On Saturday the 52nd International Chess Festival Biel/Bienne started with its 52nd edition. In the afternoon 20 amateurs could compete with the International Champion (IM) Tania Sachdev from India. The simultaneous event took place in the Berner Kantonalbank building at the Zentralplatz in Biel. After four hours, only one amateur (Ruedli Kälberer from Biel/Bienne) was able to achieve a draw.
The opening ceremony took place in the presence of the Council of States Hans Stöckli and various Grand Councilors. The numerous attendees and players of the Grand Master Tournament were welcomed by OC President Peter Bohnenblust, Government Councillor Christoph Neuhaus and Biel Leonhard Cadetg's Vice-Chairman of the City Council. The draw for the starting number of the Grand Master Tournament took place under the direction of the main referee and resulted in the pairings for this year's new format of a triathlon with the three different time formats: classical reflection time, rapid and blitz.
Sunday was dominated by rapid chess (cadence of 15 minutes per game plus 5 seconds extra per move).
In the Rapid of the Grandmaster Tournament the No. 4 of the seed list and also the most experienced player Peter Leko from Hungary was able to assert himself somewhat surprisingly with 10.0 points from 7 games (2-point rule for victory). Nico Georgiadis could reach the 6th intermediate place with one final sprint and two wins and is only one point behind a wide midfield. Sebastian Bogner is on the 8th place with three points.
In the normal Rapid a new participant record could be achieved with 182 participants. The tournament with 9 rounds was won by GM Antipov Mikhail from Russia as the only player with 8.0 points from 9 games. The tournament is also considered to be the Swiss championship in rapid chess. The new Swiss champion with 6.5 points is GM Joe Gallagher. IM Roland Ekstroem also landed on the podium with 6.5 points and IM Gabriel Gähwiler with 6.0 points.
Monday is marked by the start of the three tournaments with a classical cooling-off period. At the Grandmaster Tournament (GMT) the local representative Nico Georgiadis will have to start against No.1 of the seed list Sam Shankland from the United States. The duel between the two youngsters of the tournament, 18-year-old Parham Maghsoodloo from Iran and 14-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan, also promises to be exciting.
Pairings of the 1st round classic chess from 22.7.2019:
|
GM Peter Leko (HUN, Elo 2674) |
- |
Sebastian Bogner (GER, Elo 2584) |
|
Nico Georgiadis (SUI, Elo 2514) |
- |
Sam Shankland (USA, Elo 2713) |
|
Santosh Vidit (IND, Elo 2703) |
- |
Jorge Cori (PER, Elo 2686) |
|
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (USB, 2598) |
- |
Parham Maghsoodloo (IRN, Elo 2656) |
The two open tournaments, the Master Tournament (MTO) and the Main Tournament (ATO), also start and more than 300 players from all over the world are expected.
All games can be watched from 14h with free access in the Kongresshaus. The games of the Grand Master Tournament (with live commentary), the first 20 boards of the Master Tournament as well as the first four boards of the general tournament can be followed directly on the bielchessfestival.ch homepage.
Results:
Ranking Grand Master Tournament:
|
Rank |
Name |
Games |
Points Classic |
Points Rapid |
Points Blitz |
Total Points |
|
1 |
GM Peter Leko |
7 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
|
2 |
GM Sam Shankland |
7 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
|
3 |
GM Parham Maghsoodloo |
7 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
|
GM Santosh Vidit |
7 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
5 |
GM Jorge Cori |
7 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
|
6 |
GM Nico Georgiadis |
7 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
|
7 |
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
7 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
5 |
|
8 |
GM Sebastian Bogner |
7 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
Ranking Rapid Tournament:
see http://chess-results.com/tnr457125.aspxlan=0&art=1&rd=9=0&art=1&rd=9
Note: Current photos of the chess festival are available under the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157709757960902/
These pictures may be used freely for reporting on the International Chess Festival Biel (applies to online and daily newspapers). For high-resolution pictures or other applications please contact us at media@bielchessfestival.ch Please mention the photographer.