Live: the 53rd International Chess Festival Biel will begin on Saturday

by ChessBase
7/16/2020 – The Chess Festival Biel has a long tradition which it will continue despite the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. On Saturday, 18 July, the Festival will start with the Accentus Chess 960 Tournament while the Grandmaster Tournament will begin one day later, on Sunday, 19 July. The Grandmaster Tournament has a strong line-up and is played as a "triathlon" with seven rounds of classical chess, seven rounds of rapid chess and 14 rounds of blitz.

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53rd Chess Festival Biel

The 53rd Chess Festival in Biel could almost not have taken place this year. The corona pandemic and the lockdown of all events threatened to jeopardise the traditional Swiss tournament. But the organisers, with long-time OC President Peter Bohnenblust at the helm, showed confidence and persistence and now the tournament is taking place with the necessary adjustments.

On Saturday, July 18, the festival will begin with the Accentus Chess 960 tournament. On Sunday follows the GM Rapid Tournament and on Monday the Master Open will start. After a day of rest, the Grandmasters will start on Tuesday with the classical games in the Invitational Tournament and on 25 July the rapid games of the GM tournament will be inserted. The festival ends on 29 July. In addition to the main events, there will be a series of side events.

Grandmaster Tournament

The line-up

GM Harikrishna Pentala
GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek
GM David Anton Guijarro
GM Michael Adams
GM Salem Saleh
GM Romain Édouard
GM Noël Studer
GM Vincent Keymer

An interesting question is how the players will come to Biel. This was probably clarified well in advance. Harikrishna, e.g. does not come from India but from the Czech Republic where he lives.

Time control

Classic: 40 moves in 100 minutes, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, after that 15 minutes for the rest of the game; an increment of 30 seconds per move.
Rapid: 15 minuntes + 5 seconds increcment per move.
Blitz: 3 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.

Points per game

Classic: Win 4 points; draw 1½ Punkt; loss 0.
Rapid: Win 2 points; draw 1 point; loss 0.
Blitz: Win 1 point; draw ½ point; loss 0.

The points are added up for the overall ranking. In the event of a tie, the ranking in the Chess 960 Tournament will decide.

Prizes

Total prize-fund:

CHF 30500

Prizes: CHF 10000/7500/5000/3000/2000/1500/1000/500.

Main Tournament

Usually the Chess Festival Biel also offered a Master Open and a General Open in addition to the Grandmaster Tournament. This year everything is different and there is only one "Corona Main Tournament" with a maximum of 150 participants. The registration list is now almost full. Christian Bauer from France and Sebastian Siebrecht from Germany are two of the few grandmasters in the tournament and among the favourites to win the tournament.

Links

Tournament page


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