The 55th Biel Festival started with a fantastic show thanks to the ACCENTUS Chess 960 format: with only 5 draws out of 28 games! The Indian prodigy Gukesh looked set to win, with 3/3 against Keymer, Abdusattorov and Yu Yangyi! But he finished with a terrible 0.5/4, leaving him at only half of the available points: It was two of his victims, Vincent Keymer and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who won the tournament with 5 points out of 7! Le Quang Liem completed the podium with 4.5 points. Of note are the weak performances of Naiditsch (1,5/7) and Yu Yangyi, who, after yesterday’s simultaneous, could only obtain a small point on seven, finishing last.
It is said that chess 960, where the preparation of the openings is not taken into account, is the best indicator to show the form of the players, their reflexes, even their talent. Will the rest of the triathlon validate this thesis?
ACCENTUS Chess 960: Final Ranking
|
Rank |
Name |
Country |
Games |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
GM Vincent KEYMER |
GER |
7 |
5 |
|
2 |
GM Nodirbek ABDUSATTOROV |
UZB |
7 |
5 |
|
3 |
GM LÊ Quang Liêm |
VIE |
7 |
4½ |
|
4 |
GM Salem Saleh |
UAE |
7 |
4 |
|
5 |
GM Gata KAMSKY |
USA |
7 |
3½ |
|
6 |
GM Dommaraju GUKESH |
IND |
7 |
3½ |
|
7 |
GM Arkadij NAIDITSCH |
AZE |
7 |
1½ |
|
8 |
GM YU Yangyi |
CHN |
7 |
1 |
* Ranking according to the following criterion: Keymer 2 wins with black, Abdusattorov 1 win with black.
Kosteniuk Swiss Champion in Rapid Chess960!
An open tournament was also held today: 33 people dueled for the Swiss championship title in rapid Chess 960 in parallel to the participants of the GMT in Biel.
The new Swiss Champion in this discipline is Alexandra Kosteniuk, with 5 out of 7 possible points. A woman winning a mixed national title, a great sign in the "Year of the Women in Chess" declared by FIDE!
Ranked ahead of Kosteniuk as international participants, Ganguly Surya (IND) with 6.5 out of 7, Sethuraman S.P. (IND, 5.5/7) and Vera Nebolsina (FRA, 5.5/7) make up the podium.
Outlook: 3 x Rapid on Tuesday
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the two closed multi-day tournaments will begin with their first discipline: both in the Grandmaster Triathlon Tournament (GMT) of the eight invited Grandmasters, as well as the eight ladies of the ACCENTUS Quadriathlon (DAQ), will compete in Rapid Chess. At the same time, the open rapid tournament (QRT) with about 100 participants will also take place.
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157720866132786/