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Press release by the Biel Chess Festival
The first day of the final phase at the Masters Triathlon produced no winners. Le Quang Liem, thus kept his 3-point lead, which means he is getting closer to achieving a third tournament win in a row. Against the young Abhimanyu Mishra, Le was not entirely flawless, but he still managed to secure a draw despite being two pawns down.
The other game of the day also ended drawn. Haik Martirosyan drew for a sixth time in his sixth classical game in Biel, this time against Praggnanandhaa. The Indian prodigy thus failed to put Le under more pressure. Against the "king of draws" in Biel, Pragg couldn't find a way to gain any advantage.
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Nothing has been decided yet. All four players in the final phase of the Masters can still win the tournament. But for Praggnanandhaa and Mishra, who are on equal points sharing third place in the standings, a win on Wednesday is a must! And both of them will have the advantage of playing with the white pieces. Pragg will face Le in the match between the two highest-rated players in the field – with a win over Le, anything is still possible for Pragg -while Abhimanyu will play against Martirosyan, who continues to play extremely solidly.
Praggnanandhaa having a look at the game between Le Quang Liem and Abhimanyu Mishra
All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz
| Rank | Name | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | Le Quang Liem | 14 | 5 | 6½ | 25½ |
| 2 | Haik Martirosyan | 9 | 7 | 6½ | 22½ |
| 3 | Praggnanandhaa R | 8½ | 5 | 7 | 20½ |
| 4 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 14 | 4 | 2½ | 20½ |
| 5 | Vincent Keymer* | 8½ | 5 | 2 | 15½ |
| 6 | Sam Shankland* | 3 | 4 | 5½ | 12½ |
* Not qualified for final phase
The Challengers Triathlon already has a winner: Saleh Salem, the 31-year-old grandmaster from the United Arab Emirates. After his outstanding performance in Sunday's blitz, he seized the first opportunity he got to go for the tournament win. On Tuesday, Salem gained a clear advantage against Vaishali Rameshbabu, who like him came from playing strongly in the classical games in Biel. The increasingly hard-pressed Vaishali was ultimately unable to survive until the 40th move, when she would have received a further hour's thinking time, and had to resign in time trouble.
Salem is therefore the first winner of the Biel Challengers. With this new format, the organisers have created a second invitational tournament that offers a platform for promising up-and-coming women players or juniors who could go a long way in their careers but have not quite reached the level required for the Masters yet.
Salem, a player of a different calibre, was crowned as champion: a loyal guest at the Biel Chess Festival, who honoured the watchmaking city by registering to participate for a tenth time this year.
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The order on the podium has yet to be decided. In the battle for second place, the two candidates will meet directly tomorrow: Alexander Donchenko will play against Vaishali. The Indian star, who stands a half point behind Donchenko, will have to play for victory to keep her chances of reaching second place, especially as Donchenko could score up to 4 points against Salem in the last game of the Challengers event.
Saleh Salem beat the over-performing Vaishali to secure tournament victory
All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz
| Rank | Name | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | Saleh Salem | 19 | 6 | 9 | 34 |
| 2 | Alexander Donchenko | 11 | 7 | 5 | 23 |
| 3 | Vaishali R | 15 | 5 | 2½ | 22½ |
| 4 | Jonas Bjerre* | 9½ | 5 | 3 | 17½ |
| 5 | Marc'Andria Maurizzi* | 3 | 4 | 5½ | 12½ |
| 6 | Ihor Samunenkov* | 1½ | 3 | 5 | 9½ |
* Not qualified for final phase
Leon Luke Mendonca continues to lead the Masters Tournament (MTO) in Biel by half a point. However, after his second draw in a row, against Arseniy Nesterov, the number of close pursuers has increased. Seven players are now lurking behind him, tied on 6 points.
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A further half point behind is the best woman in the tournament, IM Bibisara Assaubayeva.
Leon Luke Mendonca
| Rk. | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2615 | 6,5 | 0 | |
| 2 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2565 | 6 | 0 | |
| 3 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 2581 | 6 | 0 | |
| 4 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2632 | 6 | 0 | |
| 5 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | 2407 | 6 | 0 | |
| 6 | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2512 | 6 | 0 | |
| 7 | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2602 | 6 | 0 | |
| 8 | IM | Ayush, Sharma | 2342 | 6 | 0 | |
| 9 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2540 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 10 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2472 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 11 | Xiao, Tong(Qd) | 2518 | 5,5 | 0 | ||
| 12 | Xue, Haowen | 2452 | 5,5 | 0 | ||
| 13 | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | 2592 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 14 | IM | Tahay, Alexis | 2392 | 5,5 | 0 | |
| 15 | IM | Ritviz, Parab | 2334 | 5,5 | 0 |
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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