7/23/2026 – Christian Gloeckler won the Masters Open Tournament at the Biel Chess Festival with a round to spare, scoring 8/9 and securing his first grandmaster norm with a 2689 performance rating. The 14-year-old German IM entered as the ninth seed and took the title after impressively collecting four straight wins. In the Masters Triathlon, Levon Aronian still leads, while Aydin Suleymanli remains in contention before the final round. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival
new: Fritz 20
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally. FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
With the moves d4-Nf3-e3-Bd3 White aims for simple piece development and to slowly build up a devastating attack on the kingside!
€39.90
Gloeckler stuns with 2689 performance rating!
Fourteen-year-old Christian Gloeckler secured victory in the Masters Open Tournament at the Biel Chess Festival with one round still to play. The German IM defeated Dimitris Alexakis in the ninth-round top-board encounter, extending his lead to 1½ points and putting the title beyond the reach of his closest rivals.
Gloeckler, who entered the tournament as the ninth seed, has scored 8/9 points, with seven wins and two draws. He remains unbeaten and reached the top of the standings with four consecutive victories between rounds six and nine. That sequence included a win with the black pieces against second seed Peter Acs.
His ninth-round victory over Alexakis came in an Accelerated Dragon. Gloeckler showed good opening preparation, kept control of the tactical complications and later converted his advantage in the endgame.
This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas. Looking for an opening that gets your opponents thinking on move one? Grandmaster Andy Woodward has relied on 1.b3 for years in blitz and bullet, using it to defeat strong masters and grandmasters who underestimated its hidden venom. While many players dismiss the opening as harmless, they often find themselves caught in unfamiliar positions, tactical traps, and uncomfortable middlegames. This compact course is designed specifically for practical play. Instead of overwhelming you with endless theory, it focuses on the critical lines, typical plans, and recurring tactical ideas that matter most when the clock is ticking.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: King's Indian Setup
Christian Gloeckler got the better of Cao Qingfeng from China with black in the eighth round | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
The result also secured Gloeckler his first grandmaster norm. His tournament performance rating stands at 2689. His final-round pairing against Hungarian grandmaster Adam Kozak ensures that he has also faced the necessary number of grandmasters.
Gloeckler has gained 18.1 rating points so far in Biel. At the age of 14, he has risen to 39th place in the live under-20 ranking and 9th in the under-16 list.
The champion will face Kozak in the tenth and final round. The Hungarian is part of a six-player group on 6½ points and remains in contention for a place on the podium.
Chess is a concrete game. There is no way around training your calculation skills. Improve your visualization, pattern recognition and learn calculation techniques such as reciprocal thinking with this course. Calculation is at the heart of practical chess. Every chess concept builds on proper calculation technique. Therefore, all chess players should continuosly train the fundamental techniques, concepts and patterns this course will present. The goal isn't only to teach you to calculate, but to give you the tools and insights to keep improving long after the final lesson.
Free sample video: Introduction
The final stage of the Masters Triathlon has not yet produced a decisive result in the race for the title, although the field of title contenders has narrowed from four to two.
For three-time winner Le Quang Liem and Turkish rising star Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Wednesday's draws were not enough to pose a threat to the leader, Levon Aronian.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.
Aydin Suleymanli, on the other hand, remains in contention and has his fate in his own hands going into the final round: the Azerbaijani GM, who stepped in at short notice as a replacement, is playing Aronian and could be crowned the 2026 Biel champion with a win.
Still in contention for overall victory - Aydin Suleymanli | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Current standings
All games - Final stage
All games - Final stage
Generations Challenge: Xiao keeps chances of victory alive
In Wednesday's Generations Challenge game, Xiao Tong faced Marco Materia. Xiao, who was 4½ points behind the leader before the match, therefore needed to pick up points to retain any chance of winning the tournament. Materia, on the other hand, could have overtaken Xiao - at least temporarily - with a win.
The encounter between the two 17-year-olds was evenly contested, with neither player managing to gain an advantage, and it consequently ended in a draw. Xiao has thus reduced the gap to the leader, Vaclav Finek, to 3 points. With a win in Thursday's showdown, the Chinese representative could still be crowned tournament champion.
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before. FRITZ is more than just a chess engine – it’s a training revolution! Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
Marco Materia finishes the tournament in third place. The young Frenchman, who had previously competed three times in the Biel Masters Open - the first time in 2022 when he was 13 - has thus concluded his first appearance on the big stage in Biel with a good result.
Xiao Tong and Marco Materia drew their game on Wednesday | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
This DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.
Date
11-24 July 2026
Format
Chess triathlons with 6 participants each
System
Classical: 5 rounds (first legs) + 3 rounds (final: return games with the top four players). Rapid: 5 rounds (with colours reversed from the classical first legs). Blitz: 10 rounds
Time control
Classical: 120' for the first 40 moves, then 30' for the rest of the game, with a 30'' increment per move from move 41. Rapid: 15'+5'' per move. Blitz: 3'+2'' per move
Scoring
Classical: win 4 points; draw 1.5 points; loss 0 points. Rapid: win 2 points; draw 1 point; loss 0 points. Blitz: win 1 point; draw 0.5 points; loss 0 points.
Tiebreak
The final standings are determined by adding together the points scored in the three sections (classical+rapid+blitz). In the event of a tie, the final standings of the ACCENTUS Chess960 decide the ranking for the prizes.
Schedule
10 July
20:00
Reception of participants - toast at the Congress Centre
11 July
11:30
Opening ceremony at the Congress Centre
11 July
14:00
ACCENTUS Fischer Random rapid tournament
12 July
14:00
Rapid games of the Masters & Generations Challenge
13 July
14:00
Visit to Omega with the Masters & Generations Challenge participants
14-18 July
14:00
Classical games of the Masters & Generations Challenge
19 July
14:00
Blitz games of the Masters & Generations Challenge
20 July
Rest day
21-23 July
14:00
Final rounds of the Masters & Generations Challenge (classical games)
24 July
10:30
Closing ceremony with prize-giving and apéritif at the Congress Centre
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
7/23/2026 – The Biel International Chess Festival is taking place on 11-24 July. Following the Chess960 tournament on Saturday and the rapid chess stage on Sunday, the players in the Masters and Generations Challenge Triathlon face off in the final stage of the classical section on 21-23 July. | Follow the games live starting at 14.00 CEST (8.00 ET, 17.30 IST) | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
7/9/2026 – The 59th edition of the Biel International Chess Festival begins on the weekend of 11 July. Participating are chess greats such as Levon Aronian, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Matthias Bluebaum in the Masters Triathlon, as well as Vaishali Rameshbabu and Alexandra Kosteniuk in the Generations Challenger. In both invitational events, games will be played in a triathlon system featuring blitz, rapid and classical games. | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase
On this 60 mins video we are going to concentrate on a simple, very solid idea in the main line Scandinavian, which even Magnus Carlsen has used to win games. Black focusses on making his life easy in the opening and forces White to work very hard to get advantage – but it is doubtful if White can get an advantage. Club players are always on the lookout for effective, time-saving solutions and here we have just that. Accompany FIDE Senior Trainer and IM Andrew Martin on this 60 mins video. You can learn a new opening system in 60 mins and start to play it with confidence on the very same day!
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
“Attack with Qh5!!” – Tactical training with Oliver Reeh, “6…g5 – nothing ventured, nothing …” – Le Quang Liem comments on one of his victories in Biel, “Grischuk’s stroke of genius” – Petra Papp reveals a surprise in the Sicilian Kan Variation, and much
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
While tactics decide the game in concrete moments, strategy guides the entire battle. Understanding how to improve your pieces, create weaknesses, execute maneuvers, and steer the game toward favorable structures is what defines strong players.
The Italian Four Knights is the ideal choice. It combines the solid foundation of classical openings like the Ruy Lopez or the Italian Game with an active, initiative-driven style of play.
IM Andrew Martin shows why this 19th-century opening weapon still is a fantastic choice for club players. The Evans produces exciting chess and teaches the art of attack.
IM Andrew Martin complements his Evans Gambit course with a simple and attacking repertoire against all of blacks sidelines after 1.e4 e5.
€34.90
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