On March 6, 2026, the Prague Masters ended with Nodirbek Abdusattorov winning his second supertournament in 30 days.
One floor below, in the same hotel, the Prague Challengers ended with a 16-year-old Czech IM winning a nine-round tournament against a field where every opponent was a Grandmaster or close to it.
Václav Fínek, born January 16, 2010, finished the Prague International Chess Festival 2026 Challengers with 6.5/9. He entered the tournament rated 2538, lower than seven of the nine players he faced. He led from round three onward. He held off a late charge from Daniil Yuffa in rounds seven and eight to win clear first.
The Prague Chess Festival 2026 ended with two dominant winners in two sections. One of them is the world number 5. The other is 16 years old and plays for the Czech Republic.
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Prague Challengers 2026 Final Standings
| Rank | Player | Country | Title | Rating | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Václav Fínek | Czech Republic | IM | 2538 | 6.5/9 |
| 2 | Daniil Yuffa | Spain | GM | 2604 | 6/9 |
| 3 | Divya Deshmukh | India | GM | 2497 | 5/9 |
| 4 | Benjamin Gledura | Hungary | GM | 2652 | 4.5/9 |
| 5 | Jonas Buhl Bjerre | Denmark | GM | 2629 | 4.5/9 |
| 6 | Jachym Nemec | Czech Republic | IM | 2466 | 4.5/9 |
| 7 | Thomas Beerdsen | Netherlands | GM | 2525 | 4/9 |
| 8 | Surya Shekhar Ganguly | India | GM | 2568 | 4/9 |
| 9 | Stepan Hrbek | Czech Republic | IM | 2463 | 3.5/9 |
| 10 | Jiner Zhu | China | GM | 2578 | 2.5/9 |
The top seed by rating was Benjamin Gledura at 2652. He finished fourth. The winner was rated 2538.
Who Is Václav Fínek?
Václav Fínek was born on January 16, 2010 in the Czech Republic. He is an International Master, not yet a Grandmaster. His classical FIDE rating entering the tournament was 2538.
The Challengers field had players rated up to 2652. Fínek was below most of them. He won anyway, finishing a full half-point ahead of Yuffa, who is a GM rated 2604 and finished second.
This was not his first time at the Prague Challengers. He played in the 2023 edition as the lowest seed and beat three Grandmasters. He then won the Czech Open 2024, defeating Grandmaster Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu in the final round to take the title. In September 2024, he won the European Youth Under-14 Championship with 8/9.
Czech chess coaches have described him as the biggest talent in the country. The comparison made most often is to David Navara, the Czech Grandmaster who has been the country’s top player for two decades.
“Václav is the most naturally gifted Czech junior I have seen in a generation. What he did in Prague — leading a GM field from round three at age 16 — is something we have not seen from a Czech player before.” — Jan Jelínek, Head of Youth Development, Czech Chess Federation
The Prague Challengers 2026 win at age 16 is the strongest result of his career so far, and the strongest result by any Czech junior in this event’s history.
How Fínek Won It
Fínek took the lead in round three and held it for the rest of the tournament. That is not a typical trajectory for young players in competitive round-robins, where experienced GMs have the preparation depth and composure to catch early leaders in the final rounds.
What Fínek had was an unusual combination: tactical sharpness to create winning chances early in games, plus the endgame resilience to defend when opponents pushed back.
In round six, he was in a near-impossible position against top seed Gledura (2652) and survived a 134-move game. That draw kept his lead intact. Players who escape positions like that tend to carry momentum into the next round rather than losing confidence.
In round seven, he held his lead as Yuffa and Nemec won their games. In round eight, Yuffa won again and closed to within half a point. Fínek went into the final round with the white pieces against Thomas Beerdsen, needing to not lose. He won, taking the title to 6.5/9.
The full-point gap in his lead never completely closed. He was in front from round three to the end.
India’s Result: Divya 3rd, Ganguly 8th
India had two players in the Prague Challengers 2026 field.
Divya Deshmukh finished third with 5/9. Divya is 20 years old, India’s Women’s World Cup 2025 champion, and a Grandmaster. She is heading to the Women’s Candidates Tournament 2026 in Larnaca, Cyprus, starting March 28. A third-place finish in the Challengers, behind only Fínek and Yuffa, is a strong result heading into her first Candidates appearance.
Divya Deshmukh: Women’s World Cup champion and Women’s Candidates 2026 participant.
Surya Shekhar Ganguly finished eighth with 4/9. Ganguly is one of India’s most experienced players, a former national coach, and a longtime figure in Indian chess development. At 2568, he was the second-highest rated Indian in the field. The tournament was difficult, but his participation adds the context of how far India’s chess ecosystem has come: a player of Ganguly’s stature is competing in the Challengers while his younger compatriots are competing in supertournaments.
The Prague 2026 Full Picture
The Prague International Chess Festival 2026 ran two main sections simultaneously, at the same hotel, in the same week:
Masters: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (world number 5, Uzbekistan) won with 6/9, his second supertournament title in 30 days after Tata Steel 2026. Gukesh finished last.
Challengers: Václav Fínek (IM, Czech Republic, born 2010) won with 6.5/9, beating a field of GMs including the top seed.
Both sections ended March 6. Both had clear winners who held their leads for most of the tournament. Both produced stories that will be referenced when the next Prague festival comes around.
See the full Prague Masters 2026 final standings.
What Comes Next
Václav Fínek’s Grandmaster title campaign will be the next storyline to follow in Czech chess. He has the results to earn GM norms; the Prague Challengers win, combined with his Czech Open 2024 title and his European Youth championship, establishes a performance trajectory that is consistent with GM-level play.
Whether he gets the norms in 2026 or 2027, the timeline is short. He is 16.
Divya Deshmukh leaves Prague and heads to Cyprus. The Women’s Candidates begins March 28, three weeks after Prague concluded. Her Challengers result suggests she is in form.
“Finishing third in Prague, ahead of stronger-rated GMs, gives Divya exactly the kind of confidence boost you want going into a Candidates. She showed she can compete in a tough field at classical time controls.” — Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Indian GM and former National Team Coach
Follow Prague Chess Results on Shatranj Live
Shatranj Live tracks all FIDE supertournaments with live standings and round-by-round results updated as games conclude.
- FIDE top-100 player profiles and live ratings on Shatranj Live
- Václav Fínek’s official FIDE profile and rating history
- Full Prague Challengers 2026 standings on Liquipedia
The Prague Chess Festival 2026 is over. One section was won by the world number 5. The other was won by someone who was not yet born when most of his opponents became Grandmasters.
