outplayed surprisingly smoothly by the reigning Czech Champion Hrbek, who moved to 2/2. That loss for Zhu saw her slip below GM Lei Tingjie to world number-three on the Women’s live rating list.
That Beerdsen is co-leading on 2/2 is particularly surprising given he began the event with two Blacks and was facing top seed GM Benjamin Gledura in round two.
The Dutch GM grabbed a piece, commenting: “It reminded me of yesterday, because yesterday my opponent sac’ed a rook and I just had to defend, and now I thought I’ll just grab a piece and hope for the best!”
I thought I’ll just grab a piece and hope for the best!
—Thomas Beerdsen
“It looked like I’m on the verge of losing the whole game, and suddenly I’ve won!” said a shell-shocked Beerdsen, while 16-year-old IM Vaclav Finek picked up the other win in the Challengers.
Beerdsen will face the second-highest rated player, GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre, in round three, while Zhu faces GM Divya Deshmukh, who’s made two draws so far, as she tries to get off the mark.
How To Watch
The 2026 Prague Chess Festival takes place on February 25-March 6 at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. The format is a round-robin with 10 players in Masters, Challengers, and Futures groups, as well as an Open tournament. The time control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 more minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting on move one.
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