The fortunes of World Champion D Gukesh did not change for the fifth day running as the Indian blundered from a position of strength to lose to nemesis Nodirbek Abdusattorov at the Prague International Chess Festival.

Just a month back, Gukesh had lost to Abdusattorov through a blunder from a decent position during the Tata Steel Masters, but the fifth round here was even more heartbreaking as the Indian did everything right for the major part of the middle game and seemed like cruising through to an easy victory.

Employing a new strategy as black, Gukesh tormented the white’s king early in the opening and created enough weaknesses for the computer to volunteer that he was closing in on his first victory in the Masters section of the tournament.

However, the ticking of the clock had its final say as the Indian faltered in the closing stages of the first time-control.

Abdusattorov almost returned the favour, but this was simply not Gukesh’s day as another blunder saw white advancing his pawn to glory.

If Nodirbek was lucky, there seems to be no stopping the Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest, who climbed to number 11 in world ranking in live ratings following his fourth victory in five games.

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On the receiving end was Hans Moke Niemann of the United States, who made a single error that cast the dice decisively in Foreest’s favour.

The day produced all decisive games in the 10-player round-robin tournament, and defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram succumbed to his third defeat in five games, giving David Anton Guijarro of Spain something to rejoice before the lone rest day.

Local star David Navara continued with his excellent run and grinded Uzbek Nodirbek Yakubboev, which was certainly the game of the day, while in the other duel, Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo scored over Vincent Keymer of Germany.

With Foreest on four points, Abdusattorov and Navara are close on his heels, a half point behind. Guijarro is the lone occupant in fourth spot on 3 points, half a point clear of Maghsoodloo, while Vincent Keymer is joint sixth on two points alongside Yakubboev.

Gukesh, Aravindh and Niemann occupy the last three spots on just 1.5 points.

In the challengers’ section, World Women’s Cup winner Divya Deshmukh scored her first victory in the tournament at the expense of fellow Indian Surya Shekhar Ganguly. To move to a fifty per cent score. Finek Vanclav of the Czech Republic continues to lead the tables here with four points.

Published on Mar 02, 2026