Masters: Fedoseev and Aravindh in the lead
After the first of the three triathlon disciplines, rapid chess, the two nominal favourites of the Masters, Vladimir Fedoseev and Aravindh Chithambaram, have already taken the lead in the table. The two had agreed a draw in their direct encounter, Aravindh also remained undefeated in all other games; Fedoseev, on the other hand, lost his game against Wojtaszek, but was able to win all three of his other games. Wojtaszek follows behind the leading duo, with Murzin a further point behind. However, the first round of classical chess, which follows tomorrow's rest day, could turn everything upside down again, as a win there will earn a full four points. This first round will see the two leaders, Fedoseev and Aravindh, go head-to-head.
GMT-Masters: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | GM Vladimir FEDOSEEV | 5 | 7 | 7 | ||
| 2 | GM ARAVINDH Chithambaram | 5 | 7 | 7 | ||
| 3 | GM Radoslaw WOJTASZEK | 5 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 4 | GM Volodar MURZIN | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 5 | GM Frederik SVANE | 5 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 6 | GM Saleh SALEM | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Challengers: Theodorou from flop to top
Yesterday last in the ACCENTUS Chess960 Rapid, today the strongest in the Rapid according to standard rules: Nikolas Theodorou has shown two different faces on his first two days at the Biel Chess Festival. Today he remained undefeated in five games and was victorious against Dardha, Jumabayev and Navara. Aram Hakobyan follows one point behind, also undefeated today, but with one more draw than the Greek.
GMT-Challengers: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | GM Nikolas THEODOROU | 5 | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2 | GM Aram HAKOBYAN | 5 | 7 | 7 | ||
| 3 | GM MA Qun | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 4 | GM Rinat JUMABAYEV | 5 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 5 | GM Daniel DARDHA | 5 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 6 | GM David NAVARA | 5 | 2 | 2 |
Benjamin Bok wins the Biel Rapid Tournament Parallel to the GMT, an open one-day rapid chess tournament was also held on Sunday at the Biel Congress Centre. 165 participants competed over nine rounds with a time limit of 15 minutes per person (plus 5 seconds increment per move). The tournament was won by GM Benjamin Bok, who was the only unbeaten player to achieve 8 out of 9 possible points. He was followed by GM Mikhail Kobalia, Chen Yuan, GM Mustafa Yilmaz and IM Banh Gia Huy, the only two players against whom Bok drew, with 7 ½ points each. Check Results
Retrospect: Opening and first decisions on Saturday For the next two weeks, the chess world will once again be looking to Biel: OC President Peter Bohnenblust opened the 58th consecutive Biel International Chess Festival on Saturday. In the afternoon, three competitions had already taken place – all in Fischer Random chess. Radoslaw Wojtaszek came out on top in the Accentus Chess960 Masters tournament and Rinat Jumabayev in the Challenger equivalent. The Swiss Rapid Fischer Chess Championship took place at the same time. The new Swiss champion in this discipline is Kaspar Kappeler.
Outlook: Start of the big open tournaments The open multi-day tournaments, which bring together players of different levels from all over the world in Biel, start at the beginning of the coming week. The Master Tournament MTO for players with an Elo rating of over 1900 starts on Monday and will be played over ten rounds until 24 July. Well over 100 people, including around a dozen grandmasters, have registered for the tournament, which is the second highest-class tournament in Biel after the Grandmaster Tournament GMT.
The FSC Free Style Chess Tournament, one of this year's innovations in Biel, also begins on Monday. Unlike most tournaments, the seven-round, seven-day tournament in Chess960 takes place in the mornings. One day later, on Tuesday, the Amateur Tournament ATO, the nine-round equivalent of the MTO for players with a rating of less than 2000 Elo, will start and is also expected to attract well over 100 participants. The twelve grandmasters from the Grandmaster Tournament GMT, on the other hand, will have their first rest day tomorrow, Monday. The more daring among them will seek distraction in another discipline: they will set themselves the task of finding their way out of an escape room. Will their chess skills help them to escape as quickly as possible?
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link.
On the evening of each day of the Festival, the OC sends out a media report on the day's events.