Three top-class games were played in the fourth round of the GM Tournament in Biel.
Indian star Pentala Harikrishna sacrificed a knight for three connected central pawns against the Slav Defence put forth by German young hope Vincent Keymer.
Keymer subsequently played vigorously, but was unable to deal with the impressive phalanx of pawns, and with time running out he overlooked a tactical finesse — he had to give back the piece, and then gave in to the pressure exerted by White.
Pentala Harikrishna v Vincent Keymer
Local hero Noël Studer celebrated his first victory with a convincing win over David Antón’s Grünfeld Defence. After long preparations in the opening, the Swiss champion was able to put pressure on his opponent on the kingside and open up the position decisively against the black king. After 32 moves, the Spaniard found no way to continue and resigned.
Noël Studer
The game between Michael Adams and Romain Édouard showed a calmer variation in the French Defence. A lot of material was exchanged and after 40 moves there was an even rook endgame on the board and the opponents agreed a draw.
With a very strong performance, Radoslaw Wojtaszek fought his way back to the top of the standings table. His opponent Arkadij Naidiitsch tried to surprise him in the opening. The proven Najdorf expert, however, proved to be on top of the action and was able to consolidate safely first and then gained the initiative step by step. With the d5-breakthrough in the centre, the Polish GM took over completely and was finally able to dominate the light squares on his opponent’s camp.
Thus Radoslaw Wojtaszek is the new leader of the event, ahead of Pentala Harikrishna and Vincent Keymer.
Today, the third discipline of the triathlon is taking place. The grandmasters are playing 14 games of blitz in a double round-robin.
Chess in times of social distancing
A skater in front of the Kongresshaus
| Rank | Name | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek | 8½ | 12 | 0 | 20½ |
| 2 | GM Pentala Harikrishna | 8½ | 10 | 0 | 18½ |
| 3 | GM Vincent Keymer | 8 | 10 | 0 | 18 |
| 4 | GM Michael Adams | 8½ | 8 | 0 | 16½ |
| 5 | GM Arkadij Naiditsch | 5½ | 5 | 0 | 10½ |
| 6 | GM Noël Studer | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 7 | GM David Antón Guijarro | 5½ | 4 | 0 | 9½ |
| 8 | GM Romain Édouard | 4½ | 4 | 0 | 8½ |
In the Special Corona Tournament, big favourite Christian Bauer is the only player that has kept a perfect score after five rounds. On Friday, he played the longest game of the round and finally managed to score the full point against Christophe Rohrer.
Nils Decker from Berlin, an untitled player, is still causing furor as he is currently sharing second place on 4½/5.
Nils Decker
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
| 1 | GM | Bauer Christian | 2623 | 5,0 | 15,5 |
| 2 | IM | Meins Gerlef | 2415 | 4,5 | 15,5 |
| 3 | Decker Nils | 2047 | 4,5 | 13,0 | |
| 4 | AGM | Rohrer Christophe | 2235 | 4,0 | 15,0 |
| 5 | FM | Buchenau Frank | 2278 | 4,0 | 14,5 |
| 6 | IM | Gschnitzer Adrian | 2404 | 4,0 | 14,0 |
| 7 | IM | Contin Daniel | 2251 | 4,0 | 14,0 |
| 8 | Jovanovic Sladjan | 2176 | 4,0 | 14,0 | |
| 9 | FM | Kamber Bruno | 2290 | 4,0 | 13,5 |
| 10 | Mathieu Phileas | 2214 | 4,0 | 13,5 | |
| 11 | FM | Youssoupov Moisse | 2333 | 4,0 | 12,5 |
| 12 | AIM | Cahen Alexis | 2125 | 4,0 | 12,5 |
| 13 | FM | Fecker Noah | 2346 | 4,0 | 12,5 |
| 14 | GM | Bellahcene Bilel | 2502 | 4,0 | 12,0 |
| 15 | Saya Ethan | 2199 | 4,0 | 11,5 | |
| 16 | Jepsen Thomas Tange | 2116 | 4,0 | 11,0 | |
| 17 | Briand Amaury | 1929 | 4,0 | 10,0 | |
| 18 | FM | Karsay Pascal | 2304 | 3,5 | 15,5 |
| 19 | Emmenecker Pierre-Antoine | 2172 | 3,5 | 14,0 | |
| 20 | IM | Baenziger Fabian | 2403 | 3,5 | 14,0 |
| 21 | Krivenko Dion | 2046 | 3,5 | 13,5 | |
| 22 | FM | Borner Daniel | 2154 | 3,5 | 13,5 |
| 23 | IM | Adrian Claude | 2246 | 3,5 | 13,5 |
| 24 | GM | Siebrecht Sebastian | 2429 | 3,5 | 13,0 |
| 25 | FM | Schulz Michael | 2132 | 3,5 | 13,0 |
| 26 | Carre Sylvain | 2106 | 3,5 | 12,5 | |
| 27 | Jakhari Ansh | 1908 | 3,5 | 12,5 | |
| 28 | Perreard Nicolas | 1956 | 3,5 | 12,0 | |
| 29 | Ermitsch Magnus | 2000 | 3,5 | 11,5 | |
| 30 | FM | Lorscheid Gerhard | 2241 | 3,5 | 11,5 |
| 31 | Adrian Leopold | 2061 | 3,5 | 11,0 |
