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Press release by the Biel Chess Festival
With his victory on Wednesday over Praggnanandhaa, Le Quang Liem secured ahead of time his third consecutive tournament victory in the Biel Masters Triathlon. But as far as the other places on the podium were concerned, it was only the final round that decided the outcome.
Haik Martirosyan was able to secure second place, which he had occupied for a number of days. The Armenian lived up to his reputation in the Triathlon as a strong player in the rapid formats by being the best player in rapid and the second-best player in blitz. He was also solid in the classical games and on Thursday, as in the other seven games before, he signed a draw – against the winner of the tournament, Le Quang Liem. With this result, the Armenian, only the fifth seeded player (out of 6), ended the tournament in an excellent second place.
Attack like a Super Grandmaster
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Praggnanandhaa joined Le and Martirosyan on the podium in third place. A rather inconsistent tournament for the top seeds thus came to a conciliatory end. Pragg seized his chance to get bronze by playing for a win with black against Abhimanyu Mishra, the youngest grandmaster of all time, in his last game of the event – and achieved the needed victory.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu
All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz
| Rank | Name | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | Le Quang Liem | 19½ | 5 | 6½ | 31 |
| 2 | Haik Martirosyan | 12 | 7 | 6½ | 25½ |
| 3 | Praggnanandhaa R | 12½ | 5 | 7 | 24½ |
| 4 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 15½ | 4 | 2½ | 22 |
| 5 | Vincent Keymer* | 8½ | 5 | 2 | 15½ |
| 6 | Sam Shankland* | 3 | 4 | 5½ | 12½ |
* Not qualified for final phase
In the Challengers, it was all decided before the final day of action: Saleh Salem had already become the winner of the tournament on Tuesday, while Alexander Donchenko secured second place with his victory against Vaishali on Wednesd day. Accordingly, the two did not take any particular risks in their final-round game and agreed to a draw after 41 moves.
Salem thus won the event, the new invitational tournament for grandmasters ranked under the GM-Masters, with a strong overall score of 35½ points. Salem played an outstanding blitz tournament and also won 20½ out of a possible 28 points in the classical games. This is the Emirati's greatest success in the Biel Festival, where he participated ten times. Although he already won the Masters Tournament MTO in 2021 and finished 5th in the GMT in 2022, his victory in the Challengers marks the first time he has won a closed tournament in Biel.
All games: Classical | Rapid | Blitz
| Rank | Name | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | Saleh Salem | 20½ | 6 | 9 | 35½ |
| 2 | Alexander Donchenko | 16½ | 7 | 5 | 28½ |
| 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
In the last, decisive round, there was a change of leader in the Masters Tournament (MTO) after all: former leader GM Leon Luke Mendonca signed a draw for the fourth time in a row, this time against the surprise of the tournament, IM Ayush Sharma. It was one draw too many: GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ) and IM Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB) were able to draw level with Mendonca and Sharma by winning their round-10 encounters, which meant that they all finished the tournament with 7½ points.
The grandmaster from Kazakhstan prevailed on tiebreak criteria: Rinat Jumabayev won the 2024 Masters Tournament ahead of the Indians Leon Luke Mendonca and Ayush Sharma.
WIM Alua Nurman (KAZ), IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) and IM Padmini Rout (IND) finished as the best women with 6 points each. Nurman, in 25th place, had the best tiebreak score.
The best Swiss players also finished the tournament with 6 out of a possible 10 points:they are FM Teimur Toktomushev and FM Moritz Valentin Collin, who were placed 36th and 37th respectively.
The Keymer Variation - 1.Nf3 d5 2.e3
This video course features the ins-and-outs of the possible setups Black can choose. You’ll learn the key concepts and strategies needed to add this fantastic opening to your repertoire. An easy-to-learn and yet venomous weapon.
Ayush Sharma playing black against Leon Luke Mendonca
Rinat Jumabayev
sex
| Rk. | Name | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2565 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 2 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2615 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 3 | IM | Ayush, Sharma | 2342 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 4 | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2512 | 7,5 | 0 | |
| 5 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 2581 | 7 | 0 | |
| 6 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2632 | 7 | 0 | |
| 7 | Xue, Haowen | 2452 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 8 | IM | Ansat, Aldiyar | 2458 | 7 | 0 | |
| 9 | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2602 | 7 | 0 | |
| 10 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | 2407 | 7 | 0 | |
| 11 | GM | Harsha, Bharathakoti | 2569 | 6,5 | 0 | |
| 12 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2540 | 6,5 | 0 | |
| GM | Bilguun, Sumiya | 2458 | 6,5 | 0 | ||
| 14 | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | 2592 | 6,5 | 0 | |
| 15 | Xiao, Tong(Qd) | 2518 | 6,5 | 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.
The Leningrad Dutch Defence - A repertoire against 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.Nf3
The Leningrad Dutch Defence is a dynamic and aggressive opening choice for Black, perfect for players who want to add some adventure and spice to their repertoire.
