India

Born on August 10, 2005, in Chennai

Elo std: 2757
Rapid: 2709
Blitz: 2680

Pragg', who qualified for the Candidates Tournament in April, does us the honor of coming to Biel in an attempt to bring India back to the top of the triathlon. After Vidit won the first edition in 2019, Harikrishna (2020 –  2^nd), Nihal Sarin (2021 – 3^rd), Gukesh (2022 – 3^rd), and Erigaisi (2023 – 4^th) failed to rise to the highest level of this original competition. The top seed in the 2024 GMT Masters should have taken part already in 2021, but his excellent performance in the World Cup prevented him from doing so at the last moment.

Since 2020, the 2013 World Blitz Champion has devoted himself almost exclusively to his coaching career in the USA and… to the Biel Chess Triathlon, of which he has been the winner for the last two years. As usual, you won't see him in any face-to-face tournaments before the Chess Festival beside the lake of Biel – at most, he hints at the many facets of his talent in online rapid tournaments. Will this strategy pay off again? That's all we wish for the only GMT Masters player born in the last century!

The young German is back for the fifth time in a row to try his luck in the Triathlon, where he was in first place just before the end of last year before stumbling in the final round when a draw would have been enough to take the title from Le Quang Liem. We can expect the man who is by far the most experienced player in the triathlon formula to be in the running again this year to become King of Biel. That would be the best response he could give to his in-extremis eviction from the 2024 Grand Chess Tour!

USA

Born on October 01, 1991, Berkeley

Elo std: 2683
Rapid: 2622
Blitz: 2648

Sam Shankland returns to the triathlon, replacing the Uzbek Sindarov at the last minute. Five years ago, the fun-loving Californian, who loves the language of Molière, finished second behind India's Vidit in the first edition of the triathlon. Although he barely had time to prepare, as his commitment was only finalized five days before the start of the tournament (!), at least he can draw on his experience in 2019.  

Armenia

Following in the footsteps of his famous compatriot Aronian, who has since moved to the US Federation, Martirosyan is now his country's number 1. Feared even by the best in rapid and blitz time controls, he also knows how to unsettle them in classical, as Mamedyarov found out, for example, when he lost to the fearless Armenian in the 3rd round of the 2021 World Cup. So it could be that the triathlon formula suits him particularly well!?

At 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days, the American of Indian descent made headlines in July 2021 when he became the youngest GM of all time. Mishra, who started playing chess before age three and was kept away from smartphones for a long time, has a great opportunity this summer to take a big step in his career if he pulls off the big surprise of checkmating his prestigious opponents at the GMT Masters!