Fabulous Start in Biel!

International Chess Festival in Biel

The Grandmaster tournament "in memoriam Hans Suri" has six players:

The games are being broadcasted live on the official web site and on Playchess, with live commentary or all rounds by GM Daniel King, plus interviews with the players in Biel, wrap-ups in the evening, etc.

ChessBase commentator and trainer GM Daniel King's preview of the Biel Chess Festival 2014

The Mercure Hotel Plaza Biel is situated near the pedestrian zone and the train station in the center of Biel, a city famous for its watches. The world-class four-star hotel has 100 comfortable rooms and suites with a wide range of facilities and a free fitness and sauna area. The Barrique restaurant serves dishes and wines from all around the world, while the hotel also features a bar, a terrace and meeting rooms for conferences and events for up to 120 guests.

Special booking conditions for the chess event: Single room CHF 103.00, Double room CHF 146.00. Desk, Wi-Fi, safe, TV, kettle with tea and coffee, minibar and fan. Please contact the Mercure Plaza Biel hotel office for reservations (with reference to "PARTICIPANT BIEL CHESS FESTIVAL"). E-Mail: h6166@accor.com; Tel. (+41) 32 328 68 68, Fax. (+41) 32 328 68 69.

Round One

Video Recap by Daniel King

Pentala Harikrishna came with guns blazing

Today's round was certainly a strong start to the tournament. The game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL) and Pentala Harikrishna was wild from the start. MVL's unusual choice in the Trompowsky backfired when Harikrishna unleashed the powerful sacrifice 5...e5!? which put White in the defensive. It was only thanks to MVL's resources and somewhat passive play by the Indian player that the Frenchman held a suffered draw; Black had the better end of the deal the entire game.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's plan backfired and he had to suffer for a draw

Alexander Motylev vs. Radoslaw Wojtaszek, an endgame that was far from boring

Meanwhile Alexander Motylev and Radoslaw Wojtaszek had their own interesting game. A quick endgame was reached but one that was certainly strategical interesting. Motylev sensed that the position was slipping away from him as every move kept punishing how far advanced and weak his pawns were. He sacrificed a pawn to try to obtain compensation, but it was insufficient and the Polish player took an important game one victory with magnificent technique.

Video Analysis by Motylev and Wojtaszek:

The Polish player scores his first win and will face Hou Yifan tomorrow with the white pieces

However the highlight of today's round was certainly the Women World Champion Hou Yifan's crushing victory over Anish Giri, who is over one hundred points ahead of her in rating:

Hou Yifan's live rating crosses to 2653, temporarily placing her in the top 100 in the World

A riveting start to the festivities in Biel; we can only hope the tournament will continue to be as interesting and surprising as it started! We leave you with Hou Yifan's and Anish Giri's analysis on their encounter:

Daniel king recaps the highlights of this game

Anish Giri will look for vengeance against Hou Yifan in the second half of the event

Replay Round One Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Links Official tournament site Download Games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.