Prague (Czech Republic), 24 February (H.S.): World Champion D. Gukesh leads India's charge at the Prague International Chess Festival starting Wednesday, hungry to end his 2026 title drought after early World Cup exit and middling Tata Steel Masters showing.

Second Seed Faces Keymer-Abdusattorov Firepower

India's top-rated player (live #10) enters the ultra-competitive Masters field as second seed behind Vincent Keymer (#4), with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (#5)—fresh off Tata Steel triumph—looming large. Gukesh recently overtook Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa as India's live #1 despite uneven form.

Defending champ Arvindh Chithambaram (7th seed) joins from Chennai, chasing 2700-rating return post-Tata Steel; challengers include Parham Maghsoodloo (Iran), Jorden van Foreest (Netherlands), Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzbekistan), David Anton Guijarro (Spain), David Navara (Czech).

Challengers: Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Divya Deshmukh vs top seeds Benjamin Gledura (Hungary), Jonas Buhl Bjerre (Denmark).

All eyes on Gukesh in the 9-round, 10-player showdown for confidence-boosting victory.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar