The 59th edition of the Biel International Chess Festival came to a close on Friday with the prize-giving ceremonies. Levon Aronian, one of the very greatest names in world chess, went on to win the Masters Triathlon tournament on his first appearance in Biel. The Generations Challenge was won by Vaclav Finek.
The long-established Open Masters Tournament has crowned Christian Glöckler, aged just 14, as its winner! In the Amateur Tournament, meanwhile, Dimitrios Alexakis came out on top.
In total, this year’s Chess Festival attracted 820 participants to Biel. They came from a total of 50 different countries – a record in modern times!
During the closing ceremony on Friday morning in the lobby of the Biel Congress Centre, the four most prestigious sets of medals from the Biel Chess Festival were awarded: those from the Masters and Generations Challenge of the Grandmaster Triathlons, as well as those from the two open tournaments – one lasting ten days and the other nine – the Masters Open Tournament MTO and the Amateur Tournament ATO. In his opening remarks, Organising Committee President Peter Bohnenblust looked back on a successful 59th edition of the Biel Chess Festival, thanking the festival’s partners for their support and the participants for their performances at the board.
Speaking on behalf of the City of Biel, Municipal Councillor Lena Frank emphasised the festival’s importance as an event that brings people from all over the world together in Biel. Prabitha Urwyler, a member of the Central Board of the Swiss Chess Federation, highlighted the festival’s outstanding importance within the Swiss chess scene. Winner Levon Aronian also took the opportunity to address those present from the podium and to express his appreciation for the Biel Chess Festival as a place where, in a friendly atmosphere, he had been able to meet up again with old friends from the world of chess.
As the ceremony drew to a close and the event wound down with an aperitif, it was time to say goodbye, and the key figures from the Biel Congress Centre set off in all four directions.
Masters Triathlon: Aronian wins ahead of Süleymanli and Erdogmus
The situation was already looking good for Levon Aronian ahead of the final round: trailing by four points, his closest rival and today’s opponent, Aydin Süleymanli – playing with the black pieces – had to go for a win. That would have allowed him to overtake Aronian. However, the American played virtually flawlessly again, leaving Süleymanli with no opportunities, and the game ended in a draw by repetition of moves. Aronian proved to be rock-solid in classical chess, drawing all eight of his classical games. Combined with his outstanding performances in rapid (9/10 points) and blitz (8½/10 points), he finished with a total of 29½ points, thereby winning the 2026 Biel Masters Triathlon.
GMT-Masters: Final Ranking
Finek wins the Generations Challenge
Vaclav Finek celebrated a start-to-finish victory in the Generations Challenge. He took the lead on the very first day in the Rapid discipline and never relinquished it. Hot on his heels was Xiao Tong, against whom he still had to defend his lead. As in the Masters, the closest challenger would have needed a win today to catch the leader. However, Xiao could only manage a draw here too, meaning that Finek – at sixteen, the youngest of the teenagers in the Generations Challenge – secured victory. Finek performed strongly in all three disciplines of the triathlon, coming top in classical chess and rapid chess, and finishing just ½ point behind Xiao – the best in this discipline – in blitz chess. In the Czech player, the Challenge has a winner who has not yet been awarded the title of Grandmaster and is currently still ranked as an International Master (IM) – though he is likely to be able to call himself a GM very soon.
GMT-Generations Challenge: Final Ranking
Masters Open: Christian Glöckler ahead of Cao Qingfeng and Adam Kozak
The long-established Biel Masters Open torunament MTO was won by 14-year-old German IM Christian Glöckler with a convincing performance. This was not affected by the fact that his run of nine games without defeat came to an end in the final round: in the battle for the remaining places on the podium, GM Adam Kozak (HUN) defeated Glöckler in the final game, thereby securing third place in the tournament. Rounding off the podium in second place is IM Cao Qingfeng. Although overshadowed by Glöckler, the Chinese player, born in 2008, also put in an outstanding performance throughout the ten-round tournament, defeating the two top-seeded grandmasters, Ganguly Surya Shekhar and Peter Acs, in the process.
The highest-placed woman on 7th rank in the tournament was IM Savitha Shri B from India, who also happens to be a teenager; the highest-placed Swiss player was IM Fabian Bänziger, who finished in 17th place. A total of 94 players took part in this year’s Masters Tournament, representing 29 different nations.
Final Ranking MTO: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1451903.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=10&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0
ATO
FOLLOWS
Final Ranking ATO: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1451908.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0
TRI
FOLLOW
Final Ranking TRI: https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Tournaments/Open-Tournaments/Physicians-Spitalzentrum-Biel-Tournament.html
Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh wins the Fast Standard tournament
Also on Friday morning, the Fast Standard tournament, which was played over nine rounds during the second week, was decided. The tournament, contested by 50 players, was won by IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh. The Indian, who went into the tournament as the number 1 seed, recorded eight wins and lived up to his role as favourite. He conceded just one draw, against his compatriot Manukonda Arun, who finished the tournament in second place. The podium is completed by the Swiss player Alexan Floure.
Final Ranking WT: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1451997.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=9&fed=IND&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0
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. This is the last report of the 2026 festival.