Prague Challengers is another category in the Prague Chess Festival along with Prague Masters and Prague Futures. It’s organized by the Nový Bor Chess Club and features a strong lineup of players who compete in a round-robin format, meaning each player will face another once. A total of nine rounds will be played, and ten players will participate in the event.
Until now, five rounds have been played, and the sixth round will be played on 4 March 2025 at 15:00 CET. Without wasting much time, let’s take a look at the highlights and results so far.
Prague Challengers: Winners, Losers, and Highlights
As of now, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Jonas Buhl Bjerre are leading the Challegers leaderboards with 4 and 3.5 points, respectively Nodirbek has won 3 matches out of five while drawing the other two and, Jonas Buhl has won two matches while drawing the other three.
In the third and fourth positions of the Prague Challengers leaderboards, we have Salgado Lopez Ivan and Maurizzi Marc`andria with 3 points each. In the last round, Nodirbek won a dramatic game against Jachym Nemec where there were four queens on the board at one point. His more active queens led to his victory.
Divya Deshmukh of India lost a match against Marc’Andria Maurizzi in a much-anticipated game. The category features numerous emerging talents like Nodirbek Yakubboev, Jonas Buhl Bjerre, and Divya Deshmukh.
Having said that, let’s take a look at the results so far of the Prague Challengers.
| Round | Player | Opponent | Result |
| Round 1 | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 1 | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | 0 – 1 |
| Round 1 | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | 1 – 0 |
| Round 1 | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 1 | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | GM Qun Ma (2645) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 2 | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | GM Qun Ma (2645) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 2 | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | 0 – 1 |
| Round 2 | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | 1 – 0 |
| Round 2 | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 2 | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 3 | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 3 | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | 0 – 1 |
| Round 3 | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | 0 – 1 |
| Round 3 | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | 1 – 0 |
| Round 3 | GM Qun Ma (2645) | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 4 | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | 0 – 1 |
| Round 4 | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | GM Qun Ma (2645) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 4 | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 4 | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | 0 – 1 |
| Round 4 | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 5 | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | 1 – 0 |
| Round 5 | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 5 | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | 1 – 0 |
| Round 5 | GM Qun Ma (2645) | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | ½ – ½ |
| Round 5 | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | 1 – 0 |
Prague Challengers Leaderboards
| Ranking | Player | ELO | Points |
| 1 | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev | 2659 | 4.0 |
| 2 | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre | 2640 | 3.5 |
| 3 | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez | 2599 | 3.0 |
| 4 | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi | 2581 | 3.0 |
| 5 | GM Qun Ma | 2645 | 2.5 |
| 6 | IM Richard Stalmach | 2449 | 2.0 |
| 7 | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis | 2580 | 2.0 |
| 8 | FM Jachym Nemec | 2433 | 2.0 |
| 9 | IM Divya Deshmukh | 2490 | 1.5 |
| 10 | IM Vaclav Finek | 2478 | 1.5 |
What’s Next: Prague Challengers Schedule
The round begins at 3 PM CET/ 9 AM ET and 7:30 PM IST. Here is the full schedule for Day 6 of the Prague Challengers.
| Round | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Round 6 | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) |
| Round 6 | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) |
| Round 6 | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | GM Qun Ma (2645) |
| Round 6 | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) |
| Round 6 | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) |
| Round 7 | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) |
| Round 7 | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) |
| Round 7 | GM Qun Ma (2645) | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) |
| Round 7 | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) |
| Round 7 | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) |
| Round 8 | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) |
| Round 8 | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) |
| Round 8 | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) |
| Round 8 | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) | GM Qun Ma (2645) |
| Round 8 | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) |
| Round 9 | GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (2659) | IM Vaclav Finek (2478) |
| Round 9 | GM Qun Ma (2645) | IM Richard Stalmach (2449) |
| Round 9 | GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi (2581) | GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2599) |
| Round 9 | IM Divya Deshmukh (2490) | GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis (2580) |
| Round 9 | GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2640) | FM Jachym Nemec (2433) |
