Prague, Feb 26: On a high after his triumph at Tata Steel Masters, Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa got a good draw and will take on local star David Navara in the first round of the Prague Masters here.
Starting as the second seed, Praggnanandhaa will have his task cut out with the white pieces against Navara, who has been around for a long time as one of the top European players.
Praggnanandhaa will have five games as white in the 10-players 9-rounds tournament which adds to his advantage of being one of the top favourites to annex the crown.
The other Indian in the fray, Aravindh Chithambaram, will start his campaign against another local player, Nguyen Thai Dai Van, who impressed everyone recently by winning the challengers section of the Tata Steel tournament and qualified for the premium event in 2026.
In other games of the opening round, top seed Wei Yi of China will have black pieces against German Vincent Keymer, Dutch Anish Giri will also start as black against Le Quang Leim of Vietnam, while American Sam Shankland will have the slightly favourable colour against 16-year-old Turkish talent Gurel Ediz.
Praggnanandhaa will have white games against Dai Van, Aravindh, Wei Yi and Quang Leim as the tournament progresses. The Indian has a last round game with Giri, who is also tipped for a podium finish and is someone who can turn things around.
Aravindh could well be the dark horse of the tournament given his ability to calculate deep and insatiable hunger for success. Like Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh also has five games as white in the tournament but needs to get in to the groove early.
Wei Yi has been maintaining himself in the top 10 of the world rankings and can be a very hard nut to crack. What makes him a feared opponent is his ability to play dynamic chess at the highest level when the opportunity demands.
In the challengers’ section Divya Deshmukh is the lone Indian participant and will face Ivan Salgado Lopez of Spain. Divya had a forgettable Tata Steel challengers and will like to recover some of the lost ground here. (PTI)
Pairings round 1:
Vincent Keymer (Ger) vs Wei Yi (Chn); Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind) vs Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze); Sam Shankland (Usa) vs Gurel Ediz (Tur); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) vs David Navara (Cze); Le Quang Leim (Vie) vs Anish Giri (Ned).
