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56th Biel MTO R2: Harikrishnan's passed pawns too strong for Meshkovs

by Shahid Ahmed - 19/07/2023

GM Arjun Erigaisi salvaged a draw against GM Yangyi Yu in the first round of 56th Biel GMT 2023. Arjun was lost for the better part of the endgame against the China no.2. However, he persevered tough positions and eventually managed to escape with a 1.5 points. GM Liem Quang Le (VIE) and GM David Navara (CZE) scored the victories over GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) and GM Bassem Amin (EGY) respectively. Navara is the early sole leader in the GMT with 14/18 points. IM Harikrishnan A Ra scored a fantastic win over Latvia no.2 GM Nikita Meshkovs. GM Aryan Chopra won the 'Beauty Award' for his first round win. Aryan, GM Pranav Anand, IM Aditya S Samant and Harikrishnan are at 2/2 in the MTO. Round 2 GMT and Round 3 MTO starts today from 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: 50th Dortmund Chess Days

Arjun Erigaisi survives against Yangyi Yu

MTO Round 2: IM Harikrishnan A Ra scored a beautiful win against GM Nikita Meshkovs (LAT) | Photo: 50th Dortmund Chess Days

GMT Round 1: Yangyi - Arjun: 1.5-1.5

Last month, GM Arjun Erigaisi (2710) defeated GM Yangyi Yu (CHN, 2735) in their first-ever Classical rated game at 23rd Dubai Open 2023. Once again, Arjun got the black pieces. However, this time he landed himself in trouble.

Position after 39...g6?

39...g6 allowed 40.Bh6+ Kg8 41.Ne7+ Kh7 42.Bd2 Kg7 43.f4 Kf6 44.h4 exf4 45.gxf4 Re8 46.f5 gxf5 47.exf5 Nf8 48.Bg5+ Ke5 49.Ra5+ Kd6 50.f6?

Position after 49...Kd6

Here, computer suggests 50.Ng8 to maintain White's substantial advantage. 50.f6 gave Black some fighting chances after Kc7. White got some more chances in the end, yet he could not capitalize on any. Arjun managed to salvage a draw.

Arjun Erigaisi scored 1.5 points where he was lost the majority of the endgame | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

David Navara (CZE) defeated Bassem Amin (EGY) to gain early sole lead 14/18 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

André Vögtlin, President of Swiss Chess Federation in presence of Peter Bohnenblust made the ceremonial first move of GMT Round 1 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

MTO Round 1: Aryan - Al Taher

GM Aryan Chopra (2626) found a beautiful checkmate combination against FM Al Taher Abdulrahman Mohammad (UAE, 2258) in the first round.

Position after 26...Rad8

Find out the forced winning sequence for White which Aryan executed in the game after 26...Rad8. Aryan won the Beauty Award for this game in MTO Round 1.

GM Aryan Chopra 2/2 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Harikrishnan - Meshkovs, Round 2

Position after 25...Qxa2??

GM Nikita Meshkov's (LAT, 2565) position was in shambles. 25...Qxa2?? did not help his case. IM Harikrishnan A Ra (2406) seized his opportunity 26.Qxa2 Rxa2 27.bxc4 dxc4 28.Bb4 cxd3 29.Bxe7 d2 30.Rf1 Rxe7 31.d5 Rc2 32.d6

Position after 32.d6

White beautifully used his connected passed pawns on c and f-file to win the game. It goes without saying that this game is a top contender for the Beauty Award in MTO Round 2.

Replay 56th Biel International Chess Festival 2023 GMT Classical Round 1 Live commentary by GM Arturs Neiksans (LAT) and Angelika Valkova (UKR) - Part 1 | Video: Biel Chess Festival
Replay 56th Biel International Chess Festival 2023 GMT Classical Round 1 Live commentary by GM Arturs Neiksans (LAT) and Angelika Valkova (UKR) - Part 2 | Video: Biel Chess Festival

A total of 122 players including 6 GMs, 10 IMs, a WGM and a WIM took part from 22 countries across the world in the Rapid Open tournament. The one-day nine-round Swiss-League Rapid Rating event had a time control of 15 minutes + 5 seconds increment. It was held on Sunday 16th July at Congress Hall, Biel Congress Center in Switzerland.

 

GMT Scoring

Rapid: Win = 2 points, Draw = 1 point and Loss = 0

Classical: Win = 4 points, Draw = 1.5 points and Loss = 0

Replay GMT Round 1 games

Replay MTO Round 1-2 games

GMT Round 1 results

Bo.No.RtgNameResultNameRtgNo.
112693GMDeac, Bogdan-Daniel0 - 1GMLe, Quang Liem27288
222690GMKeymer, Vincent½ - ½GMMoussard, Jules26547
332735GMYu, Yangyi½ - ½GMErigaisi, Arjun27106
442689GMNavara, David1 - 0GMAmin, Bassem26945

Details

Current GMT standings

GM David Navara (CZE) has taken the sole lead in the GMT section 14/18 | Source: Biel Chess Festival

Round 2 pairings

Bo.No.RtgNameResultNameRtgNo.
182728GMLe, Quang LiemGMAmin, Bassem26945
262710GMErigaisi, ArjunGMNavara, David26894
372654GMMoussard, JulesGMYu, Yangyi27353
412693GMDeac, Bogdan-DanielGMKeymer, Vincent26902

Details

MTO Round 2 results

Bo.No.NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtgNo.PGN
127IMRohith, Krishna S242910 - 11GMBu, Xiangzhi26761PGN
22GMNguyen, Ngoc Truong Son26451½ - ½1WGMHuang, Qian242229PGN
328WGMVantika, Agrawal242810 - 11GMAryan, Chopra26263PGN
44GMYuffa, Daniil26031½ - ½1Jinan, Jomon240931PGN
530IMWessman, Richard24101½ - ½1GMAlbornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel25915PGN
632IMHarikrishnan, A Ra240611 - 01GMMeshkovs, Nikita25657PGN
78GMQuesada Perez, Luis Ernesto255311 - 01IMAjay Krishna, S239035PGN
834IMMorawietz, Dieter239610 - 11GMLiu, Yan25429PGN
910GMPranav, Anand251011 - 01FMJain, Kashish Manoj237537PGN
1036IMSeul, Georg237610 - 11IMSamant, Aditya S251011PGN

Details

Standings after Round 2

Rk.SNoNameFEDRtgPts. TB1  TB2 
11GMBu, XiangzhiCHN2676212
3GMAryan, ChopraIND2626212
8GMQuesada Perez, Luis ErnestoCUB2553212
9GMLiu, YanCHN2542212
10GMPranav, AnandIND2510212
11IMSamant, Aditya SIND2510212
20IMChasin, NicoUSA2455212
22Huang, RenjieCHN2445212
26IMLicznerski, LukaszPOL2430212
32IMHarikrishnan, A RaIND2406212

Details

Round 3 pairings

Bo.No.NameRtgPts.ResultPts.NameRtgNo.
11GMBu, Xiangzhi267622IMChasin, Nico245520
23GMAryan, Chopra262622Huang, Renjie244522
325IMMateria, Marco243622GMQuesada Perez, Luis Ernesto25538
49GMLiu, Yan254222IMLicznerski, Lukasz243026
532IMHarikrishnan, A Ra240622GMPranav, Anand251010
611IMSamant, Aditya S251022FMToktomushev, Teimur220664
75GMAlbornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel25912IMSukandar, Irine Kharisma235842
831Jinan, Jomon2409GMNguyen, Ngoc Truong Son26452
929WGMHuang, Qian2422GMYuffa, Daniil26034
1033IMShlyakhtenko, Robert2401GMErdos, Viktor25716

Details

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