Biel: Finals have started

by ChessBase
7/23/2025 – The finals have begun in the Biel Grand Master Triathlons. Saleh Salem and Vladimir Fedoseev are leading in the Masters. In the Challengers, Nikolas Theodorou has pulled away from his competitors. Christian Glöckler drew in the Masters Open and is now eleventh, one point behind the leader. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival
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Media Bulletin

Biel: Suspense in the Masters – preliminary decision in the Challengers?

No movement in the GMT-Masters at the start of the final phase: both games ended in draws. With his draw against Salem, Murzin squandered his last small chance of winning the tournament and will probably have to settle for fourth place. Aravindh failed to capitalise on an advantageous position against Fedoseev, so this game also ended without a winner. In the GMT-Challengers, Theodorou took an important step towards winning the tournament: as the only winner of the day in the Grandmaster Triathlon, he was able to extend his lead over Hakobyan to 5 points.

The top trio in the Masters remains together

After the first game of the final phase, the leading trio in the Biel GMT-Masters remains close together: Saleh Salem and Vladimir Fedoseev are still tied on points, followed by Aravindh Chithambaram on one and a half points.

Saleh Salem's draw against Volodar Murzin was enough to defend his lead. Although Murzin was able to gain a slight advantage from the opening, he was unable to build on this to achieve the victory he needed. The 19-year-old Murzin has so far drawn all six classical games – not a matter of course given the quality of his opponents – but he lacks the points to finish at the top of the table and will probably have to settle for fourth place.

The clash between the two top seeds Aravindh and Fedoseev also failed to produce a winner. Aravindh managed to gain the upper hand several times, but was unable to capitalise on any of the situations to decide the match definitively, meaning that this game also ended in a draw.

Games of the Masters Final

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GMT-Masters: Interim Ranking

Rank

Name

Games

Classical

Rapid

Blitz

Total

1

GM Saleh SALEM

21

16 ½

2

6

24 ½

2

GM Vladimir FEDOSEEV

21

10

7

7 ½

24 ½

3

GM ARAVINDH Chithambaram

21

10

7

6

23

4

GM Volodar MURZIN

21

9

5

4

18

5

GM Radoslaw WOJTASZEK *

20

6

6

4

16

6

GM Frederik SVANE *

20

4 ½

3

2 ½

10

* not qualified for final phase

Challengers: Theodorou outpaces pursuers

Nikolas Theodorou has taken an important step towards winning the Challengers tournament: he was the only player to win his game today, extending his lead to 5 points.

Nikolas Theodorou

The Greek played an even game against David Navara before the Czech, already a pawn down on the board, decided to exchange another pair of pawns in the rook endgame, which proved to be a decisive mistake. After 40 more moves, Theodorou finally managed to win the game after five and a half hours.

In the other game, Rinat Jumabayev and Aram Hakobyan fought a duel. Both would have had a motive to play for victory: Jumabayev to keep his chance of second place, Hakobyan to put pressure on leader Theodorou. In the game, Jumabayev was able to gain an effective advantage in the meantime, but was unable to hold on to it, so that the game ended after 36 moves by repetition.

Aram Hakobyan

Games of the Challengers Final

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GMT-Challengers: Interim Ranking

Rank

Name

Games

Classical

Rapid

Blitz

Total

1

GM Nikolas THEODOROU

21

16 ½

8

6

30 ½

2

GM Aram HAKOBYAN

21

11 ½

7

7

25 ½

3

GM Rinat JUMABAYEV

21

10

4

3

17

4

GM David NAVARA

21

8 ½

2

5

15 ½

5

GM MA Qun *

20

6

5

4

15

6

GM Daniel DARDHA *

20

4 ½

4

5

13 ½

* not qualified for the final phase

MTO: Karthikeyan and Karthik in the lead

The Indians continue to dominate at the top of the Masters Tournament MTO. As on the previous day, it is a duo that has a half-point lead over the closest rivals, although the composition of the duo has changed: GM Karthikeyan Murali has been joined by GM Karthik Venkataraman, who was able to defeat the previous co-leader GM Pranav Anand.

GM Yilmaz, Mustafa vs GM Karthikeyan, Murali

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Standings after 8 rounds

1 1 GM Karthikeyan, Murali IND 2650 6,5 0 34,00 39
2 6 GM Karthik, Venkataraman IND 2540 6,5 0 31,75 35,5
3 5 GM Pranav, Anand IND 2566 6 0 31,25 40,5
4 4 GM Yilmaz, Mustafa TUR 2586 6 0 30,75 38,5
5 3 GM Pranesh, M IND 2592 6 0 28,25 35
6 2 GM Bok, Benjamin NED 2593 6 0 27,75 35
7 9 IM Dau, Khuong Duy VIE 2456 6 0 27,00 36
8 8 IM Poh, Yu Tian MAS 2458 6 0 26,25 35
9 10 GM Panchanathan, Magesh Chandran IND 2454 6 0 26,25 34,5
10 33 FM Soo, Kai Jie AUS 2240 6 0 25,50 35,5
11 13 FM Gloeckler, Christian GER 2439 5,5 0 27,50 38
12 14 FM Adewumi, Tanitoluwa USA 2397 5,5 0 23,50 32,5
13 11 IM Baenziger, Fabian SUI 2450 5,5 0 23,25 33,5
14 12 IM Banh, Gia Huy VIE 2445 5,5 0 22,75 29
15 30 WGM Doluhanova, Evgeniya UKR 2256 5,5 0 22,50 32,5
16 23 IM Sanket, Chakravarty IND 2301 5,5 0 21,75 28
17 18 GM Gruenfeld, Yehuda ISR 2367 5,5 0 18,25 27
18 22 FM Federer, Colin SUI 2303 5,5 0 18,00 26
19 7 GM Sasikiran, Krishnan IND 2531 5 0 24,00 39
20 15 IM Arfan, Aditya Bagus INA 2385 5 0 23,00 36
21 38 FM Mostertman, Milan NED 2212 5 0 22,00 38
22 26 Chen, Yuan CHN 2286 5 0 22,00 34,5
23 48 WGM Georgescu, Lena SUI 2185 5 0 21,25 32,5
24 20 FM Latorre, Vincent CAN 2326 5 0 20,75 33,5
25 25 FM Song, Ethan CAN 2288 5 0 20,75 33

...112 players

Stable conditions in the ATO

The top of the Amateur Tournament ATO remains unchanged: However, Roman Tkhoruk scored a very easy point today: His opponent turned up too late for the game. Simon Künzli and Ding Shirui remain the closest pursuers.

Interim Ranking ATO  

Second round of the week's tournaments

The second round of the two five-day week's tournaments was played on Tuesday.

Interim Ranking WT2  

Interim Ranking WT1 

Outlook

Tomorrow's penultimate round in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon could already bring preliminary decisions, especially in the GMT-Challengers: Theodorou, playing with White, can decide the tournament in his favour with a win against Jumabayev. If his rival Hakobyan does not win, a draw will be enough for him. Hakobyan, for his part, will face Navara, who is still fighting for a place on the podium. In the GMT-Masters, Fedoseev plays Murzin and Salem meets Aravindh.

Beauty Award MTO, ATO

Every day, the best games from MTO and ATO are voted for on social media.

Winner MTO RD6: Victor Lilliehook (2074) vs. Lancelot Gafner (1901) 1 – 0

Winner ATO RD5: Erik Heitmann (1821) vs. Philippe Steiner (1864) 1 – 0

Tournament page...

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See also

Biel: Salem beats Fedoseev, Aravindh regains the lead

7/19/2025 – Aravindh Chithambaram has reclaimed the lead in the Biel GMT-Masters Triathlon following his draw with Radoslaw Wojtaszek, aided by Vladimir Fedoseev's defeat to Salem Saleh. The Emirati grandmaster, now in third place, secured his second classical win with a convincing performance. In the GMT-Challengers, all games ended in draws, a result that benefits Nikolas Theodorou and Aram Hakobyan, whose progression to next week's final phase now looks increasingly likely. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

See also

Biel: Fedoseev regains the lead

7/18/2025 – With a victory over Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Vladimir Fedoseev took the lead in the overall standings of the Biel Masters Triathlon. Aravindh is tied for second place after a draw against Volodar Murzin. Frederik Svane suffered his second defeat in a row against Saleh Salem. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival

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