The focus is on the Master Tournament MTO, which traditionally has a strong and international mix in Biel and thus offers aspiring players the opportunity to acquire standards for a higher title. This year, too, about two thirds of the participants are already title holders, including four grandmasters with over 2600 Elo: Bu (China, 2676), Nguyen (Vietnam, 2645), Aryan (Indian, 2626) and Yuffa (Spain, 2603). These, as well as the vast majority of the other favoured players, did not show any sign of weakness, as they each met lower-ranked opponents in the first round. The exception was Hungarian GM Viktor Erdös, who had to settle for a draw as the only of the grandmasters.
Facts and figures about the open tournaments
The Biel Master Tournament MTO for players with a rating of over 2050 Elo (Swiss juniors: 2000 Elo) once again has a strong field of participants. Of the 98 registered participants, no fewer than 64 hold a title, eleven of them a grandmaster title. The best represented chess players are from India with 17 participants, followed by 15 Germans, 13 from Switzerland and 9 from China.
Starting list MTO: https://chess-results.com/tnr764425.aspx?lan=1
The Main Tournament HTO, for ambitious players over 1700 Elo, has 43 entrants. Around half of them are from Switzerland.
Starting list HTO: https://chess-results.com/tnr764427.aspx?lan=1
The General Tournament ATO, which is open regardless of ones Elo number, is contested by 77 participants, 60 of them from Switzerland.
Starting list ATO: https://chess-results.com/tnr764428.aspx?lan=1
Outlook: The China vs. India duel
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Grandmaster Triathlon starts into the supreme discipline: the first round of classical chess is on the agenda. Compared to last year, the organisers have decided to extend the time limit even further, so that it is now the same as in games for the world championship title. In the top match of the round, the representatives of the two Asian giants China and India will meet: top seed Yu Yangyi and the nominal No.3 of the tournament, Arjun Erigaisi. While the Chinese player has so far impressed with his victory in the ACCENTUS Chess960 and 3rd place in the Rapid games, the Indian player still fell short of expectations in Biel. Will that change tomorrow?
The open tournaments MTO, HTO and ATO go into their second round tomorrow.
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157721909678547/
On the evening of each day of the Festival, the OC sends out a media report on the day's events.