On Saturday afternoon, the moment had arrived: Organising Committee President Peter Bohnenblust opened this year’s Biel Chess Festival at the Biel Congress Centre. With welcoming addresses from Anne Speiser-Niess, President of the Bern Grand Council, and Anna Tanner, a member of the Biel Municipal Council, the opening ceremony of this long-standing event took place – for the 59th time in a row.
To kick things off, the ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament was held for participants in the Masters and Generations Challenge. In the Masters section, Matthias Blübaum came out on top in a closely fought tournament, followed by Aydin Süleymanli, who was level on points. Among the Generations Challengers, 17-year-old Marco Materia claimed victory.
At the same time, Fischer Random (Chess960) was also being played in the hall: the Swiss Championship (in rapid cadence) took place. The new Swiss champion is WGM Ghazal Hakimifard.