GMT-Masters: Martirosyan remains second, Pragg beats Mishra to take bronze
With his victory yesterday against Praggnanandhaa, Lê Quang Liêm had already secured ahead of time his third consecutive tournament victory in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon. But as far as the other places on the podium were concerned, it was only today's final round that decided the outcome. Haik Martirosyan was able to definitively secure second place, which he had already occupied for days. The Armenian lived up to his reputation in the Grandmaster Triathlon as a strong player in the rapid cadences by being the best player in rapid and the second-best player in blitz. He was also solid in the classical games and today, as in the other seven games before, he managed to play to a draw – today against the winner of the tournament, Lê Quang Liêm. With this result, the Armenian, nominally only number 5 in the tournament, ends the tournament in an excellent second place.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu will join Lê Quang Liêm and Martirosyan on the podium in third place. A rather mixed tournament for the nominal favourite thus came to a conciliatory end. Pragg seized his chance to bronze by playing for victory with Black against Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest grandmaster of all time, in his last game today – and achieved the needed victory.
GMT-Masters: Final Ranking
|
Rank |
Name |
Games |
Classical |
Rapid |
Blitz |
Total |
|
1 |
GM LÊ Quang Liêm |
23 |
19 ½ |
5 |
6 ½ |
31 |
|
2 |
GM Haik MARTIROSYAN |
23 |
12 |
7 |
6 ½ |
25 ½ |
|
3 |
GM PRAGGNANANDHAA R |
23 |
12 ½ |
5 |
7 |
24 ½ |
|
4 |
GM Abhimanyu MISHRA |
23 |
15 ½ |
4 |
2 ½ |
22 |
|
5 |
GM Vincent KEYMER * |
20 |
8 ½ |
5 |
2 |
15 ½ |
|
6 |
GM Sam SHANKLAND * |
20 |
3 |
4 |
5 ½ |
12 ½ |
* not qualified for final phase
GMT-Challengers: Saleh and Donchenko spare themselves
In the GMT-Challengers of Biel, the die was already cast before today: Salem Saleh had already crowned himself the winner of this tournament the day before yesterday and Alexander Donchenko secured second place with his victory against Vaishali yesterday. Accordingly, the two did not take any particular risks in today's game against each other and agreed on a draw after 41 moves.
Salem Saleh thus wins the first Biel GMT-Challengers, the new second invitational tournament for grandmasters ranked under the GM-Masters, with a strong overall score of 35 ½ points. Saleh played an outstanding blitz tournament and also won 20 ½ out of a possible 28 points in the classical games. This is the Emirati's greatest success in his tenth participation in Biel. Although he already won the Master Tournament MTO in 2021 and finished 5th in the GMT in 2022, his victory in the GMT-Challengers marks the first time he has won a closed tournament in Biel.
GMT-Challengers: Final Ranking
|
Rank |
Name |
Games |
Classical |
Rapid |
Blitz |
Total |
|
1 |
GM Salem SALEH |
22 |
20 ½ |
6 |
9 |
35 ½ |
|
2 |
GM Alexander DONCHENKO |
22 |
16 ½ |
7 |
5 |
28 ½ |
|
3 |
GM VAISHALI Rameshbabu |
22 |
15 |
5 |
2 ½ |
22 ½ |
|
4 |
GM Jonas BJERRE * |
20 |
9 ½ |
5 |
3 |
17 ½ |
|
5 |
GM Marc'Andria MAURIZZI * |
20 |
3 |
4 |
5 ½ |
12 ½ |
|
6 |
GM Ihor SAMUNENKOV * |
20 |
1 ½ |
3 |
5 |
9 ½ |
* not qualified for final phase
Rinat Jumabayev overtakes Mendonca in the Master Tournament MTO
In the last, decisive round, there was a change of leader in the Master Tournament MTO after all: the previous leader GM Leon Luke Mendonca played to a draw for the fourth time in a row, today against the surprise of the tournament, IM Ayush Sharma. It was one draw too many: with one win each today, GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ) and IM Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB) were able to draw level with Mendonca and Sharma, meaning that they all finished the tournament on 7 ½ points. The grandmaster from Kazakhstan prevailed in the tie-break: Rinat Jumabayev won the 2024 Masters Tournament ahead of the Indians Leon Luke Mendonca and Ayush Sharma. WIM Alua Nurman (KAZ), IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) and IM Padmini Rout (IND) finished as the best women with 6 points, with Nurman in 25th place with the best tie-break score. The best Swiss players also finished the tournament with 6 out of a possible 10 points: They are FM Teimur Toktomushev and FM Moritz Valentin Collin in 36th and 37th place.
Podium MTO:
1. GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ)
2. GM Leon Luke Mendonca (IND)
3. IM Ayush Sharma (IND)
Final Ranking MTO: https://chess-results.com/tnr963846.aspx?lan=0&art=1&rd=10&fed=SUI&turdet=YES&flag=30
Nasybullina wins the Amateur Tournament ATO
WIM Alfia Nasybullina was the only participant to achieve 8 out of 9 possible points in the Amateur Tournament ATO. The Kazakh player lived up to her role as top seed and remained undefeated throughout the tournament. She was followed by Noh Jinwoo from South Korea with 7 ½ points and Simon Küenzli from Switzerland in third place with 7 points.
Podium ATO:
1. WIM Alfia Nasybullina (KAZ)
2. Noh Jinwoo (KOR)
3. Simon Kuenzli (SUI)
Final Ranking ATO: https://chess-results.com/tnr963847.aspx?lan=0&art=1&rd=9&fed=SUI&turdet=YES&flag=30
Outlook: Friday, 10:30 a.m., Closing ceremony
Tomorrow Friday, the 57th edition of the Biel International Chess Festival will come to an end with the closing ceremony and the award ceremonies for the various tournaments. At 10:30 a.m. in the lobby of the Biel Congress Centre, the organisers will look back on a festival that has once again attracted people from all over the world, from 46 different nations, to Biel. The winners of the GMTs as well as the Amateur and Master Tournaments will be honoured and the medals and prizes presented.
But even tomorrow there will still be some chess at the Congress Centre: the last round of the two weeks' tournaments will take place in the morning, at which the last winners of the festival will be decided around noon.
After that, it's time to say goodbye to the 2024 edition of the Biel Chess Festival – until summer 2025, when Biel/Bienne will once again welcome chess enthusiasts from all over the world from 12-25 July!
Beauty Award MTO, ATO
Every day, the best games from MTO and ATO are voted for on social media.
Winner MTO RD9: GM Arseniy Nesterov (2602) vs. IM Sugar Gan-Erdene (2407) ½–½
Winner ATO RD8: Yernur Akhmediyar (1751) vs. Enzo Jaggy (1835) 1-0
Games of the winners:
https://www.bielchessfestival.ch/Tournaments/Open-Tournaments/ISF-Beauty-Awards.html
Pictures of the Biel International Chess Festival are available under the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143150736@N02/collections/72157722912417534/
On the evening of each day of the Festival, the OC sends out a media report on the day's events.