Biel: Le and Esipenko to face off in showdown

by ChessBase
7/22/2022 – Both the Grandmaster Triathlon and the Women’s Quadriathlon in Biel will feature direct encounters between the first and second placed participants in final-round battles for the respective titles. Le Quang Liem has a 3-point lead over Andrey Esipenko (a win is worth 4 points) in the GM Triatholn, while Iris Ciarletta has a 1-point lead over Zhuang Yongzhe in the ladies’ Quadriathlon. | The final round kicks off four hours earlier than usual, at 10.00 CEST. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

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Maximum suspense

Press release

With one round to go at the Biel Chess Festival, nothing has yet been decided. Both the Grandmaster Triathlon and the Women’s Quadriathlon will feature direct encounters between the first and second placed participants in battles for the respective titles.

In the Grandmaster Triathlon, Le Quang Liem beat Arkadij Naiditsch with the white pieces, while his last-round opponent, Andrey Esipenko, remains close behind thanks to his win against Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Gukesh, on the other hand, had to settle for a draw against last year’s winner Gata Kamsky, which means he can no longer win the event.

In the ladies’ tournament, leader Zhuang Yongzhe drew her game, allowing Iris Ciarletta to grab the lead thanks to her win over Yulia Avilova.

The Swiss Youth Championships concluded on Thursday. The new national titleholders are:

  • Seyed Arvin Kasipour Azbari (U16)
  • Matthias Mattenberger (U14)
  • Kala Kishan Udipi (U12)
  • Jan Saminskij (U10)
  • Leon Krokowski-Bednarz (U8)

Biel Chess Festival 2022

Le scores third consecutive win

In the Grandmaster Triathlon GMT, Le Quang Liem defeated Arkadij Naiditsch to keep the sole lead in the standings. The Vietnamese GM has yet to draw a classical game in Biel, as he won four times (including the last three games) and lost once so far in the most heavily weighed section of the event.

Andrey Esipenko, thanks to his victory with black over Nodirbek Abdusattorov, moved up to second place. Gukesh v Gata Kamsky and Vincent Keymer v Saleh Salem finished in draws.

With one round to go, Le is first with 34 points, Esipenko is second with 31 points, and Gukesh is third with 29½ points. Abdusattorov (26½ points) can still fight for a place on the podium.

Note that in the classical section, wins are worth 4 points and draws are worth 1½ points.

Grandmaster triathlon - Standings

Rank Name Games Classical Rapid Blitz Total
1 GM Le Quang Liem 27 16 11 7 34
2 GM Andrey Esipenko 27 14 10 7 31
3 GM Dommaraju Gukesh 27 15 7 29½
4 GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov 27 9 8 26½
5 GM Saleh Salem 27 7 7 8 22
6 GM Gata Kamsky 27 10 1 19½
7 GM Vincent Keymer 27 6 5 8 19
8 GM Arkadij Naiditsch 27 6 2 16½

All games - Classical

 

Find all the games at Live.ChessBase.com: Classical | Rapid | Blitz

DAQ: Ciarletta, the youngest participant, now at the top

Iris Ciarletta defeated Yulia Avilova to take the lead with 36 points. Former leader Zhuang Yongzhe only drew and is now second with 35 points, half a point ahead of Juliette Cornileau who won a very important game against Margaux Moracchini.

Ciarletta will have the white pieces against Zhuang in the final round, while Cornileau, who still has an outside chance of winning the event, will face Sumarriva with black.

The final round kicks off four hours earlier than usual (10.00 CEST, 04.00 ET)!

Biel Chess Festival 2022

Ladies quadriathlon - Standings

Rank Name Chess960 Classical Rapid Blitz Total
1 Iris Ciarletta 9 12 36
2 Zhuang Yongzhe 15 10 35
3 Juliette Cornileau 13½ 10 34½
4 Margaux Moracchini 1 16 5 9 31
5 Gohar Tamrazyan 15 8 31
6 Laura Sumarriva Paulin 3 7 8 26½
7 Yulia Avilova 4 3 5 19½
8 Cecilia Keymer 3 2* 2 15½

* scored by Veronika Kostina

All games - Classical

 

The Swiss Youth Champions have been crowned

As part of the Biel Chess Festival, the Swiss Youth Champions in the categories U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8 were crowned for a third time in a row.

Over seven rounds, the country’s 16 best players per category (U8: the eight best) competed to earn the national championship. The following players reached the podium in their respective age groups:

  • Podium U16: 1. Seyed Arvin Kasipour Azbari (SG Riehen), 2. Simon Schellenberg (Pfäffikon ZH), 3. Raphael Erne (Neuchâtel CE)
  • Podium U14: 1. Matthias Mattenberger (DSSP), 2. Suvirr Malli (Olten), 3. Cristian Marc Arsenie (SK Bern)
  • Podium U12: 1. Kala Kishan Udipi (Zürich Wollishofen), 2. Maximilian Pfaltz (Chess Academy), 3. Mihaly Köhalmi-Szabo (SK Markus Regez)
  • Podium U10: 1. Jan Saminskij (SG Zürich), 2. Vishak Chockalingam (SG Riehen), 3. Mischa Domschke (DSSP)
  • Podium U8: 1. Leon Krokowski-Bednarz (Zürich Chess4Kids), 2. Vardhan Devarasetty (Chess Academy), 3. Vivian Varghese (Chess Academy)

Full results: U16 | U14 | U12 | U10 | U8

MTO: Alekseenko and Muradli in the lead

In the Master Tournament MTO, Vikash and Kirill Alekseenko drew on top board. This allowed Azerbaijani GM Mahammad Muradli to catch Alekseenko in the lead after beating Alexander Motylev in round 8.

Alekseenko and Muradli are now in the lead with 6½ points. They are chased by a group of four players on 6 points, and ten players on 5½ points, some of whom have an excellent tiebreak score.

Alekseenko will likely try to get outright victory in the final round, as he will have the white pieces against his lower-rated direct rival!

Standings after round 8

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Alekseenko Kirill 6,5 34,5
2 Muradli Mahammad 6,5 34,5
3 Sargsyan Shant 6,0 36,5
4 Visakh N R 6,0 36,5
5 Sethuraman S.P. 6,0 36,0
6 Mendonca Leon Luke 6,0 34,5
7 Pranav Anand 5,5 38,0
8 Motylev Alexander 5,5 37,0
9 Martirosyan Haik M. 5,5 35,5
10 Fedoseev Vladimir 5,5 35,0
11 Puranik Abhimanyu 5,5 35,0
12 Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo 5,5 34,5
13 Erdos Viktor 5,5 33,5
14 Pavlovic Milos 5,5 32,0
15 Raja Harshit 5,5 31,5

...114 players

All available games - Round 8

 

Find all available games at Live.ChessBase.com

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