The top trio in the Masters remains together
After the first game of the final phase, the leading trio in the Biel GMT-Masters remains close together: Saleh Salem and Vladimir Fedoseev are still tied on points, followed by Aravindh Chithambaram on one and a half points.
Saleh Salem's draw against Volodar Murzin was enough to defend his lead. Although Murzin was able to gain a slight advantage from the opening, he was unable to build on this to achieve the victory he needed. The 19-year-old Murzin has so far drawn all six classical games – not a matter of course given the quality of his opponents – but he lacks the points to finish at the top of the table and will probably have to settle for fourth place.
The clash between the two top seeds Aravindh and Fedoseev also failed to produce a winner. Aravindh managed to gain the upper hand several times, but was unable to capitalise on any of the situations to decide the match definitively, meaning that this game also ended in a draw.
GMT-Masters: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Saleh SALEM | 21 | 16 ½ | 2 | 6 | 24 ½ |
| 2 | GM Vladimir FEDOSEEV | 21 | 10 | 7 | 7 ½ | 24 ½ |
| 3 | GM ARAVINDH Chithambaram | 21 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| 4 | GM Volodar MURZIN | 21 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 18 |
| 5 | GM Radoslaw WOJTASZEK * | 20 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 6 | GM Frederik SVANE * | 20 | 4 ½ | 3 | 2 ½ | 10 |
* not qualified for final phase
Challengers: Theodorou outpaces pursuers
Nikolas Theodorou has taken an important step towards winning the Challengers tournament: he was the only player to win his game today, extending his lead to 5 points. The Greek played an even game against David Navara before the Czech, already a pawn down on the board, decided to exchange another pair of pawns in the rook endgame, which proved to be a decisive mistake. After 40 more moves, Theodorou finally managed to win the game after five and a half hours.
In the other game, Rinat Jumabayev and Aram Hakobyan fought a duel. Both would have had a motive to play for victory: Jumabayev to keep his chance of second place, Hakobyan to put pressure on leader Theodorou. In the game, Jumabayev was able to gain an effective advantage in the meantime, but was unable to hold on to it, so that the game ended after 36 moves by repetition.
GMT-Challengers: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Nikolas THEODOROU | 21 | 16 ½ | 8 | 6 | 30 ½ |
| 2 | GM Aram HAKOBYAN | 21 | 11 ½ | 7 | 7 | 25 ½ |
| 3 | GM Rinat JUMABAYEV | 21 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 17 |
| 4 | GM David NAVARA | 21 | 8 ½ | 2 | 5 | 15 ½ |
| 5 | GM MA Qun * | 20 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 6 | GM Daniel DARDHA * | 20 | 4 ½ | 4 | 5 | 13 ½ |
* not qualified for final phase
MTO: Karthikeyan and Karthik in the lead
The Indians continue to dominate at the top of the Masters Tournament MTO. As on the previous day, it is a duo that has a half-point lead over the closest rivals, although the composition of the duo has changed: GM Karthikeyan Murali has been joined by GM Karthik Venkataraman, who was able to defeat the previous co-leader GM Pranav Anand.
Interim Ranking MTO: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=8&SNode=S0&tno=1215291
Stable conditions in the ATO
The top of the Amateur Tournament ATO remains unchanged: However, Roman Tkhoruk scored a very easy point today: His opponent turned up too late for the game. Simon Künzli and Ding Shirui remain the closest pursuers.
Interim Ranking ATO: https://s2.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7&SNode=S0&tno=1215292
Second round of the week's tournaments
The second round of the two five-day week's tournaments was played on Tuesday.
Interim Ranking WT2: https://s2.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=2&SNode=S0&tno=1215329
Interim Ranking WT1: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=2&SNode=S0&tno=1215328
Outlook
Tomorrow's penultimate round in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon could already bring preliminary decisions, especially in the GMT-Challengers: Theodorou, playing with White, can decide the tournament in his favour with a win against Jumabayev. If his rival Hakobyan does not win, a draw will be enough for him. Hakobyan, for his part, will face Navara, who is still fighting for a place on the podium. In the GMT-Masters, Fedoseev plays Murzin and Salem meets Aravindh.
Beauty Award MTO, ATO
Every day, the best games from MTO and ATO are voted for on social media.
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Winner MTO RD6: Victor Lilliehook (2074) vs. Lancelot Gafner (1901) 1 – 0
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Winner ATO RD5: Erik Heitmann (1821) vs. Philippe Steiner (1864) 1 – 0
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157723948559844/
On the evening of each day of the Festival, the OC sends out a media report on the day's events.