Prague Chess News Today

Jaroslav Svoboda, the owner of Czech Inn Hotels and operator of the Hotel Don Giovanni, the venue of the Prague Chess Festival, is a passionate chess fan. In a short interview he reveals that he learnt to play chess rather late in life, talks about his friendship to Vlastimil Hort and explains why Bobby Fischer is not an ideal role model. | Photo: The Hotel Don Giovanni

The Prague Chess Festival is drawing to a close, but after eight of nine rounds the battle for tournament victory is still wide open. In the Masters, Bogdan-Daniel Deac (pictured) and Ray Robson lead with 5 out of 8 each, but theoretically five more players have a chance of sharing first place. In the Challengers, Mateusz Bartel is sole leader with 5.5 out of 8, but there are no less than three players within half a point of him. | Photos: Petr Vrabec

Anil Kumar and IM V. Saravanan invite you to the Houseboat Chess Tournament in Kerala, which will take place in January for the second time after 2020 in the fairytale backwaters of the Indian province and will be played partly on a houseboat. Registration is still open until 15 November. | Photo: Cottages at ‘Waterscapes’, an exotic backwater resort at Kumarakom| Photo: Orient Chess Moves

Polish grandmaster Monika Socko was the clear winner of the European Women’s Championship which took place at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague. Socko scored 8½/11 points to leave a 5-player chasing pack a half point back. Azerbaijani representatives Gunay Mammadzada and Ulviyya Fataliyeva grabbed second and third place, respectively. Nine players gained spots in next year’s Women’s World Cup. | Photos: Official site

Pentala Harikrishna beat David Anton in the final round of the Prague Masters to clinch clear first place with 6½ out of 9 points. In the Challengers, two of the former co-leaders, Hans Niemann and Vincent Keymer won in round 9 and finished tied for first place. Curiously, they were also tied in all the tiebreak criteria. The organizers decided to stage a 2-game blitz match, which Keymer won by a 2-0 score. | Pictured: Le Quang Liem (2nd), Pentala Harikrishna (1st) and Thai Dai Van Nguyen (...

Le Quang Liem continues to lead the Masters tournament at the Prague Chess Festival, as wins for Saleh Salem and Sam Shankland in round 7 did not affect the status of the fight at the top of the standings table. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, co-leaders Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Vincent Keymer drew their direct encounter. Top seed Hans Niemann scored a full point, and is now in sole third place, a half point behind the leaders. | Pictured: Kamil Warchol, co-leader in the Futures tournament. | Ph...

All five games finished drawn in round 5 of the Masters section at the Prague Chess Festival, which left Le Quang Liem and Pentala Harikrishna sharing the lead on 3½ points. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, Vincent Keymer kept the sole lead after beating Peter Michalik with the black pieces. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (pictured) also won and is now in sole second place, a half point back. | Photo: Vladimír Jagr

Lubomir Kavalek, 1943-2021 The Czech-American grandmaster, former number-10 in the world, coach, organizer, trainer, commentator, author, columnist, and member of the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Lubomir (Lubosh) Kavalek died at the age of 77 after a brief but severe illness. The news was confirmed by his wife Irina. Kavalek was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), on August 9, 1943, exactly five months after GM Bobby Fischer. He won his first national championship in 1962 at t...