Biel Chess Classical, day 1 report
The Biel Chess International Festival 2025 is taking place July 12 – July 25 in Switzerland. Biel Masters 2025 is one of the Top Events in The Chess Calendar For the next two weeks, the chess world will once again be looking to Biel: for the 58 th time in a row, the Biel International Chess Festival will be welcoming players from all over the world
Chess960: Radoslaw Wojtaszek wins Accentus Chess960 Masters in Biel
Rapid: Biel Chess 2025 – Masters rapid / Biel Chess 2025 – Challengers rapid
Classical: Biel Chess 2025 – Masters classical / Biel Chess 2025 – Challengers classical
Calendar: Top Events / Chess Calendar
58th Biel International Chess Festival – Daily Media Report (July 15, 2025)
Grandmasters in the GMT-Masters neutralise each other
While the three games in the GMT-Masters ended in draws today, each game in the GMT-Challengers had a decisive result. Fedoseev and Aravindh maintain their lead in the Masters, closely followed by Wojtaszek. In the Challengers, Theodorou and Hakobyan extended their lead with victories. David Navara climbed from last place to third after beating Daniel Dardha. The Biel Congress Centre came to life with the second round of the Master Tournament (MTO) and the start of the Amateur Tournament (ATO).
GMT-Masters: Fedoseev vs. Aravindh Ends in a Draw
In today’s first round of classical chess in the Grandmaster Triathlon, all three games ended in draws. Fedoseev and Aravindh played the game of the day, with a slight middlegame advantage for Fedoseev equalised by Aravindh. They played out the endgame down to the last pawn. Wojtaszek vs. Svane ended in a quick 34-move repetition. Salem missed a chance to win against Murzin but escaped with a draw.
GMT-Masters: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Vladimir Fedoseev | 6 | 1½ | 7 | 8½ | |
| 2 | GM Aravindh Chithambaram | 6 | 1½ | 7 | 8½ | |
| 3 | GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek | 6 | 1½ | 6 | 7½ | |
| 4 | GM Volodar Murzin | 6 | 1½ | 5 | 6½ | |
| 5 | GM Frederik Svane | 6 | 1½ | 3 | 4½ | |
| 6 | GM Saleh Salem | 6 | 1½ | 2 | 3½ |
Theodorou Defends Lead in Challengers
Three decisive games marked today’s GMT-Challengers round. Nikolas Theodorou defeated Rinat Jumabayev to stay in the lead. Aram Hakobyan also won, while David Navara rebounded impressively by defeating Daniel Dardha after struggling in the Rapid portion.
GMT-Challengers: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Nikolas Theodorou | 6 | 4 | 8 | 12 | |
| 2 | GM Aram Hakobyan | 6 | 4 | 7 | 11 | |
| 3 | GM David Navara | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
| 4 | GM Ma Qun | 6 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 5 | GM Rinat Jumabayev | 6 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 6 | GM Daniel Dardha | 6 | 4 | 4 |
MTO: Second Round Underway
Today’s second round of the Master Tournament (MTO) featured 56 boards. As expected early in the tournament, stronger players mostly prevailed. Seven of the nine grandmasters have lived up to expectations so far. One has already drawn a game, while GM Yehuda Gruenfeld started poorly with just ½ out of 2 points.
ATO: The Amateurs Take the Stage
The Amateur Tournament (ATO) kicked off today with 109 participants from 16 countries. Switzerland leads with 74 players, followed by Germany with 12. Players from Kazakhstan, South Africa, and the USA highlight the global nature of the tournament.
Outlook: A Chance for Wojtaszek?
Tomorrow, both GMT-Masters co-leaders play with black: Fedoseev faces Murzin, and Aravindh plays Svane. Wojtaszek, their nearest competitor, will play white against last-placed Salem—a prime chance to close the gap.
In the Challengers, David Navara (white) meets Theodorou in a clash of today’s winners. Hakobyan faces Dardha, and Ma Qun meets Jumabayev.
In the morning: Round 3 of the Freestyle tournament. In the afternoon from 2 PM: Round 3 of the MTO, Round 2 of the ATO, and the GMT rounds.
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This media report is released daily by the Organising Committee during the Biel Chess Festival.