Biel, Round 2: Four draws, long games, lots of fight

by André Schulz
7/29/2021 – All four games of the Grandmaster Tournament in Biel ended with a draw, but Noel Studer and Alan Pichot played for almost eight hours and made 138 moves before they agreed to share the point. The young German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer had no easy task against Kirill Alekseenko, but solved it. In the Open, Salem Saleh and Surya Ganguly share the lead with 3.0/3 each. | Photos: Biel Chess Festival
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Long games

In the first round of the classical part of the Grandmaster Tournament at the 54th Biel Chess Festival, Kirill Alekseenko and Nihal Sarin played the longest game of the round. Nihal Sarin tried desperately to defend an endgame with a pawn but after 91 moves he conceded defeat and resigned.

But in round 2 Noel Studer and Alan Pichot played an even longer game – they played for seven hours and 42 minutes before agreeing to a draw. 

Studer, the local hero, tried to win a queen ending with two pawns against one but Pichot defended attentively and after 138 moves the game ended in a draw.

Vincent Keymer, born 2004 and Germany's youngest Grandmaster of all time, was up against World Championship Candidate Kirill Alekseenko, who seems to be very motivated in Biel. Keymer had White but ended up with a somewhat passive position after the opening, which he, however, was able to hold.

Vincent Keymer
 

 
V. Keymer vs K. Alekseenko

Black has more space and an outpost on e4. However, White's position is rather solid.

26.Kh2 c4 27.Rd4 Nc5 Another try was 27...h4 28.gxh4 Qf6 White now best reacts with 29.f3. After (29.g3 Nxg3 30.fxg3 Qxd4) 29...Nc5 30.Rcd1 Nd3 31.Qd2 (31.R1xd3!? cxd3 32.Qxd3) 31...Rb6 32.b3 Rbe6 33.Bf2 Nxf2 34.Qxf2 chances are about equal.

28.Rcd1 Nd3 29.b3 Re4 30.Bc3 After 30.bxc4 Rxd4 31.exd4 dxc4 32.Bc3 Rf6 Black is better.

30...Rxd4 31.Bxd4 Qe4 32.bxc4 dxc4 33.Rb1 Kh7 34.Rb8 Rh6 35.Rb6 Rxb6 36.Bxb6

 

36... h4 36...Qf5!? is a winning attempt: 37.Kg1?! h4 38.Bd4 (Worse is 38.gxh4 c3 39.e4 Qb5 40.e5 (40.Bd4? Nc1 41.Qxb5 axb5 and Black wins.) 40...Qb1+ 41.Kh2 Nf4 42.Qxa6 Qe4 and White has to defend.) 38...hxg3 39.fxg3

37.gxh4 Qe5+ 38.Kg1 Qa1+ 39.Kh2 Qf6 40.Bd4 Qxh4+ 41.Kg1 f6 42.Qf3 Kg6 43.g4 Qg5 ½–½

Nihal Sarin and Boris Gelfand as did Gata Kamsky and Maxime Lagarde. But all received 1.5 points for this draw because in the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon 4 points are awarded for a win and 1.5 points for a draw.

Games

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 d6 5.d3 h6 6.Nd2 g6 7.Nf1 Bg7 8.Ne3 Nf6 9.h4 Rb8 10.Bd2 Nd4 11.a4 0-0 12.Ncd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Kh8 14.h5 f5 15.c3 f4 16.Nc4 Qg5 17.Kf1 Ne6 18.Nxd6 Bd7 19.hxg6 Qxg6 20.Qh5 Qxh5 21.Rxh5 Nc7 22.c4 Kh7 23.Bc3 Kg6 24.Bxe5 Kxh5 25.Bxg7 Nxd5 26.Bxf8 Nb4 27.Bg7 Nxd3 28.Ke2 Nb4 29.Be5 Rf8 30.a5 Nc6 31.Bc3 Nd8 32.f3 Kg6 33.Kf2 Bc6 34.a6 b6 35.Nc8 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kamsky,G2658Studer,N25811–02021B3054th Biel GM 20211
Lagarde,M2648Keymer,V2591½–½2021A2854th Biel GM 20211
Alekseenko,K2699Nihal,S26201–02021C7854th Biel GM 20211
Gelfand,B2675Pichot,A26300–12021A1454th Biel GM 20211
Studer,N2581Pichot,A2630½–½2021E0654th Biel GM 20212
Nihal,S2620Gelfand,B2675½–½2021A0454th Biel GM 20212
Keymer,V2591Alekseenko,K2699½–½2021E5154th Biel GM 20212
Kamsky,G2658Lagarde,M2648½–½2021B5154th Biel GM 20212
Lagarde,M2648Studer,N25812021C4254th Biel GM 20213
Alekseenko,K2699Kamsky,G26582021B0454th Biel GM 20213
Gelfand,B2675Keymer,V25912021E1054th Biel GM 20213
Pichot,A2630Nihal,S26202021C0754th Biel GM 20213

Live commentary of round 2

MTO

The Master Open also has an interesting field. To support women's chess, the festival has increased the prizes for female participants. This seems to be motivating and Vaishali Rameshbabu (Elo 2393), the elder sister of Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, drew against the Russian GM Maksim Chigaev (Elo 2630). Javiera Belen Gomez Barrera from Chile (Elo 2083) and Nikola Mayrhuber from Austria (Elo 2062) also caused a slight upset by drawing against their Grandmaster opponents GM Kantor Gergely (Elo 2527) and GM Andrei Shchekachev (Elo 2515).

After three rounds Salem Saleh and Surya Ganguly share the lead with 3.0/3 each.

Standings after three rounds

Rk. Name Pts.  Tb1 
1 Saleh Salem A.R. 3,0 4,0
2 Ganguly Surya Shekhar 3,0 3,5
3 Fedorchuk Sergey 2,5 4,5
4 Yuffa Daniil 2,5 4,5
5 Eljanov Pavel 2,5 4,5
  Chithambaram Aravindh 2,5 4,5
7 Banusz Tamas 2,5 4,5
8 Raja Harshit 2,5 4,0
9 Narayanan S.L. 2,5 4,0
10 Murali Karthikeyan 2,5 4,0
  Dragnev Valentin 2,5 4,0
12 Wagner Dennis 2,5 3,5
13 R Praggnanandhaa 2,5 3,5
  Vaishali R 2,5 3,5
15 Puranik Abhimanyu 2,0 5,0

73 participants

Games

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,187,37854%2421---
1.d4960,97355%2434---
1.Nf3287,04656%2440---
1.c4185,21656%2442---
1.g319,90856%2427---
1.b314,61554%2428---
1.f45,96148%2376---
1.Nc33,92350%2383---
1.b41,79148%2379---
1.a31,25354%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39366%2506---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 Be7 6.d4 0-0 7.Re1 Qc8 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Bd2 c5 10.d5 exd5 11.cxd5 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 d6 13.e4 Nd7 14.f4 c4 15.Kh1 a6 16.Rc1 b5 17.b4 Bf6 18.a4 Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Qc7 20.g4 Rae8 21.a5 g5 22.fxg5 Ne5 23.Rf1 Qe7 24.Rf5 f6 25.gxf6 Rxf6 26.Rg3 Nd3 27.Qa1 Ref8 28.Bf1 Ne5 29.Be2 Bc8 30.Qd4 R6f7 31.Rxf7 Rxf7 32.Qe3 Ng6 33.Nf3 Rf4 34.Nd2 Qe5 35.h3 Qa1+ 36.Rg1 Qe5 37.Rc1 Bb7 38.Rc3 Kg7 39.Kg1 Ne7 40.Bf1 Bxd5 41.exd5 Nxd5 42.Qxe5+ dxe5 43.Rc1 Nxb4 44.Nxc4 bxc4 45.Bxc4 Rf6 46.Rb1 Nc6 47.Rb7+ Kg6 48.Bd3+ Kg5 49.Rxh7 Kf4 50.Kg2 e4 51.Bxa6 Nxa5 52.Bb5 Nb3 53.Rd7 Nc5 54.Rd5 Ne6 55.Bc4 Ng5 56.Be2 Ne6 57.Bc4 Ng5 58.Be2 Ne6 59.Bd1 Ke3 60.Rf5 Rxf5 61.gxf5 Nd4 62.f6 Ne6 63.Bg4 Nf8 64.Kg3 Kd4 65.Kf4 e3 66.f7 Kd5 67.Kf5 Kd4 68.Kf6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Salem Saleh2682Noaman Omar23671–02021E17MTO1.101
Donchenko Alexander2652Tahay Alexis2349½–½2021A34MTO1.103
J Sai Agni Jeevitesh2322Sethuraman S.P.26440–12021E04MTO1.104
Chithambaram Aravindh2641Dordzhieva Dinara23111–02021D27MTO1.105
Fecker Noah2309Banusz Tamas26310–12021C84MTO1.106
Chigaev Maksim2630Stelmaszyk Nico22961–02021D33MTO1.107
Löffler Markus2295Ganguly Surya Shekhar26250–12021C18MTO1.108
Narayanan S.L.2624Kamber Bruno22751–02021E11MTO1.109
Ammar Sedrani2274Erdos Viktor2614½–½2021A45MTO1.110
R Praggnanandhaa2608Wacker Peter22631–02021A01MTO1.111
Eric Jovana2250Murali Karthikeyan26060–12021B51MTO1.112
Fedorchuk Sergey2598Blagojevic Tijana22221–02021C50MTO1.113
Pahud Cédric2200Puranik Abhimanyu25890–12021C47MTO1.114
Gukesh Dommaraju2578Al Hosani Omran21971–02021D00MTO1.115
Salzgeber Frank2183Yuffa Daniil25780–12021E94MTO1.116
Wagner Dennis2572Doluhanova Evgeniya21791–02021C67MTO1.117
Gueci Tea2179Dragnev Valentin25690–12021B51MTO1.118
Erigaisi Arjun2567Rakhmangulova Anastasiya21671–02021E74MTO1.119
Zimmermann Luc2151Sadhwani Raunak25550–12021C28MTO1.120
Korpa Bence2536Ferster Fabian21431–02021D03MTO1.121
Schweizer Simon2142Kantor Gergely25271–02021C26MTO1.122
Valsecchi Alessio2527Borner Daniel21331–02021E73MTO1.123
Giacomini Hector2104Tang Andrew25250–12021E14MTO1.124
NR Visakh2516Schmid Christoph20911–02021D37MTO1.125
Paladini Jean-Michel2084Shchekachev Andrei25150–12021A37MTO1.126
Budisavljevic Luka2509Kornitzky Tino20831–02021D36MTO1.127
Gomez Barrera Javiera Belen2083Kalyan Arjun25030–12021B56MTO1.128
Raja Harshit2484Sultan Ibrahim20761–02021C11MTO1.129
Vasquez Toledo Cristian2064NR Vignesh24280–12021B90MTO1.130
Papadiamandis Elliot-Eljanov Pavel-0–12021B15MTO1.102
Erigaisi Arjun2567Salem Saleh26820–12021B12MTO2.101
Eljanov Pavel2671Korpa Bence25361–02021E18MTO2.102
Sethuraman S.P.2644Valsecchi Alessio25270–12021C11MTO2.103
Sadhwani Raunak2555Chithambaram Aravindh26410–12021C54MTO2.104
Banusz Tamas2631NR Visakh25161–02021D02MTO2.105
Tang Andrew2525Chigaev Maksim2630½–½2021A48MTO2.106
Ganguly Surya Shekhar2625Budisavljevic Luka25091–02021B40MTO2.107
Shchekachev Andrei2515Narayanan S.L.26240–12021A06MTO2.108
Kalyan Arjun2503R Praggnanandhaa2608½–½2021B33MTO2.109
Murali Karthikeyan2606Raja Harshit2484½–½2021E44MTO2.110
NR Vignesh2428Fedorchuk Sergey25980–12021E32MTO2.111
Puranik Abhimanyu2589Gschnitzer Adrian24201–02021B11MTO2.112
Vaishali R2393Gukesh Dommaraju25781–02021B31MTO2.113
Yuffa Daniil2578Haimovich Tal23881–02021D11MTO2.114
Schweizer Simon2142Wagner Dennis25720–12021C54MTO2.115
Dragnev Valentin2569Mayrhuber Nikola20621–02021D02MTO2.116
Seul Georg2372Donchenko Alexander26521–02021C24MTO2.117
Erdos Viktor2614Ohler Julius20141–02021B11MTO2.118
Bänziger Fabian2392Ammar Sedrani22741–02021E09MTO2.119
Tahay Alexis2349Dornieden Jonas20011–02021B31MTO2.120
Kantor Gergely2527Doluhanova Evgeniya21791–02021E16MTO2.121
Unuk Laura2407Gueci Tea2179½–½2021D34MTO2.122
Ferster Fabian2143Papadiamandis Elliot23630–12021A29MTO2.124
Borner Daniel2133J Sai Agni Jeevitesh23220–12021C00MTO2.125
Dordzhieva Dinara2311Zimmermann Luc2151½–½2021D76MTO2.126
Schmid Christoph2091Fecker Noah2309½–½2021A58MTO2.127
Stelmaszyk Nico2296Giacomini Hector21041–02021B14MTO2.128
Kornitzky Tino2083Löffler Markus22951–02021D85MTO2.129
Kamber Bruno2275Paladini Jean-Michel20841–02021B90MTO2.130
Noaman Omar2367Rakhmangulova Anastasiya21670–12021E71MTO2.123
Salem Saleh2682Puranik Abhimanyu25891–02021D87MTO3.101
Fedorchuk Sergey2598Eljanov Pavel2671½–½2021C92MTO3.102
Chithambaram Aravindh2641Yuffa Daniil2578½–½2021D16MTO3.103
Wagner Dennis2572Banusz Tamas2631½–½2021C42MTO3.104
Valsecchi Alessio2527Ganguly Surya Shekhar26250–12021A18MTO3.105
Narayanan S.L.2624Dragnev Valentin2569½–½2021D87MTO3.106
Chigaev Maksim2630Vaishali R2393½–½2021A21MTO3.107
Kalyan Arjun2503Erdos Viktor2614½–½2021C54MTO3.108
R Praggnanandhaa2608Bänziger Fabian23921–02021B23MTO3.109
Seul Georg2372Murali Karthikeyan26060–12021B30MTO3.110
Raja Harshit2484Tang Andrew25251–02021E04MTO3.111
Sethuraman S.P.2644Tahay Alexis23491–02021B90MTO3.112
Gukesh Dommaraju2578Stelmaszyk Nico2296½–½2021D02MTO3.113
Pahud Cédric2200Erigaisi Arjun25670–12021B07MTO3.114
Rakhmangulova Anastasiya2167Sadhwani Raunak25550–12021C26MTO3.115
Korpa Bence2536Kamber Bruno22751–02021A47MTO3.116
Gomez Barrera Javiera Belen2083Kantor Gergely2527½–½2021C55MTO3.117
NR Visakh2516Blagojevic Tijana22221–02021C54MTO3.118
Mayrhuber Nikola2062Shchekachev Andrei2515½–½2021E94MTO3.119
Budisavljevic Luka2509Al Hosani Omran2197½–½2021A48MTO3.120
Küng Nicolas2005NR Vignesh24280–12021E32MTO3.121
Gschnitzer Adrian2420Schweizer Simon21421–02021E20MTO3.122
Haimovich Tal2388Kornitzky Tino20831–02021C93MTO3.123
Papadiamandis Elliot2363Sultan Ibrahim20761–02021C07MTO3.124
J Sai Agni Jeevitesh2322Manukonda Arun20331–02021E14MTO3.125
Donchenko Alexander2652Gueci Tea21791–02021B30MTO3.126
Zimmermann Luc2151Unuk Laura24070–12021B15MTO3.127
Ohler Julius2014Dordzhieva Dinara23110–12021D27MTO3.128
Fecker Noah2309Dornieden Jonas20011–02021B33MTO3.129
Ammar Sedrani2274Schmid Christoph20911–02021D00MTO3.130

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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