Le Quang Liem bags GM Triathlon in Biel

A well-deserved victory

Press release

Thanks to a draw against direct rival Andrey Esipenko, Le Quang Liem grabbed the Grandmaster Triathlon title at the Biel Chess Festival. The Vietnamese star, who had a convincing performance throughout, proved to be the strongest player in both classical and rapid chess. The podium was completed by Russia’s Andrey Esipenko and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju.

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In the Ladies’ Quadriathlon, Yongzhe Zhuang from Switzerland beat former leader Iris Ciarletta from France in the final round to secure overall victory. Gohar Tamrazyan, also from Switzerland, grabbed third place.

The strong Masters Tournament was surprisingly won by Mahammad Muradli from Azerbaijan, ahead of Kirill Alekseenko from Russia and Shant Sargsyan from Armenia. In the Amateur Tournament, the Indian pair of Manmay Chopra and Harisurya Bharadwaj Gundepudi won ahead of Majed Al Helaoy from Syria.

Andrey Esipenko, Le Quang Liem and Gukesh

Le saves a draw to win it all

After collecting three wins in a row, Le Quang Liem was the favourite to win the Triathlon going into the final round. The Vietnamese faced direct rival Andrey Esipenko with black, when a win for Esipenko would give him tournament victory. Le was in trouble in an extremely complex game, but he found the resources to draw and thus win the tournament.

Gukesh had a good position with black against Salem, but lost control and went on to lose the game. He nevertheless retained third place, as fourth-placed Nodirbek Abdusattorov was defeated by defending champion Gata Kamsky.

Much like Kamsky, Arkadij Naiditsch saved the best for last as he convicingly beat Vincent Keymer with white to leave the cellar of the standings.

The podium remained unchanged throughout the tournament, but the order was uncertain until the very end.

Grandmaster triathlon - Standings

All games - Classical

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

DAQ: Zhuang beats Ciarletta

As part of FIDE’s initiative Year of the Women in Chess, the Ladies ACCENTUS Quadriathlon took place at the Biel Chess Festival with eight young talents.

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The Swiss representatives were ruthless in the last round. Zhuang defeated Ciarletta with black, and overtook her in the standings to claim overall victory. Tamrazyan Gohar moved up to third place by beating Yulia Avilova. Juliette Cornileau, who entered the round in third place, lost to Laura Sumarriva. Margaux Moracchini only got a draw against Cecila Keymer, when a win would have allowed her to share third place in the final standings.

Iris Ciarletta, Zhuang Yongzhe and Gohar Tamrazyan

Ladies quadriathlon - Standings

* scored by Veronika Kostina

All games - Classical

MTO: Muradli the surprise winner

Kirill Alekseenko playing with the white pieces was the favourite in the top-board game against Mahammad Muradli, but failed to make the most of his chances in zeitnot and had to settle for a draw. The two players tied for first with 7/9 points, after draws were seen on boards 2 and 3. The Azerbaijani grandmaster had a better tiebreak score and emerged victorious.

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A breathtaking performance from Muradli, who was the 21st seed with a 2523 rating.

Out of the six chasers with 6½ points, it was Armenia’s Shant Sargsyan who grabbed third place. The Indians, who had a strong start, were finally unable to reach the podium. Visakh, Sethuraman and Mendonca finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

The top scorers among the 21 Swiss representatives were Gabriel Gähweiler and Igor Schlegel, both finishing the tournament with 5 points to their names.

Kirill Alekseenko, Mahammad Muradli and Shant Sargsyan

Final standings

...114 players

All available games - Round 9

Find all available games at Live.ChessBase.com

Links

• Official site
• All ChessBase reports: Biel 2021 | Biel 2020 | Biel 2019