Prague Chess Festival: Gukesh's Struggles Continue, Aravindh And Divya Held In Round 7!

Last Updated:March 05, 2026, 15:42 IST

Gukesh played out a draw with Maghsoodloo in Round 7 of the PICF, while Aravindh Chidambaram also settled for a draw with Nordibek Yakuboev.

Incumbent World Champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Parham Maghsoodloo in Round 7 of the Prague International Chess Festival on Wednesday, while Aravindh Chidambaram also settled for a draw with Nordibek Yakuboev.

Czech hope David Navarra and American Hans Niemann also shared the spoils, as did Nordibek Abdusattorov, who split the offerrings with Dutchman Jorden Van Foreest.

The only win of the day in the Masters category came in the board between German Vincet Keymer and David Anton Guijaro as the former got the better of the Spaniard.

At the conclusion of seven rounds of play, Van Foreest tops the table in the Masters section with 5 points followed by Navara with 4 and a half points to his name. Abdusattorov, who also has as many points as Navara, stands third, followed by Maghsoodloo, Keymer and Guijaro, who all have 3 and a half points each.

Yakuboev and Chidambaram who have 3 points each stand seventh and eighth respectively, as Niemann with 2 and a half points stands ninth. Gukesh rounds off the table with 2 points to his name.

In the challengers category, Divya Deshmukh of India split the points with Dane Jonas Buhl Bejjerie, while Spaniard Daniel Yuffa got the better of Dutchma Thomas Beerdesen. Hometown boy Vaclav Finek and Benjamin Gleruda of Hungary played out a draw, while India’s Suriya Shekhar Ganguly picked up a win over Jiner Zhu of China. Jachym Nemec got the better of Stepan Hrbek in the all-Czech contest.

Finek leads the callengers section with 5 points followed by Yuffa and Nemec with four points each in second and third respectively. Bjerre, Beerdsen, Gleruda, Divya and Hrbek are all on 3 and a half points each and occupy the positions 4 to 8. Ganguly with 2 and a half points and Zhu with 2 points to her name close out the table at the end of seven rounds of play.

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