On Monday, the participants in the two triathlons had their second rest day. But the festival is in full swing: rounds were played in a total of four open tournaments. In the Masters Open Tournament, Christian Glöckler beat Savitha Shri B in today’s top-of-the-table clash between the two International Masters and is now the sole leader.
The sixth round of the Amateurs Open tournament took place, in which Thomas Jahn secured his sixth victory; the first rounds of the ‘Fast Standard’ and the Biel Hospital Centre Total Chess tournaments also took place.
A fourteen-year-old at the top of the Masters Open
Fourteen-year-old German Christian Glöckler is the sole leader of the Masters Open in Biel after the seventh round. In the top-of-the-table clash between the two players, who were previously tied on points with Savitha Shri B, who is also just 19, it looked in theory as though the game would end in a draw. However, in the complex endgame, in which Glöckler played with a rook, bishop and three pawns against Savitha’s lone queen, the Indian player made a mistake on move 66, after which Glöckler managed to play his pieces to victory.
Glöckler’s closest challengers are now Grandmasters Peter Acs, Gopal G.N. and Dimitris Alexakis, as well as IM Cao Qingfeng, who are all on 5½ points. IM Fabian Bänziger remains the top Swiss player on 5 points.
Interim Ranking MTO: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1451903.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0
Thomas Jahn remains at the top of the Amateurs Tournament
Thomas Jahn remains unbeaten after the sixth round. He has also secured victory in his sixth game in the Amateurs Tournament, today against Fabrice Aegerter. Dimitrios Alexakis remains the only challenger on half a point behind. Two young players are on 5 points: WCM Abigail Zhou from the USA, born in 2016, and Gian Pinelli from Switzerland, born in 2011.
Interim Ranking ATO: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1451908.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0
Kick-off for the Biel Hospital Centre Total Chess
The triathlon format, which has been played at the Grand Masters Invitational Tournament in Biel since 2019, is now also on the programme as an open tournament. A rapid game, a blitz game and, to round off the morning, a classical game (fast standard). Each game is played against the same opponent and can be played in the new ‘Spitalzentrum Biel Total Chess’ tournament. The first round of this tournament took place today in the presence of Philippe Plodeck, CEO of the Biel Hospital Centre, who made the tournament’s opening move.
Interim Ranking TRI: https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Tournaments/Open-Tournaments/Physicians-Spitalzentrum-Biel-Tournament.html
The first two rounds of the Fast Standard tournament
The Fast Standard tournament also began on Monday morning. This tournament is limited to one week and is aimed at players who do not have the time to take part in the major open tournaments, the MTO and ATO. From Monday to Thursday, one game will be played each day in the morning and one in the afternoon under Fast Standard rules, i.e. one hour’s thinking time plus 30 seconds per move. The ninth and final round will take place on Friday morning.
Interim Ranking WT1: https://s2.chess-results.com/tnr1451997.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=2&turdet=YES&SNode=S0
Outlook: The final phase begins with Lê v Aronian
At the Biel Triathlons, the decisive matches for the tournament title begin on Tuesday, played as classical chess with a long time control. In the Masters, the tournament kicks off with a clash between the two top players according to the Elo rating. Lê Quang Liêm, who won the Biel tournament in 2022, 2023 and 2024, faces the former world number two, Levon Aronian. If Lê is to add another victory in Biel to his list of achievements, he must aim for a win in this match, which would reduce his deficit behind leader Aronian to 1½ points. In the second match of the day, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus faces Aydin Süleymanli.
In the Generations Challenge, Vaclav Finek takes on Marco Materia. To keep the tension alive in this tournament, Materia must play to win here. If the Frenchman loses, winning the tournament will be out of the question for him.
The next rounds of the Fast Standard Week Tournament and the Biel Hospital Centre Total Chess will take place in the morning, followed in the afternoon by round eight of the Masters Tournament MTO and round seven of the Amateurs Tournament ATO.
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157725129451868/
On the evening of each day of the Festival, the OC sends out a media report on the day's events.