Biel: Rising stars and veterans in the Master Tournament

Media bulletin

On Monday, the rest day of the Grandmaster Tournament, the focus was on the Master Tournament MTO of the Biel Chess Festival. Even if the players in the MTO do not quite reach the level of the top stars in the Grandmaster Tournament, this open tournament, which is contested by 112 participants, also offers top-class chess – and is a platform for the stars of tomorrow and long-serving veterans alike.

A very special guest at this year’s Master Tournament is Yehuda Grünfeld, a grandmaster of Polish origin from Israel. He is no stranger to Biel: he has already won this very tournament once – in 1979, no less than 46 years ago!

Yehuda Grünfeld

Invited to the then still new Biel Grandmaster Tournament the following year, he also won its third edition in 1980! Almost half a century later, now aged 69, he is once again sitting in the large hall of the Biel Congress Centre and competing with the next generations. Ranked 32^nd after seven rounds, he will have nothing to do with winning the tournament, but he shows that he can still keep up!

It’s the young guns that are hot on the heels of the tournament favourites: Players such as the Vietnamese IM Dau Khuong Duy (born in 2011, currently ranked 5^th), FM Christian Glöckler (born in 2011, ranked 7^th) from Germany or the Malaysian IM Poh Yu Tian (born in 2009, ranked 10^th).

Poh Yu Tian

A chess career is never completely predictable, but if they continue on their path, there is a chance that one day they will be playing among the world’s top players. Not quite there, but worth mentioning from a Swiss perspective are players such as Jan Saminskij (born in 2012, currently ranked 29^th) and FM Colin Federer (born in 2011, ranked 30^th).

Daily news MTO: An Indian duo at the top

At the very top of the Master Tournament MTO, however, are players from the current favourites. Currently with 6 out of 7 possible points, these are GM Karthikeyan Murali and GM Pranav Anand from India, who are seeded numbers 1 and 5 in the tournament. They both won their games today, Karthikeyan against compatriot GM Sasikiran Krishnan and Pranav against FM Christian Glöckler, allowing them to pull half a point clear of their closest rivals.

GM Karthikeyan, Murali vs GM Sasikiran, Krishnan

After seven rounds, the best woman is WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova from Ukraine in 13^th place with 5 points, while the best Swiss players in the tournament, IM Fabian Bänziger, WGM Lena Georgescu, Jan Seminskij and FM Colin Federer each have 4 ½ points.

Interim ranking MTO

…112 participants

Games

ATO: Tkhoruk in the lead

After the sixth round, the Amateur Tournament ATO has a sole leader for the first time: Roman Tkhoruk. Born in 2012, Tkhoruk only had to concede a draw against Simon Künzli, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, but has won all his other games so far, including today against the still unbeaten Eliza Tereshchenko. Half a point behind Tkhoruk follows a quintet with currently 5 points each.

Interim ranking ATO: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6&SNode=S0&tno=1215292  

Kick-off to the week’s tournaments

On Monday, the last two tournaments of the 58^th Biel Chess Festival began with the two five-day week’s tournaments. These tournaments are divided into the WT2 for players with an Elo rating of 1800 and above, and the WT1 for players below that. The tournaments start at 10 a.m. and have a moderate duration with a time limit of 60 minutes per player, plus 30 seconds extra per move.

There are 24 participants from seven countries taking part in the week’s tournament WT2, including four title holders. 55 players from eleven countries take part in the WT1.

Interim ranking WT2: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=1&SNode=S0&tno=1215329  

Interim ranking WT1: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnrWZ.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=1&SNode=S0&tno=1215328  
 

Outlook: The final phase of the Grand Master Triathlon begins

After the rest day, the final phase of the Grandmaster Triathlon begins tomorrow, Tuesday, for the four best players in the Masters and Challengers. Three rounds of classical chess remain until Thursday. A win is worth 4 points, a draw 1 ½, so a player can gain a maximum of 12 points on top of the points already achieved.

The Masters starts with a duel between the tournament’s number 1 and 2 seeds: Aravindh against Fedoseev. Trailing the leading duo by 1 ½ points, it is Aravindh in particular who is challenged to play for victory. Murzin faces Salem on the other board. If anything is still to come for the youngest player in the field, who is currently a clear fourth, Murzin will have to attack with White.

In the GMT-Challengers, leader Theodorou plays against Navara and Jumabayev meets Hakobyan. For Navara and Jumabayev the following applies: A win is a must if they want to move up the rankings and aim for more than just third place!

GMT-Masters: Interim ranking

* not qualified for final phase

GMT-Challengers: Interim ranking

* not qualified for final phase

Tournament page…