Prague Chess: Praggnanandhaa beats Keymar; shares joint lead with Aravindh

India's Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu got the better of Vincent Keymar to register his second successive win of the 2025 Prague Chess Festival in the Masters section on Saturday.

Praggnanandhaa, playing with the black pieces, opted for the French Defence variation. The move seemed to have backfired as he found himself in an inferior position right out of the opening.

But it was not an easy position for white to pounce on without any complications and Keymar finally erred unable to break through the Indian's defence.

Both the players were in time trouble before the 40th move was reached and Keymar eventually resigned four moves later, helping Praggnanandhaa climb to the joint lead with 3 points in four games.

The other Indian in contention in the Masters section, Aravindh Chithambaram, meanwhile played out a draw with the white pieces against Sam Shankland.

Aravindh, who was in the lead coming into this round of play, had a slightly unpleasant position in the endgame but managed to salvage half-a-point of out it.

Both the Indians are now in the joint lead with 3 points out of a possible four. They are a full point clear of rivals Keymar, Liem Le, Anish Giri, and Shankland – all of whom have two points.

Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh will go up against each other on the fifth round on Sunday.

Divya holds for a draw

Elsewhere in the Challengers section, India's IM Divya Deshmukh held Chinese GM Ma Qun for a draw with the white pieces.

Deshmukh, who came into the match following a loss in the previous round, held her own in the Ruy Lopez opening.

There were no real complications for either sides throughout the match and they eventually settled for a draw after 39 moves following a three-fold repetition.

Deshmukh currently has 1.5 points after four rounds.