Aravindh Chithambaram takes the lead in Biel
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 is welcoming players from all over the world. After the Chess960 and the rapid, now it is time for the classical event.
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
Aravindh New Leader of the Biel GMT-Masters
After the second round of classical chess at the Biel Grandmaster Triathlon, Aravindh Chithambaram has taken the sole lead in the Masters. Despite being behind at times, he managed to beat Svane, while his rivals Fedoseev and Wojtaszek both ended their games with an unspectacular draw. The Challengers tournament is now clearly structured: Theodorou, who defeated Navara today, is now 3½ points ahead of Hakobyan, who in turn even has a 6-point lead over the rest.
Aravindh Defeats Unfortunate Svane
Frederik Svane and Aravindh Chithambaram played what was certainly the most spectacular game in the Masters today. Svane, playing with White, gained an advantage twice in the middlegame. The first was cancelled out on move 23, and the second during time trouble: the first 40 moves are to be played without increment, forcing Svane to play five moves within 20 seconds—with just 2 seconds left for the last. In this critical situation, Svane made a fatal mistake from which he could not recover.
Ironically, in an interview with the Bieler Tagblatt published today, Svane cited timing as a weakness that still separates him from the world elite.
Aravindh took the lead thanks to a draw by his previous co-leader Vladimir Fedoseev, who agreed to a draw with Volodar Murzin after 27 moves. Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Saleh Salem also drew after 25 moves and less than an hour of play.
GMT-Masters: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Aravindh Chithambaram | 7 | 5½ | 7 | – | 12½ |
| 2 | GM Vladimir Fedoseev | 7 | 3 | 7 | – | 10 |
| 3 | GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek | 7 | 3 | 6 | – | 9 |
| 4 | GM Volodar Murzin | 7 | 3 | 5 | – | 8 |
| 5 | GM Saleh Salem | 7 | 3 | 2 | – | 5 |
| 6 | GM Frederik Svane | 7 | 1½ | 3 | – | 4½ |
Theodorou Continues to Impress in the GMT-Challengers
Nikolas Theodorou remains undefeated after seven games and has secured his second win in a row in classical format. His latest victim: David Navara. Though the game seemed drawish, Navara rejected ten draw offers from move 34 onward and ultimately blundered into a decisive pawn advance.
The round favored Theodorou, with the other two games ending in draws: Dardha vs. Hakobyan and Ma Qun vs. Jumabayev. The latter lasted six hours and 12 minutes over 113 moves!
GMT-Challengers: Interim Ranking
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM Nikolas Theodorou | 7 | 8 | 8 | – | 16 |
| 2 | GM Aram Hakobyan | 7 | 5½ | 7 | – | 12½ |
| 3 | GM Ma Qun | 7 | 1½ | 5 | – | 6½ |
| 4 | GM David Navara | 7 | 4 | 2 | – | 6 |
| 5 | GM Rinat Jumabayev | 7 | 1½ | 4 | – | 5½ |
| 6 | GM Daniel Dardha | 7 | 1½ | 4 | – | 5½ |
Three at the Top of the Master Tournament MTO
After three rounds, GM Karthikeyan Murali, IM Poh Yu Tian, and GM Pranav Anand lead with perfect scores. 19 players follow with 2½ points each, including the top Swiss players and best woman competitor.
ATO: Second Round
Round 2 of the Amateur Tournament remains tightly contested with 17 players sharing the lead.
FSC: Two Leaders After Three Rounds
The Freestyle Chess (Chess960) event sees GM Alexander Raetsky and WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova undefeated at the top after three rounds.
Outlook
Tomorrow’s GMT-Masters will feature a key game: Fedoseev vs. Wojtaszek. Aravindh will face Murzin. Saleh and Svane, both at the bottom of the table, will also duel.
In the Challengers, Jumabayev faces Dardha, while leaders Theodorou and Hakobyan play Ma Qun and Navara respectively.
Announcement: Spitalzentrum Biel Blitz U20
For the first time, the Blitz U20 will take place Friday morning (9 AM), featuring 6 rounds in knockout format. The event is free and open to juniors from MTO, ATO, and the Biel region. Registration is open on the festival website until 17 July.
Beauty Award – MTO and ATO
Daily best games from MTO and ATO are voted on via social media.
- MTO RD2: No submissions
- ATO RD1: Daniel Bachmann (1766) vs. Nizar Hilmi Nuh (1521) 0–1
Photo Gallery
View photos of the Biel International Chess Festival
On the evening of each festival day, the OC sends out a media report on the day’s events.