Prague Chess Festival just concluded with the final round on 7 March 2025. The tournament was being held at the Don Giovanni Hotel in Prague and features three categories, Masters, Challengers, and Futures.
The 2025 season was the 7th edition of the tournament, which took place from 26 February to 7 March. Many notable chess wizards participated in events like Vincent Keymer, Praggnanandhaa R. and Aravindh Chithambaram. With that being said, let’s take a look at the winner and standings of the Prague Masters.
Prague Chess Festival: Winner And Standings Of Prague Masters
If you have been following the Prague Chess Festival, you would not be surprised by the winner of the Prague Masters. It’s none other than Aravindh Chithambaram of India, the player who has been dominating the leaderboard after Round 3. Even though he had fluctuated a little bit after that he maintained his position at the top since Round 7.
He even defeated chess legends like Vincent Keymer, the reigning champion of the Freestyle Chess Tour 2025, Wei Yi, and Anish Giri. In his final match that took place yesterday, he ended up in a draw with Ediz Gurel and won the title with 6 points. Anish Giri finished second with 5 points while Praggnanandhaa R could not make it in the top 3 even after dominating the second position for a long time. Let’s take a look at the standings of the Prague Masters.
| Ranking | Name | ELO | Points |
| 1 | Aravindh Chithambaram (Winner) | 2729 | 6 |
| 2 | Anish Giri | 2728 | 5 |
| 3 | Wei Yi | 2755 | 5 |
| 4 | Praggnanandhaa R | 2741 | 5 |
| 5 | Ediz Gurel | 2624 | 4.5 |
| 6 | Vincent Keymer | 2731 | 4.5 |
| 7 | Sam Shankland | 2670 | 4 |
| 8 | David Navara | 2677 | 4 |
| 9 | Quang Liem Le | 2739 | 4 |
| 10 | Thai Dai Van Nguyen | 2668 | 3 |
Prague Chess Festival: Winner And Standings Of Prague Challengers
Prague Challengers is a unique category aiming to provide a platform for emerging chess talents. The winner of this category earned a spot in the Prague Masters next year. This section is also played in a round-robin format where each player faces another once. The winner of this category is Nodirbek Yakubboev, an emerging chess player from Uzbekistan.
He won five games out of nine rounds and did not lose a single match. He drew the other four rounds and reached a peak of seven points. Even though Jonas Buhl Bjerre was also on 7 points, Nodirbek won because of his superior tie-break score. Jonas Buhl finished in the second position while Divya Deshmukh of India finished in the seventh position. Let’s take a look at the standings of the Prague Challengers.
| Ranking | Name | ELO | Points |
| 1 | Nodirbek Yakubboev | 2659 | 7 |
| 2 | Jonas Bjerre | 2640 | 7 |
| 3 | Marc’Andria Maurizzi | 2581 | 6 |
| 4 | Ma Qun | 2645 | 5.5 |
| 5 | Ivan Salgado Lopez | 2599 | 4 |
| 6 | Vaclav Finek | 2478 | 4 |
| 7 | Divya Deshmukh | 2490 | 3 |
| 8 | Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis | 2580 | 3 |
| 9 | Richard Stalmach | 2449 | 3 |
| 10 | Jachym Nemec | 2433 | 2.5 |
Prague Chess Festival: Winner And Standings Of Prague Futures
Prague Chess Festival features a significant platform for young players to gain experience against peers. This year was the first edition when the Prague Futures section featured an all-female lineup marking a significant milestone for women. The event included ten young and talented chess players with an average age of 13 years.
Sara Maria Sunea of Romania emerged victorious in this section with 7 points and earned an entry to the open tournament next year. Zuzana Stara finished in the second position while Greta Viti finished in the third position. Let’s take a look at the points table of the Prague Futures.
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| Ranking | Name | ELO | Points |
| 1 | SUNEA Sara Maria (Winner) | 1854 | 7 |
| 2 | STARA Zuzana | 1919 | 6 |
| 3 | VITI Greta | 1971 | 6 |
| 4 | RZADKOWSKA Lila | 1743 | 5 |
| 5 | ANISTOROAEI Maria | 1820 | 4.5 |
| 6 | RZADKOWSKA Kaja | 1798 | 4 |
| 7 | TOLMACEVA Alona | 1839 | 4 |
| 8 | JAKUBSE Tamae Severina | 1815 | 3.5 |
| 9 | SCHIRMBECK Lilian | 1754 | 3 |
| 10 | MARKINA Sofiia | 1891 | 2 |
Also Read: The Rise of Praggnanandhaa: India’s Very Own Chess Prodigy
