Gata Kamsky wins the 54th Biel Chess Festival!

With an unchallenged win against Keymer, Gata Kamsky secured victory at the Biel Chess Festival 2021. The American was convincing as the best player in the classical games and the rapid during the 12 days of Biel and was thus able to compensate for his weakness in the blitz without any problems. He is followed in second place by Kirill Alekseenko, with Indian young star Nihal Sarin in third. The top-class Master Tournament was won by Emirati Salem Saleh, ahead of Karthikeyan Murali from India, who tied on points. Hungarian Tamás Bánusz placed third.

In 1993, Gata Kamsky reached third place at the Interzone Tournament in Biel as a 19-year-old. Thanks to this he qualified for the Candidates Tournament 1994/95, which he won and he was thus allowed to compete against Anatoly Karpov for the World Championship title in 1996. Although he lost this series, the tournament in Biel was the beginning of his runner-up title. Now, 28 years later, Kamsky has come full circle by winning the Biel Chess Festival 2021!

Second place goes to Kirill Alekseenko, who had to settle for a draw against Alan Pichot today and thus could no longer threaten Kamsky. The Russian had to earn his second place hard: No other player spent more time at the board and played more moves in the classical games of the Grandmaster Triathlon. Alekseenko needed a total of 37 hours and 27 minutes for the seven games!

Nihal Sarin finished the tournament in third place. The young Indian star, who replaced his compatriot Praggnanandhaa who was still playing at the World Cup in Sotchi, showed excellent games in blitz and rapid chess. In the classical games, after a defeat in the first round, he drew all the following games, which ultimately earned him the third place.

GMT: Final Ranking

Rank	Name	Country	Games	Classic	Rapid	Blitz	TOTAL
1	GM Gata Kamsky	USA	28	18	11	6	35
2	GM Kirill Alekseenko	RUS	28	14	8	9	31
3	GM Nihal Sarin	IND	28	9	10	9½	28½
4	GM Maxime Lagarde	FRA	28	10	9	7	26
5	GM Boris Gelfand	ISR	28	15	4	7	26
6	GM Vincent Keymer	GER	28	12½	6	7	25½
7	GM Alan Pichot	ARG	28	10	5	6½	21½
8	GM Noël Studer	SUI	28	8½	3	4	15½

 

Master Tournament: Salem Saleh surpasses Karthikeyan

1. Salem Saleh (UAE)
2. Karthikeyan Murali (IND)
3. Tamás Bánusz (HUN)

Thanks to today's win over Pavel Eljanov, Salem Saleh was able to overtake Karthikeyan Murali, who had been leading for four rounds, to secure victory in the 2021 Master Tournament MTO. The Emirati, who was seeded number 1, thus finally lived up to his role as favourite. He is followed by Karthikeyan Murali, who started the tournament as number 12, and the Hungarian Tamás Bánusz on the other places of the podium. As the best Swiss, Fabian Bänziger finished the tournament in 38th place.

Ranking: https://chess-results.com/tnr569013.aspx?lan=0&art=1&rd=9&flag=30

Master Tournament (Women): Vaishali prevails

1. Vaishali (IND)
2. Jovana Eric (SRB)
3. Tijana Blagojević (SRB)

India's Vaishali proved to be the best player among the ten women participating in the MTO - thanks to this success in Biel, she has now reached the standard for the title of International Master (IM)! However, the field of participants proved to be extremely balanced: six other women players also achieved 4.5 points in the overall ranking, with the two Serbians Jovana Eric and Tijana Blagojević coming second and third. Obviously, the prize money for the best female players, which thanks to the support of FIDE was significantly increased, provided additional motivation!

Ranking: https://chess-results.com/tnr569013.aspx?lan=0&art=1&rd=9&flag=30

Amateur Tournament: Youth triumphs

1. Wissam Pheng (FRA)
2. Grégoire Tissier (SUI)
3. Neeraj Harish (USA)

The first places in the Amateur Tournament ATO were occupied by young players this year: The two students of the EPF Lausanne Wissam Pheng and Grégoire Tissier took first and second place, third was the only 11-year-old (!) Neeraj Harish from the USA.

Ranking: https://chess-results.com/tnr569014.aspx?lan=0&art=1&rd=9&flag=30

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