Biel: Abhimanyu beats Pragg, Vaishali upsets Bjerre

by ChessBase
7/17/2024 – Chess prodigy Abhimaynu Mishra scored a major victory in the first round of classical chess at the Masters Triathlon in Biel, as he managed to take down elite GM Praggnanandhaa with the black pieces. Defending champion Le Quang Liem beat Vincent Keymer to grab the lead in the standings. Meanwhile in the Challengers, all three games ended decisively. Alexander Donchenko, who beat Ihor Samunenkov, is the sole leader in this section. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival
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Le grabs the lead

Press release by the Biel Chess Festival

Chess prodigy Abhimaynu Mishra came up trumps at the GMT-Masters in Biel. In the first round of classical chess, Abhimanyu scored a major victory: with black, he defeated Praggnanandhaa, the tournament's No. 1 and the world's No. 8. He thus moved up to third place in the standings, which saw Le Quang Liem replacing Haik Martirosyan at the top. While the latter drew with Sam Shankland, the Vietnamese player defeated Vincent Keymer to take over the top spot.

Le was able to benefit from Pragg's slip-up, winning the duel between the tournament's No. 2 and 3 seeds against Keymer. As the previous leader Haik Martirosyan drew against Shankland, last year's winner Le took over the lead on the second day of the GMT-Masters, where he is clearly enjoying himself.

The Vietnamese player is followed by Martirosyan and then Mishra, who proved with his masterpiece against Pragg that he is a force to be reckoned with. After their defeats today, the two 2700 players in the field, Pragg and Keymer, are somewhat surprisingly at the bottom of the table – but thanks to the attractive award of 4 points for a win in classical chess, this could look very different again after the very next round!

The first few minutes of the round | Video: Arne Kaehler for ChessBase

Masters Triathlon - Standings

All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz

Rank Name Classical Rapid Blitz Total
1 Le Quang Liem 4 5 9
2 Haik Martirosyan 1½ 7 8½
3 Abhimanyu Mishra 4 4 8
4 Sam Shankland 1½ 4 5½
5 Praggnanandhaa R 0 5 5
6 Vincent Keymer 0 5 5

All games - Masters (Classical)

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1.d4 6 Nf6 8 2.c4 14 g6 3 3.Nc3 57 Bg7 4 4.e4 22 d6 2 5.Be2 33 0-0 5 6.Be3 22 e5 8 7.d5 30 Na6 6 8.h4 1:23       Nc5 8 9.Qc2 16 c6 7 10.h5 1:20 cxd5 6 11.cxd5 27 Qa5 6 12.h6 4:00 Bh8 22 13.f3 30 Nh5 11 14.a3 9:16
Threatens to win with b4. 14...Qd8 1:13 15.b4 6:03 15.Nb5 with more complications. Ng3 16.Rh2 b6 17.b4 15...Nd7 4:03 16.Nb5 2:16 Nf4 2:03 17.Bf1 1:35 Strongly threatening Nc7! 17.Nxa7? Nxg2+ 18.Kf2 Nxe3-+ 17.Bxa7 b6 17...Nxg2+ 18.Kf1= 18.g3 Ba6 19.gxf4 Bxb5 20.Bxb5 exf4 17...Nb6 3:26 18.Qc7 19:45 Qg5! 3:15 19.Kf2 13:12
Black must now prevent Rc1! 19.Nxd6? Nxg2+ 20.Kf2 20.Bxg2? Qxg2 21.Qe7 Qxh1-+ 20...Nxe3-+ 19...Bd7! 1:03 20.Nxa7 29 Active counter play! 20.Qxb7? Rfb8 20...Bxb5 21.Nh3-+ 21.Qa6 Nbxd5 22.exd5 Bxb5 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.Bxb5 Rb6-+ 24...Bxa1? 25.Bc6-+ 20.Nxd6 Rfc8 21.Nxc8 Rxc8 20...Nbxd5 10:56 Black should play 20...Nfxd5 21.Bxg5 21.exd5? Qxe3+ 22.Kxe3 Nxd5+ 23.Kf2 Nxc7-+ 21...Nxc7 21.exd5= 56 Rac8 6 22.Nxc8 1:45 22.Qxd7 Rc2+ 22...Rxc8 4 23.Bxf4! 13:44 23.Qxd7 leads to mate. Rc2+ 23...exf4 2:09 24.Qxd7 10 Bd4+! 4 The position is equal. 25.Ke1 6:05 25.Ke2!? Qe5+ 26.Kd1+- 25...Bc3+ 11 26.Kf2! 1:54 Bd4+ 5 27.Ke1 58 27.Ke2= Rd8 28.Qc7 28.Qxb7 Bxa1 29.Kd3 Qe5 28...Bxa1 29.Qc4 29.Qxb7 gets mated. Qe5+ 30.Kd1 Qd4+ 31.Kc1 Qb2+ 32.Kd1 Qb1+ 33.Kd2 Qa2+ 34.Kd3 Qb3+ 35.Kd2 Bc3+ 36.Kd3 Bxb4+ 37.Kd4 Bc5+ 38.Ke4 Qe3# 27...Bc3+± 5 28.Kf2! 3 Bd4+ 27 Weighted Error Value: White=0.09 (flawless) /Black=0.06 (flawless) . Mistake: White=1 Black=1 Inaccurate: White=2 Black=2 OK: White=7 Black=7 Best: White=1 Black=4 Strong: White=3 Black=3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Martirosyan,H2662Shankland,S2683½–½2024E73Biel Festival Masters Qual 20241.1
Keymer,V2721Le,Q27310–12024D35Biel Festival Masters Qual 20241.2
Praggnanandhaa R2747Mishra,A26270–12024C78Biel Festival Masters Qual 20241.3
Le,Q2731Praggnanandhaa R2747½–½2024D27Biel Festival Masters Qual 20242.1
Shankland,S2683Mishra,A26270–12024A11Biel Festival Masters Qual 20242.2
Martirosyan,H2662Keymer,V2721½–½2024D43Biel Festival Masters Qual 20242.3
Mishra,A2627Le,Q2731½–½2024E05Biel Festival Masters Qual 20243.1
Praggnanandhaa R2747Martirosyan,H2662½–½2024E48Biel Festival Masters Qual 20243.2
Keymer,V2721Shankland,S2683½–½2024A36Biel Festival Masters Qual 20243.3
Martirosyan,H2662Mishra,A2627½–½2024D43Biel Festival Masters Qual 20244.1
Keymer,V2721Praggnanandhaa R27471–02024B31Biel Festival Masters Qual 20244.2
Shankland,S2683Le,Q27310–12024D36Biel Festival Masters Qual 20244.3
Le,Q2731Martirosyan,H2662½–½2024D35Biel Festival Masters Qual 20245.1
Mishra,A2627Keymer,V2721½–½2024C54Biel Festival Masters Qual 20245.2
Praggnanandhaa R2747Shankland,S26831–02024C65Biel Festival Masters Qual 20245.3

Three decisive results in the Challengers

All the games at the GMT Challengers ended with a decisive result in the first round of classical chess, so that the tournament table is already taking on clear contours.

Alexander Donchenko was able to assert himself by beating Ihor Samunenkov in the longest game of the day. He is followed by Saleh Salem, who defeated Marc'Andria Maurizzi, and Vaishali Rameshbabu in third place. Vaishali, the player with the lowest Elo rating among the participants in the Challengers, proved with her victory against top seed Jonas Bjerre that, as the only woman in the tournament, she will keep up the pace with her male competitors.

Vaishali Rameshbabu

Vaishali Rameshbabu

Challengers Triathlon - Standings

All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz

Rank Name Classical Rapid Blitz Total
1 Alexander Donchenko 4 7 11
2 Saleh Salem 4 6 10
3 Vaishali R 4 5 9
4 Jonas Bjerre 0 5 5
5 Marc'Andria Maurizzi 0 4 4
6 Ihor Samunenkov 0 3 3

All games - Challengers (Classical)

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1.d4 4 d5 15 2.c4 8 e6 9 3.Nf3 7 a6 5 4.Nbd2 1:07 Nf6 2:13 5.g3 9 c5 14:28 6.Bg2 1:24 Nc6 1:28 7.cxd5 1:22 exd5 8 8.0-0 23 The position is equal. Be7 7:16 9.dxc5 27 Bxc5 57 10.Nb3 58 Ba7 4:32 11.Bd2 3:20 0-0 26 12.Bc3 5 Ne4 2:40 13.e3 25 Re8 2:48 14.Nfd4 10:50 Qg5 18:41 15.Qc2 12:03 Bd7 22 16.Nxc6 2:27 bxc6 21 17.Bd4 20 Bxd4 9:00 18.exd4 51 h5 1:34 19.Rfe1 13:28 h4 3:22 20.f3 5:35
gxh4 would now be deadly. 20...Nd6 10:12 20...Nxg3 with more complications. 21.hxg3 hxg3 22.Nd2 Qh4 21.Qf2 39 hxg3 1:18 22.hxg3 12 Bf5 2:07 23.Nc5 4:30 Bg6 1:48 24.Bh3 5:26 Bf5 1:39 25.Bf1 52 a5 31 26.Re5 1:17 Qg6 3:52 26...f6= might be stronger. 27.Ree1 Bg6 27.Rae1 1:48 27.g4!? 27...f6 6 28.R5e3 4:01 Rxe3 1:58 29.Rxe3 6 Re8 7 30.g4 28 Bb1 1:41 31.a4 59 31.Re1 was preferrable. 31...Qh6 4:34 31...f5= is more appropriate. 32.Rxe8+ 3:33 Nxe8 1 33.Qe1 52 Bg6 6 34.Bd3 11:44 Threatens to win with Bxg6. Nc7 8:22 35.Kg2! 8:25 But not 35.Qxa5 Qc1+ 36.Kf2 Qxb2+ 37.Kg3 Bxd3 38.Qxc7 38.Nxd3 Qxd4 39.Qxc7 Qg1+ 40.Kh4 Kh7= 38...Bf1 38...Qxd4 39.Qxg7+ Kxg7 40.Ne6+ Kf7 41.Nxd4± 39.Qxc6 39.Qc8+ Kh7= 39...Qxd4= 35...Bxd3 4:21 36.Nxd3 2       Endgame. Hoping for Qe7! KQN-KQN Qg6 1:59 37.Nf4 3:26 Don't play 37.Qxa5 Qxd3 38.Qxc7 Qxd4= 37.Nf2! 37...Qh6 1:59 37...Qc2+= 38.Kg3 Qxb2 38.Kg3 1:36      
Black must now prevent Qe7! White has strong initiative. 38...g5 1:45 39.Nh5 23 Active counter play! Qf8 3 Wards off Qe7 40.Kg2 0 White should play 40.Qxa5+- Ne6 41.Qc3 Qb8+ 42.Kh3 40...Qb4? 0       40...c5± 41.Nxf6++- 12:48 White is clearly winning. Kf7 2:05 42.Qxb4 5 axb4 6 43.Nd7 12 Weighted Error Value: White=0.10 (very precise) /Black=0.15 (very precise) . Loses game: --- Black=1 Mistake: White=3 Black=3 Inaccurate: White=3 Black=2 OK: White=11 Black=17 Best: White=3 Black=2 Strong: White=1 --- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Salem,A2638Maurizzi,M26101–02024D30Biel Challengers Qual 20241.1
Bjerre,J2653Vaishali,R24890–12024C11Biel Challengers Qual 20241.2
Donchenko,A2639Samunenkov,I25321–02024E48Biel Challengers Qual 20241.3
Vaishali,R2489Donchenko,A26391–02024B12Biel Challengers Qual 20242.1
Salem,A2638Bjerre,J26531–02024E04Biel Challengers Qual 20242.2
Maurizzi,M2610Samunenkov,I2532½–½2024D43Biel Challengers Qual 20242.3
Donchenko,A2639Salem,A2638½–½2024D04Biel Challengers Qual 20243.1
Samunenkov,I2532Vaishali,R24890–12024D33Biel Challengers Qual 20243.2
Bjerre,J2653Maurizzi,M26101–02024D02Biel Challengers Qual 20243.3
Maurizzi,M2610Vaishali,R2489½–½2024D85Biel Challengers Qual 20244.1
Salem,A2638Samunenkov,I25321–02024D36Biel Challengers Qual 20244.2
Bjerre,J2653Donchenko,A2639½–½2024B90Biel Challengers Qual 20244.3
Vaishali,R2489Salem,A2638½–½2024C01Biel Challengers Qual 20245.1
Donchenko,A2639Maurizzi,M26101–02024D31Biel Challengers Qual 20245.2
Samunenkov,I2532Bjerre,J26530–12024E53Biel Challengers Qual 20245.3

MTO: No walk in the park for the favourites

The second day of the Master Tournament MTO already showed that numerous strong players from the second tier will draw attention to themselves and demand everything from the tournament favourites.

The three top seeded players all drew their games and two grandmasters even had to leave the board as losers against lower-rated opponents: GM Sethuraman from India lost to the young Austrian FM Lukas Dotzer, while Romanian GM David Gavrilescu was defeated by the Indonesian IM Irine Sukander.

After two rounds, there are now 15 participants with perfect scores.

Standings after round 2

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Koustav, Chatterjee 2 0
Sokolovsky, Yahli 2 0
Madaminov, Mukhiddin 2 0
Xue, Haowen 2 0
5 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar 2 0
Moiseenko, Alexander 2 0
Jumabayev, Rinat 2 0
Bilguun, Sumiya 2 0
Gan-Erdene, Sugar 2 0
Song, Ethan 2 0
11 Sasikiran, Krishnan 2 0
Harsha, Bharathakoti 2 0
Kobo, Ori 2 0
Dotzer, Lukas 2 0
Sukandar, Irine Kharisma 2 0

...128 players

All available games - Masters Open

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The Beauty Awards

When so many games are played daily, it is inevitable that a few particularly outstanding encounters take place. To highlight these games, the organisers of the Biel Chess Festival have created the Beauty Award.

Every evening after the rounds are over, the most attractive game from the MTO, HTO and ATO can be voted for on the festival's social media channels. The winners will present their game on the live stream the following day and receive a small gift.

Replay the winners from the awards below.

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1.e4 55 c5 11 2.Nf3 46 d6 17 3.d4 34 cxd4 11 4.Nxd4 13 Nf6 9 5.Bd3 55 e5 1:39 6.Nf3 50 Be7 7:06 7.c4 57 0-0 4:43 8.Nc3 49 Weiß hat minimalen Vorteil. Na6 3:40 9.h3 6:00 Be6 5:36 10.0-0 2:41 Nc5 2:55 11.b3 2:18 Nxd3 1:08 12.Qxd3 9 Ne8 1:53 13.Rd1 6:38 Weiß behält die Zügel nun fest in der Hand. Kh8 7:23 14.Qe3 4:25 Schwarz muss nun Nxe5 beachten. Qc8 3:17 15.Ba3 2:47 Zielt auf Nxe5 ab. Weiß steht deutlich aktiver. Die schwarzen Türme stehen passiv. f5 7:59 15...f6± 16.Nxe5 14:27 Und exf5 würde nun gewinnen. Bf6 2:04 16...f4± 17.Qf3 Qc7 17.exf5+- 2:49 17.Bxd6? Nxd6 18.f4 Nxe4 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.Qxe4 Qc5+ 21.Qd4 Qa5-+ 21...Qxd4+? 22.Rxd4 Kg8 23.Kh2-+ 17...Bxf5 3:10 18.Bxd6 12:20 Nxd6 14 19.Rxd6 6 Re8 11:01 20.f4 11:10 Be7 5:29 21.Rd5 55 Be6 1:14 22.Rd4 9 Bc5 2:06
23.Ne4! 38 Bxd4 34 24.Qxd4 9 Und jetzt Nd6 wäre schön. Qd8 7:17
24...Re7 war angesagt. 25.Nd6 Qc7 25.Nd6! 2:55 Ein dynamisches Springerpaar. Rf8 1:45
Verhindert Ndf7+ 26.f5! 1:15       Bg8 5:01 Schwarz ist schwach auf den weissen Feldern 27.Rd1 10 Qg5 1:40 28.Rd3 3:05 28.Nxb7 Rxf5 29.Ng4 Raf8 28.g4+- 28...b6 8:30 28...Rxf5± 29.Nf3 29.Nxf5 Qxf5 30.Re3 Rf8+- 29...Qf6 29...Qc1+? 30.Rd1± 29.Kh2 1:33 Besser ist 29.h4+- Qe7 30.h5 29...Qf6 4:54 29...Rxf5± 30.Nxf5 Qxf5 30.Nd7 2:20 Qxd4 8 31.Rxd4 5 Rfd8 18 32.Ne5 12 Rf8 3:16 Lässt Ndf7+ nicht zu 33.Rh4 38 g5 32 34.Rd4 9:29 Auf keinen Fall 34.fxg6?! Rf6± 34...Kg7 3:03 35.g4 41 h5? 2:23 35...a5 war einen Versuch wert. 36.h4 36.Nd7 Rfd8+- 36...h6 37.hxg5 hxg5 36.gxh5 5:11 Kh6 47 37.Ng4+ 20 Kxh5 1:29 37...Kh7+- 38.Kg3 Rad8 38.Ne4 31 Weiß setzt Matt. Rad8 1:47 39.Ng3+ 24 Kh4 8 40.Ne3+ 18 Rxd4 6 41.Ng2# 50:05 Gewichteter Fehlerwert: Weiß=0.18 (sehr präzise) /Schwarz=0.52. Fehler: Weiß=2 Schwarz=7 Ungenau: Weiß=1 Schwarz=2 OK: Weiß=15 Schwarz=11 Bester: Weiß=1 --- Stark: Weiß=1 --- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Madaminov,M2517Malli,S21471–0202457th Biel Festival MTO 20241.15

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