44th Biel International Chess Festival under way

by ChessBase
7/18/2011 – It started with a bang: top seed Magnus Carlsen, Norway, had black against bottom seed Yannick Pelletier, Switzerland, and went into a tough ending of queen and extra pawn against queen. But the world's number one worked out a sound strategy and took home the full three points (which you get for a win) in 88 moves. The round was highlighted by a lot of live action on Playchess.com.

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The 2011 Biel Chess Festival is taking place from July 16 to 29, in a number of groups: the Master Tournament (eleven rounds Swiss); the Main Tournament (nine rounds Swiss); a Rapid and a Blitz tournament; Chess960; Youth, Simultaneous, Chess Tennis, ChessBase training seminars. Of greatest interest is of course the Accentus Grandmaster Tournament with six very strong grandmasters playing a double round robin: Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexei Shirov, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Morozevich and Yannick Pelletier.


The participants: Caruana, Pelletier, Shirov, Carlsen, Morozevich, Vachier-Lagrave

The rate of play: 2 hours for 40 moves, then one hour for 20 and 15 min for the rest of the game, with 30 sec increment per move. The scoring system is three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. No draw offers are permitted before move 30.

Round 1: Monday, July 18, 14:00h
Fabiano Caruana 
½-½
 Maxim Vachier
Yannick Pelletier 
0-1
 Magnus Carlsen
Alexei Shirov 
½-½
 Alex. Morozevich 

The first game to end was Alexei Shirov vs Alexander Morozevich. The latter played the French Defence and never let White get too much. After 24 moves the game ended in a draw by repetition – which is exempt from the 30-move draw offer rule. Fabiano Caruana vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was, to the delight of the spectators, a full-blooded Najdorf, which after a tough struggle ended in a draw after 45 moves. Of course the most gripping encounter was Yannick Pelletier vs Magnus Carlsen, which wound down to an ending with queen and four pawns on both sides of the board for Black vs queen and three pawns on the kingside for White. The world's highest ranked player worked out a plan and executed it beautifully. The game ended with a Carlsen win in 88 moves.

[Event "Biel ACCENTUS GM"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2011.07.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [BlackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2711"] [BlackElo "2722"] [ECO "B96"] [Opening "Sicilian"] [Variation "Najdorf, 7.f4"] [WhiteFideId "2020009"] [BlackFideId "623539"] [EventDate "2011.07.18"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4 Qb6 9. a3 Nbd7 10. Bc4 g5 11. Bf2 Qc7 12. Qe2 Nb6 13. Bb3 gxf4 14. O-O-O Be7 15. Rhe1 Rg8 16. g3 fxg3 17. Bxg3 e5 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. exf5 Rg7 20. Kb1 O-O-O 21. Bf2 Rd7 22. Bxb6 Qxb6 23. Bxf7 Kb8 24. Bb3 Rc7 25. Rd3 Rg5 26. Rf1 h5 27. h3 Rg1 28. Rxg1 Qxg1+ 29. Ka2 Qg5 30. Qf3 h4 31. Re3 Rc5 32. Ne4 Nxe4 33. Rxe4 Bf6 34. Rb4 Qg7 35. Qd3 Qd7 36. Rb6 Rc6 37. Rb4 Qc7 38. Qd5 Ka7 39. Rg4 Qc8 40. Qe4 d5 41. Qxd5 Qxf5 42. c3 Qf2 43. Qf7 e4 44. Rg7 Qb6 45. Rg2 e3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Biel ACCENTUS GM"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2011.07.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Pelletier, Yannick"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [BlackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2590"] [BlackElo "2821"] [ECO "D85"] [Opening "Gruenfeld"] [Variation "modern exchange variation"] [WhiteFideId "1301837"] [BlackFideId "1503014"] [EventDate "2011.07.18"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 b6 10. O-O Bb7 11. d5 Bxc3 12. Bc4 Bg7 13. Qd3 Qc8 14. Bg5 Re8 15. e5 e6 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Rbd1 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Nc6 19. Bb5 Nxe5 20. Qe4 Nf7 21. Bh4 Bd4 22. Rxd4 cxd4 23. Bxe8 Qxe8 24. Qxd4 Rc8 25. Re1 e5 26. Qg4 Rc2 27. h3 Qc6 28. Bg3 Rxa2 29. Bxe5 Nxe5 30. Rxe5 Ra4 31. Qd1 Rf4 32. Qb3+ Rf7 33. Re7 Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qf4+ 35. Kh1 Kf8 36. Re2 Kg7 37. Qd5 a5 38. f3 Rc7 39. Re1 Rc1 40. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 41. Kh2 Qc7+ 42. Kh1 Kf6 43. Qd4+ Ke6 44. Qg4+ Kd6 45. Qd4+ Kc6 46. Qe4+ Kb5 47. Qe2+ Qc4 48. Qe8+ Qc6 49. Qe2+ Kc5 50. Qe3+ Kb4 51. Qe1+ Kc4 52. Qe2+ Kc3 53. Qe3+ Kb2 54. Qd2+ Kb1 55. Qd3+ Qc2 56. Qb5+ Ka1 57. Kh2 Qc7+ 58. Kh1 Qc1+ 59. Kh2 Qf4+ 60. Kh1 Qd4 61. Qf1+ Kb2 62. Qe2+ Kc1 63. Qe4 Qc3 64. f4 b5 65. Qe5 Qc4 66. Qa1+ Kc2 67. Qxa5 b4 68. Qa4+ Kb2 69. f5 gxf5 70. Kh2 h5 71. Qd7 Qf4+ 72. Kh1 b3 73. Qd3 Qf2 74. Qd5 h4 75. Kh2 Qf4+ 76. Kh1 Kc2 77. Qc5+ Kb1 78. Qb5 b2 79. Qd3+ Ka2 80. Qa6+ Kb3 81. Qb5+ Ka3 82. Qa5+ Qa4 83. Qc5+ Ka2 84. Qd5+ Ka1 85. Qe5 Qe4 86. Qa5+ Kb1 87. Qc3 f4 88. Qd2 0-1

[Event "Biel ACCENTUS GM"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2011.07.18"] [Round "1"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Morozevich, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteTitle "GM"] [BlackTitle "GM"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2694"] [ECO "C11"] [Opening "French"] [Variation "Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation"] [WhiteFideId "2209390"] [BlackFideId "4116992"] [EventDate "2011.07.18"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Bb5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 a6 13. Bxd7+ Bxd7 14. Rb3 Qe7 15. Rxb7 Qh4+ 16. Qf2 Be7 17. Qxh4 Bxh4+ 18. Kd2 Bd8 19. Rhb1 Bc6 20. Rb8 Rxb8 21. Rxb8 O-O 22. Rc8 Bb7 23. Rb8 Bc6 24. Rc8 Bb7 1/2-1/2

Standings


Remember: a win counts as three points, a draw as one and a loss zero.

 


Live GM commentary on Playchess

There is live audio and video commentary on the chess server Playchess. The English commentary starts at 3:30 p.m., and German commentary directly from the playing site begins at 4:00 p.m. In addition Daniel King is doing round-up shows at 8:00 p.m. on the days he is commenting.


GM Daniel King commenting on the games in round one

Commentary schedule

Monday 18/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Daniel King
Tuesday 19/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Daniel King
Wednesday 20/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Jan Smeets
Friday 22/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Daniel King
Saturday 23/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Jan Gustafsson
Monday 25/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Jan Gustafsson
Tuesday 26/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Jan Gustafsson
Wednesday 27/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Daniel King
Thursday 28/07/2011 Miso Cebalo Daniel King
Friday 29/07/2011 Miso Cebalo to be announced

As a special treat the multimedia commentary live from Biel is also available on our live browser coverage. This also includes the players analysing after their games.


Maxim Vachier-Lagrave analysing with GM Miso Cebalo after his game against Fabiano Caruana


Magnus Carlsen and Jannick Pelletier discuss their game immediately after it finished


A very animated session where the two players operate the Playchess program themselves and analyse
in full view of thousands of visitors all over the world, who can see and hear them going through the game


Overview: schedule and results

Round 1: Monday, July 18, 14:00h
Fabiano Caruana 
½-½
 Maxim Vachier
Yannick Pelletier 
0-1
 Magnus Carlsen
Alexei Shirov 
½-½
 Alex. Morozevich 
Round 2: Tuesday, July 19, 14:00h
Maxim Vachier 
   Alex. Morozevich
Magnus Carlsen 
   Alexei Shirov
Yannick Pelletier 
   Fabiano Caruana
Round 3: Wednesday, July 20, 14:00h
Yannick Pelletier 
   Maxim Vachier
Alexei Shirov 
   Fabiano Caruana
Alex. Morozevich 
   Magnus Carlsen 
Round 4: Friday, July 22, 14:00h
Alexei Shirov 
   Maxim Vachier
Alex. Morozevich 
   Yannick Pelletier
Magnus Carlsen 
   Fabiano Caruana
Round 5: Saturday, July 23, 14:00h
Maxim Vachier 
   Magnus Carlsen 
Fabiano Caruana 
   Alex. Morozevich
Yannick Pelletier 
   Alexei Shirov
Round 6: Monday, July 25, 14:00h
Maxim Vachier 
   Fabiano Caruana
Magnus Carlsen 
   Yannick Pelletier
Alex. Morozevich 
   Alexei Shirov
Round 7: Tuesday, July 26, 14:00h
Alex. Morozevich 
   Maxim Vachier
Alexei Shirov 
   Magnus Carlsen 
Yannick Pelletier 
   Fabiano Caruana
Round 8: Wednesday, July 27, 14:00h
Maxim Vachier  
   Yannick Pelletier
Fabiano Caruana 
   Alexei Shirov
Magnus Carlsen 
   Alex. Morozevich
Round 9: Thursday, July 28, 14:00h
Magnus Carlsen 
   Maxim Vachier
Alex. Morozevich 
   Fabiano Caruana
Alexei Shirov 
   Yannick Pelletier
Round 10: Friday, July 29, 11:00h
Maxim Vachier 
   Alexei Shirov
Yannick Pelletier 
   Alex. Morozevich
Fabiano Caruana 
   Magnus Carlsen 

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

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