Prague Masters: Robson Ties For First

Ray Robson before the start of the last round (photo courtesy Petr Vrabec/Prague Chess Festival)

Czech-mate (sorry). At this year’s Prague Chess Festival, American GM Ray Robson tied for first in the Masters section alongside Romanian GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac. Robson and Deac both finished with 5½/9 scores at the end of the ten-player Round Robin.

Robson’s tournament started off hot when he won his third round against legendary Israeli GM Boris Gelfand with a near-novelty in the Four Knights Sicilian.

Clearly, Robson had done his homework in this line, jumping on an opportunity to repeat it just two days later against Chinese GM Wang Hao. Again, Robson’s understanding of the position brought home a full point:

While Deac earned his “plus-two” score in the more civilized fashion (two wins, seven draws), Robson had a more adventurous event with three wins and a loss to none other than Deac!

In order to stay atop the standings, then, Robson would need one more decisive result. Playing the young German GM Vincent Keymer in the seventh round, the notorious tactician out-dueled Keymer in a complicated middlegame.

Robson then held on to his lead by drawing his last two games, including one against his countryman GM Sam Shankland in the last round. Shankland had a lackluster event, drawing all his games. Both Shankland and Robson are off to Baku, Azerbaijan, next month for the 2023 FIDE World Chess Cup.