Biel: Abhimanyu and Vaishali continue to impress

Abhimanyu beats Shankland, leads

Press release by the Biel Chess Festival

The US duel between Sam Shankland and Abhimanyu Mishra ended in favour of the youngster. Even though Abhimanyu had to play with the disadvantage of the black pieces for the second round in a row, he managed to win again, while his opponents had to settle for draws. Abhimanyu also benefited from the attractive scoring system of 4 points for a win, while only 1½ points are awarded to both players who signed a draw.

Haik Martirosyan in particular was probably not too happy about his draw. The Armenian could have taken the lead in the table with a win, and he gained a clear advantage against Vincent Keymer, but the young German defended skilfully, ultimately escaping with a draw.

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The game between Le Quang Liem and Praggnanandhaa also ended in a draw. The two came to an agreement relatively quickly: Le is now in second place, while Pragg at least scored his first points in classical chess after yesterday's disappointment.

Le Quang Liem and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu signed a 34-move draw

Masters Triathlon - Standings

All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz

All games - Masters (Classical)

Challengers: Vaishali stuns Donchenko, Salem leads

In the top match of round 2, leader Alexander Donchenko faced yesterday's surprise winner, Vaishali Rameshbabu, the lowest-rated player in the field who got to beat top seed Jonas Bjerre on Tuesday. Vaishali once again lived up to her role as the dangerous underdog: in just 27 moves, she defeated second seed Alexander Donchenko! Vaishali thus moved up to second place in the standings.

The new leader is Saleh Salem, who also scored a second win in a row, as he defeated a hapless Bjerre, who doesn't seem to have fully arrived in Biel yet.

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Despite a promising position, Marc'Andria Maurizzi was unable to join the winners, as he was unable to capitalise on his position against Ihor Samunenkov and ultimately had to settle for a draw – the first one of the Challengers Triathlon.

Vaishali Rameshbabu versus Alexander Donchenko

Challengers Triathlon - Standings

All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz

All games - Challengers (Classical)

MTO: Five players on 3/3

After the third round of the Master Tournament MTO, the first fine contours are beginning to emerge. The vast majority of the top players have already lost points.

Only five players were able to hold their own and remain at the top of the table with 3 out of 3 points: GM Krishnan Sasikiran, GM Rinat Jumabayev, GM Ori Kobo, GM Chatterjee Koustav and the untitled Chinese player Xue Haowen.

The crowded playing hall in Biel

Standings after round 3

...128 players

All available games - Masters Open

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 games that have so far won the awards below.

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Links

• Official site
• All ChessBase reports: Biel 2023 | Biel 2022 | Biel 2021 | Biel 2020 | Biel 2019
• Live commentary on site
• Recaps of the day
• Interviews post-mortem
• Tipeee to support the festival's livestream