Kamsky leads the main event
Two legends met yesterday at the Biel Chess Festival: Gata Kamsky and Boris Gelfand, both former World Championship runners-up and World Cup winners. With a draw, Kamsky defended his lead in the tournament ranking. The new first chaser is the Frenchman Lagarde, who overtook Alekseenko with a win. Keymer was also victorious, as the German defeated the Argentine Pichot. Noël Studer and Nihal Sarin drew.
Yesterday in Biel, there was a replay of the semi-final of the 2011 Candidates’ Tournament: Boris Gelfand had then beaten Gata Kamsky in the tie-break blitz, before beating Grischuk in the final, thus qualifying to challenge, in 2012, the then reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand. While Kamsky was unable to exact revenge today, he should not be unhappy with a draw that puts him in the 3½ points ahead of the runner-up in the overall standings.
In this opening Black opts for active piece play and is not afraid to fight for the initiative from an early stage. One of the many good features of this opening is that Black is often the side which controls the pace of the game.

The playing hall
Frenchman Maxime Lagarde is the new runner-up behind Kamsky. Lagarde won the direct duel with Kamsky’s previous rival, Kirill Alekseenko, as the Russian, who was better at times, made decisive mistakes in time trouble. Like Lagarde, Vincent Keymer also won his first classical game in round 4. Against Alan Pichot, he managed to steadily build up his position and then safely convert it into a win.

Vincent Keymer
After his opening defeat, Nihal Sarin drew for the third time in a row on Friday. Inspired by his victory in the previous round, Noël Studer, playing with white, got a good position, but the Indian managed to hold the draw.
Overall standings
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.
Rank |
Name |
Country |
Games |
Classic |
Rapid |
Blitz |
TOTAL |
1 |
GM Gata Kamsky |
USA |
11 |
8½ |
11 |
|
19½ |
2 |
GM Maxime Lagarde |
FRA |
11 |
7 |
9 |
|
16 |
3 |
GM Kirill Alekseenko |
RUS |
11 |
7 |
8 |
|
15 |
4 |
GM Nihal Sarin |
IND |
11 |
4½ |
10 |
|
14½ |
5 |
GM Vincent Keymer |
GER |
11 |
7 |
6 |
|
13 |
6 |
GM Alan Pichot |
ARG |
11 |
7 |
5 |
|
12 |
7 |
GM Boris Gelfand |
ISR |
11 |
7 |
4 |
|
11 |
8 |
GM Noël Studer |
SUI |
11 |
7 |
3 |
|
10 |
All games - Classical
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1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Bg7 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Be2 Re8 9.0-0 Na6 10.Nc3 Nc5 11.Rad1 a5 12.Ba1 Bf5 13.Qd2 Qb8 14.Qc1 Qa7 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Ndb5 Qb6 17.Bb2 Bxb5 18.cxb5 a4 19.b4 a3 20.bxc5 axb2 21.cxb6 bxc1Q 22.Rxc1 cxb6 23.Bf3 Re7 24.Rfd1 Rc7 25.Nd5 Nxd5 26.Bxd5 Rac8 27.Rxc7 Rxc7 28.Bb3 Bf8 29.g3 Rc5 30.a4 Be7 31.Bd5 Kf8 32.Bxb7 Rc4 33.Ra1 Bf6 34.Ra2 Bc3 35.Kg2 h5 36.Bd5 Rc5 37.Rc2 f5 38.f4 Ke7 39.Kf3 Kf6 40.e4 fxe4+ 41.Kxe4 Ba5 42.Re2 Rc1 43.Kf3 Rf1+ 44.Kg2 Re1 45.Rxe1 Bxe1 46.h4 Bb4 47.Kf3 Ba5 48.Ke2 Bb4 49.Be4 Ba5 50.Kf3 Bb4 51.Bc6 Ba5 52.Bd7 d5 53.Bc6 Ke6 54.g4 hxg4+ 55.Kxg4 Kf6 56.Bxd5 Bb4 57.Be4 Bd2 58.Bc2 Be1 59.Bd3 Bd2 60.Bb1 Be1 61.Bc2 Bd2 62.Kf3 Kg7 63.f5 ½–½
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Nihal Sarin | 2620 | Lagarde,M | 2648 | ½–½ | 2021 | A01 | 54th Biel GMT Classical 2021 | 7.3 |
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Masters Tournament
The Master Tournament saw two top duels among 2600+ rated players: Karthikeyan Murali, playing with black, defeated top seed Salem Saleh to take the lead with 4½ points, while young Indian star Praggnanandhaa drew with his compatriot Surya Shekhar Ganguly, which means both have so far collected 4 points in the tournament. Also on 4 points after 5 rounds are Tamas Banusz from Hungary, Pavel Eljanov from Ukraine and Sethuraman S.P. from India.
Saturday is a rest day in the Masters Tournament.
Current standings - Top 20
Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.
1 |
12 |
|
GM |
Murali Karthikeyan |
|
2606 |
0 |
4,5 |
12,0 |
57,5 |
2 |
8 |
|
GM |
Ganguly Surya Shekhar |
|
2625 |
0 |
4,0 |
13,5 |
52,5 |
3 |
2 |
|
GM |
Eljanov Pavel |
|
2671 |
0 |
4,0 |
13,0 |
55,0 |
|
6 |
|
GM |
Banusz Tamas |
|
2631 |
0 |
4,0 |
13,0 |
55,0 |
5 |
11 |
|
GM |
R Praggnanandhaa |
|
2608 |
0 |
4,0 |
13,0 |
50,5 |
6 |
4 |
|
GM |
Sethuraman S.P. |
|
2644 |
0 |
4,0 |
11,5 |
52,0 |
7 |
1 |
|
GM |
Saleh Salem A.R. |
|
2682 |
0 |
3,5 |
15,0 |
49,5 |
8 |
13 |
|
GM |
Fedorchuk Sergey |
|
2598 |
0 |
3,5 |
13,5 |
51,5 |
9 |
17 |
|
GM |
Wagner Dennis |
|
2572 |
0 |
3,5 |
13,5 |
51,0 |
10 |
28 |
|
IM |
Kalyan Arjun |
|
2503 |
0 |
3,5 |
13,0 |
51,5 |
11 |
10 |
|
GM |
Erdos Viktor |
|
2614 |
0 |
3,5 |
12,5 |
48,0 |
12 |
7 |
|
GM |
Chigaev Maksim |
|
2630 |
0 |
3,5 |
11,5 |
53,5 |
13 |
9 |
|
GM |
Narayanan S.L. |
|
2624 |
0 |
3,5 |
11,5 |
48,0 |
14 |
24 |
|
GM |
Tang Andrew |
|
2525 |
0 |
3,5 |
11,0 |
52,5 |
15 |
19 |
|
GM |
Erigaisi Arjun |
|
2567 |
0 |
3,5 |
11,0 |
50,0 |
16 |
20 |
|
GM |
Sadhwani Raunak |
|
2555 |
0 |
3,5 |
11,0 |
46,5 |
17 |
15 |
|
GM |
Gukesh Dommaraju |
|
2578 |
0 |
3,5 |
9,5 |
53,0 |
18 |
22 |
|
GM |
Kantor Gergely |
|
2527 |
0 |
3,5 |
9,0 |
51,0 |
19 |
29 |
|
IM |
Raja Harshit |
|
2484 |
0 |
3,0 |
16,0 |
49,0 |
20 |
23 |
|
GM |
Valsecchi Alessio |
|
2527 |
0 |
3,0 |
14,5 |
47,5 |
...73 players
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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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 11...Bf6N 11...Nxd2 12.Qxd2 d6 13.e4 Nd7 14.Bh3 Qd8 15.Qf4 a6 16.Rad1 f6 17.Be6+ Kh8 18.Qe3 Ne5 12.Kh1?? 12.Nxe4+- Qd8 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.Bc3 12...g5?? 13.g4?? 13.Nxe4+- Be7 14.Bxg5 13...Kg7?? 14.h3?? 14.Nxe4+- d6 15.Nfxg5 Bxg5 16.Bxg5 14...Kg6?? 15.Kg1? 15.Nxe4 Re8 16.Nd6 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Salem,A | 2682 | Omar,N | 2367 | 1–0 | 2021 | E17 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.101 |
Donchenko,A | 2652 | Tahay,A | 2349 | ½–½ | 2021 | A34 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.103 |
Sai Agni Jeevitesh,J | 2322 | Sethuraman,S | 2644 | 0–1 | 2021 | E04 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.104 |
Aravindh,C | 2641 | Dordzhieva,D | 2311 | 1–0 | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.105 |
Fecker,N | 2309 | Banusz,T | 2631 | 0–1 | 2021 | C84 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.106 |
Chigaev,M | 2630 | Stelmaszyk,N | 2296 | 1–0 | 2021 | D33 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.107 |
Loeffler,M | 2295 | Ganguly,S | 2625 | 0–1 | 2021 | C18 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.108 |
Narayanan.S.L | 2624 | Kamber,B | 2275 | 1–0 | 2021 | E11 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.109 |
Praggnanandhaa R | 2608 | Wacker,P | 2263 | 1–0 | 2021 | A01 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.111 |
Fedorchuk,S | 2598 | Blagojevic,T | 2222 | 1–0 | 2021 | C50 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.113 |
Gukesh D | 2578 | Al Hosani,O | 2197 | 1–0 | 2021 | D00 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.115 |
Salzgeber,F | 2183 | Yuffa,D | 2578 | 0–1 | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.116 |
Wagner,D | 2572 | Doluhanova,E | 2179 | 1–0 | 2021 | C67 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.117 |
Erigaisi Arjun | 2567 | Rakhmangulova,A | 2167 | 1–0 | 2021 | E74 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.119 |
Korpa,B | 2536 | Ferster,F | 2143 | 1–0 | 2021 | D03 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.121 |
Schweizer,S | 2142 | Kantor,G | 2527 | 1–0 | 2021 | C26 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.122 |
Valsecchi,A | 2527 | Borner,D | 2133 | 1–0 | 2021 | E73 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.123 |
Giacomini,H | 2104 | Tang,A | 2525 | 0–1 | 2021 | E14 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.124 |
Visakh N R | 2516 | Schmid,C | 2091 | 1–0 | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.125 |
Paladini,J | 2084 | Shchekachev,A | 2515 | 1–0 | 2021 | A37 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.126 |
Gomez Barrera,J | 2083 | Arjun Kalyan | 2503 | 0–1 | 2021 | B56 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.128 |
Raja Harshit | 2484 | Sultan,I | 2076 | 1–0 | 2021 | C11 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.129 |
Vasquez Toledo,C | 2064 | Vignesh N R | 2428 | 0–1 | 2021 | B90 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 1.130 |
Fedorchuk,S | 2598 | Eljanov,P | 2671 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.102 |
Narayanan.S.L | 2624 | Dragnev,V | 2569 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.106 |
Arjun Kalyan | 2503 | Erdos,V | 2614 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.108 |
Praggnanandhaa R | 2608 | Baenziger,F | 2392 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.109 |
Seul,G | 2372 | Karthikeyan,M | 2606 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.110 |
Gukesh D | 2578 | Stelmaszyk,N | 2296 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.113 |
Pahud,C | 2200 | Erigaisi Arjun | 2567 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.114 |
Rakhmangulova,A | 2167 | Sadhwani,R | 2555 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.115 |
Korpa,B | 2536 | Kamber,B | 2275 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.116 |
Gomez Barrera,J | 2083 | Kantor,G | 2527 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.117 |
Visakh N R | 2516 | Blagojevic,T | 2222 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.118 |
Gschnitzer,A | 2420 | Schweizer,S | 2142 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.122 |
Haimovich,T | 2388 | Kornitzky,T | 2083 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.123 |
Sai Agni Jeevitesh,J | 2322 | Manukonda Arun | 2033 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.125 |
Donchenko,A | 2652 | Gueci,T | 2179 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.126 |
Fecker,N | 2309 | Dornieden,J | 2001 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.129 |
Ammar,S | 2274 | Schmid,C | 2091 | | 2021 | | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 3.130 |
Sethuraman,S | 2644 | Erdos,V | 2614 | 0–1 | 2021 | C78 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 9.103 |
Erigaisi Arjun | 2567 | Chigaev,M | 2630 | 1–0 | 2021 | C92 | 54th Biel Festival MTO 2021 | 9.105 |
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