In the Grandmaster Tournament GMT, leader Lê Quang fell to Gukesh with White! Like his compatriots in the MTO, the Indian player is merciless in the GMT. He also takes the lead in the tournament, but it is still very close. The other win of the day was for Salem - White's first win in the GMT only in round 3! He won over Kamsky, who took a wrong turn in a theoretically equal rock end game. So far, the young Gukesh is clearly the most convincing player in the GMT. But who will benefit from the blitz section (14 games at the rate of 3'+2'')? The suspense remains!
GMT: Interim Ranking
|
Rank |
Name |
Federation |
Games |
Classic |
Rapid |
Blitz |
TOTAL |
|
1 |
GM Dommaraju GUKESH |
IND |
10 |
9½ |
7 |
|
16½ |
|
2 |
GM Quang Liêm LÊ |
VIE |
10 |
4 |
11 |
|
15 |
|
3 |
GM Andrey ESIPENKO |
FIDE |
10 |
4½ |
10 |
|
14½ |
|
4 |
GM Arkadij NAIDITSCH |
AZE |
10 |
7 |
6 |
|
13 |
|
5 |
GM Saleh SALEM |
UAE |
10 |
5½ |
7 |
|
12½ |
|
6 |
GM Nodirbek ABDUSATTOROV |
UZB |
10 |
1½ |
9 |
|
10½ |
|
7 |
GM Vincent KEYMER |
GER |
10 |
4½ |
5 |
|
9½ |
|
8 |
GM Gata KAMSKY |
USA |
10 |
5½ |
1 |
|
6½ |
DAQ: Zhuang takes over from Cornileau
In the DAQ, the leader Juliette Cornileau could not win, while Yongzhe Zhuang did the job by winning her game against Cecilia Keymer. Swiss Zhuang took the lead of the tournament with 23 points, ahead of Juliette Cornileau, who is still in ambush, with 21 points. Gohar Tamrazyan beats Iris Ciarletta and joins her in third place, ex-aequo with 16 points. Tomorrow's blitz should once again play a decisive role, with Juliette Cornileau no doubt keen to take her revenge on the new leader!
MTO: Visakh alone in the lead
In the Master Tournament MTO, the Indians continue to reign, this time without a European victims, as the Indians, who have taken control of the tournament, mostly played amongst themselves! At Table 1, it was once again the lower ranked player who prevailed, with Visakh (2503) winning with Black against his compatriot Puranik (2612). With table 2 ending in a draw, Visakh is now alone with 4 out of 4, chased by 7 players (including 5 Indians!) at 3.5 points. Overall, the best ranked players who had stumbled in the previous rounds made up for it today.
Other tournaments
In the Amateur Torunament ATO, Mattheo Sala (1708) won again against Bader Hamar (1918). Mesut Altok (1890) also did well, beating Majed Al Helaoy (2015). There are 5 players left with 4 points out of 4!
The Physicians Hirslanden Clinik Linde Tournament also took place today. Christoph Kuert won, ahead of Christian Issler and Christan Graber.
Outlook: Tomorrow will be hectic
Tomorrow will be hectic both on the stages, where the GMT and DAQ participants will duel, and downstairs in the hall: Sunday is dedicated to blitz chess. Three minutes, plus two seconds per move, are all that the players have per game. At the GMT and DAQ, 14 rounds each will be played tomorrow. The one-day blitz open tournament will take place in the hall, where 13 rounds will be played and around 120 players are expected.
In the second week of the Biel Chess Festival, the focus will also increasingly be on young people: to kick things off tomorrow, Sunday, the VINETUM Youth Tournament, open to all under 18-year-olds, will take place. From Monday onwards, the Swiss Junior Championships will take place in Biel over four days as part of the chess festival.
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157720866132786/