Harikrishna wins Biel Chess960

The 53rd edition of the Biel International Chess Festival was opened today with the ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament. This competition was won by GM Pentala Harikrishna, ahead of the surprise of the day, young German GM Vincent Keymer. Today also gave the Grandmasters the first opportunity to familiarize themselves with the specific protection measures.

In the presence of Christoph Neuhaus, member of the executive council of the canton of Berne, and Dr. William Wirth, representative of longtime sponsor ACCENTUS, the 53rd International Chess Festival Biel has started today. In his speech Dr. William Wirth reflected on whether chess is most likely to be a sport, art or science. He was looking forward to another promising competition full of attractive games.

Success for Pentala Harikrishna

Thanks to the last-minute arrival of Alexander Donchenko (Germany), who replaced Salem Saleh who was unable to leave the United Arab Emirates, today's ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament could take place as planned with eight participants. With 5.5 out of 7 points and no defeat, the Indian Grand Master Pentala Harikrishna won the competition. He benefited from the stumble of Radoslaw Wojtaszek from Poland, who was previously on a par with him and surprisingly lost to local hero Noël Studer in the last round. An exclamation mark was set by the only 15 year old German Vincent Keymer, who after a strong performance finished today's Fischer random chess tournament in second place.

Final standings ACCENTUS Chess 960

		Name	Elo	Country	Pt.
1	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2690	IND	5,5
2	GM	Keymer Vincent	2487	GER	5,0
3	GM	Wojtaszek Radoslaw	2662	POL	4,5
4	GM	Adams Michael	2689	ENG	3,5
5	GM	Donchenko Alexander	2508	GER	3,5
6	GM	Anton Guijarro David	2718	ESP	3,0
7	GM	Édouard Romain	2654	FRA	2,0
8	GM	Studer Noël	2437	SUI	1,0

Protection concept

In view of the Corona pandemic, the 53rd Biel International Chess Festival is taking place under a distinct protection concept. For example, the participating grandmasters are separated from each other on their boards by a Plexiglas panel and after each game the pieces, chess clocks and the board are being disinfected. Today's ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament provided an opportunity to familiarize with these circumstances. At the end of the day, the organizers and players were able to make the pleasing observation that these did not distort the spirit of the game.

Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/albums/with/72157715133231783