57th Biel GMT R2: Vaishali decimates Donchenko
R Vaishali scored a sensational victory over Alexander Donchenko in Round 2 of 57th Biel Chess Festival GMT Challengers 2024. She made a beautiful rook sacrifice on her opponent's kingside. It was quite difficult for the Germany no.5 to find a correct defense. He could not manage to find one and lost the game. Vaishali is at second place 13/22, one point behind the sole leader Salem Saleh (UAE). R Praggnanandhaa drew with two-time Biel GMT winner - Liem Le Quang (VIE). GM Koustav Chatterjee and GM Krishnan Sasikiran won their respective games to maintain their perfect score 3/3 in the MTO. GMT Round 3 and MTO Round 4 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Biel Chess Festival
MTO: Koustav and Sasikiran make a perfect start
Abhimanyu Mishra (USA) defeated Sam Shankland (USA) to gain sole lead 12/22. He won his second consecutive game of the event with the black pieces. Liem Le Quang (VIE) is at sole second place 10.5/22, closely followed by Haik Martirosyan (ARM) 10/22.
Vaishali - Donchenko: 4-0
GM R Vaishali (2488) faced GM Alexander Donchenko (GER, 2633) only once earlier at Tata Steel Challengers in 2023. She lost that game. She has grown much stronger since then. She launched a brutal attack by sacrificing her rook at f7.
18.Rxf7!! is a bold and brilliant sacrifice. There is a cute line 18...Kxf7 19.Bxe6+ Kxe6 20.Qb3+ c4 21.Qxc4# Black played the plausible reply 18...Rxf7 19.Bxe6 Raf8 20.Qa4 Bg5 21.Qxd7 Bxe3+ 22.Kh1 Qxd4 23.Rd1 Qxd7 24.Rxd7 c4 25.Bxc4 Bf4 26.e6 Rxd7?? 27.e7+ Black resigned as checkmate is unstoppable.
Shankland - Abhimanyu Mishra: 0-4
Sam Shankland (USA, 2683) made an incorrect decision in the endgame against Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 2604).
61.g6 would have locked the kingside and made things more difficult for Black. Perhaps White was concerned about the passed b-pawn. 61.gxh6 gxh6 handed the control completely to Black who cruised towards victory.
MTO: Koustav and Sasikiran make a perfect start
GM Koustav Chatterjee (2525) and GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2581) are the only Indians at 3/3.
From Press Release
Every day, the best games from MTO and ATO are voted for on social media.
Winner MTO Round 2: IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2472) vs. Raphael Erne (SUI, 2108): 1-0
Winner ATO Round 1: Patrick Rossi (SUI, 1539) vs. Felix Meshach (SUI, 1773): 0-1
Replay live stream
Scoring in GMT Classical
Win = 4 points
Draw = 1.5 point
Loss = 0
Replay Round 2 GMT Masters games
Replay Round 2 GMT Challengers games
Replay Biel MTO Round 3 games
Masters Round 2 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2731 | GM | Le, Quang Liem | 1½ - 1½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2757 | 3 | |||
| 2 | 6 | 2683 | GM | Shankland, Sam | 0 - 4 | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | 2604 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 1 | 2661 | GM | Martirosyan, Haik M. | 1½ - 1½ | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2721 | 2 |
Standings after Round 2
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | GM Abhimanyu MISHRA | 7 | 8 | 4 | 12 | |
| 2 | GM LÊ Quang Liêm | 7 | 5 ½ | 5 | 10 ½ | |
| 3 | GM Haik MARTIROSYAN | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | |
| 4 | GM PRAGGNANANDHAA R | 7 | 1 ½ | 5 | 6 ½ | |
| 5 | GM Vincent KEYMER | 7 | 1 ½ | 5 | 6 ½ | |
| 6 | GM Sam SHANKLAND | 7 | 1 ½ | 4 | 5 ½ |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2604 | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | GM | Le, Quang Liem | 2731 | 5 | ||||
| 2 | 3 | 2757 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | GM | Martirosyan, Haik M. | 2661 | 1 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | 2721 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GM | Shankland, Sam | 2683 | 6 |
Challengers Round 2 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 2488 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 4 - 0 | GM | Donchenko, Alexander | 2633 | 3 | |||
| 2 | 1 | 2638 | GM | Salem, A.R. Saleh | 4 - 0 | GM | Bjerre, Jonas Buhl | 2653 | 2 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 2620 | GM | Maurizzi, Marc`andria | 1½ - 1½ | GM | Samunenkov, Ihor | 2535 | 4 |
Standings after Round 2
| Rank | Name | Games | Classical | Rapid | Blitz | Total |
| 1 | GM Saleh Salem | 7 | 8 | 6 | 14 | |
| 2 | GM VAISHALI Rameshbabu | 7 | 8 | 5 | 13 | |
| 3 | GM Alexander DONCHENKO | 7 | 4 | 7 | 11 | |
| 4 | GM Marc'Andria MAURIZZI | 7 | 1 ½ | 4 | 5 ½ | |
| 5 | GM Jonas BJERRE | 7 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 6 | GM Ihor SAMUNENKOV | 7 | 1 ½ | 3 | 4 ½ |
Round 3 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 2633 | GM | Donchenko, Alexander | GM | Salem, A.R. Saleh | 2638 | 1 | ||||
| 2 | 4 | 2535 | GM | Samunenkov, Ihor | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2488 | 5 | ||||
| 3 | 2 | 2653 | GM | Bjerre, Jonas Buhl | GM | Maurizzi, Marc`andria | 2620 | 6 |
MTO Round 3 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2512 | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | 2592 | 4 | PGN | ||
| 2 | 19 | GM | Bilguun, Sumiya | 2458 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 2581 | 6 | PGN | ||
| 3 | 7 | GM | Moiseenko, Alexander | 2570 | 2 | ½ - ½ | 2 | GM | Sokolovsky, Yahli | 2516 | 14 | PGN | ||
| 4 | 23 | Xue, Haowen | 2452 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | GM | Harsha, Bharathakoti | 2569 | 8 | PGN | |||
| 5 | 9 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2565 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | IM | Gan-Erdene, Sugar | 2407 | 30 | PGN | ||
| 6 | 11 | GM | Kobo, Ori | 2529 | 2 | 1 - 0 | 2 | FM | Dotzer, Lukas | 2375 | 38 | PGN | ||
| 7 | 45 | IM | Sukandar, Irine Kharisma | 2338 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 2 | GM | Koustav, Chatterjee | 2525 | 12 | PGN | ||
| 8 | 61 | CM | Song, Ethan | 2244 | 2 | 0 - 1 | 1½ | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2615 | 2 | PGN | ||
| 9 | 1 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2632 | 1½ | 1 - 0 | 1½ | FM | Boldoo, Erdenepurev | 2385 | 36 | PGN | ||
| 10 | 3 | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2602 | 1½ | 1 - 0 | 1½ | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 2390 | 34 | PGN |
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Xue, Haowen | CHN | 2452 | 3 | 0 | 5,50 | 4 | |||
| 2 | 11 | GM | Kobo, Ori | ISR | 2529 | 3 | 0 | 5,00 | 4 | ||
| 12 | GM | Koustav, Chatterjee | IND | 2525 | 3 | 0 | 5,00 | 4 | |||
| 4 | 9 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | KAZ | 2565 | 3 | 0 | 4,00 | 3 | ||
| 5 | 6 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | IND | 2581 | 3 | 0 | 3,50 | 3,5 | ||
| 6 | 2 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2615 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,75 | 4,5 | ||
| 14 | GM | Sokolovsky, Yahli | ISR | 2516 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,75 | 4,5 | |||
| 8 | 15 | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | UZB | 2512 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,25 | 4,5 | ||
| 9 | 21 | IM | Deuer, Marius | GER | 2458 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,25 | 4 | ||
| 35 | IM | Thavandiran, Shiyam | CAN | 2387 | 2,5 | 0 | 4,25 | 4 |
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | GM | Sasikiran, Krishnan | 2581 | 3 | 3 | GM | Kobo, Ori | 2529 | 11 | |||
| 2 | 12 | GM | Koustav, Chatterjee | 2525 | 3 | 3 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2565 | 9 | |||
| 3 | 1 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2632 | 2½ | 3 | Xue, Haowen | 2452 | 23 | ||||
| 4 | 2 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2615 | 2½ | 2½ | IM | Deuer, Marius | 2458 | 21 | |||
| 5 | 18 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2472 | 2½ | 2½ | GM | Nesterov, Arseniy | 2602 | 3 | |||
| 6 | 4 | GM | Ganguly, Surya Shekhar | 2592 | 2½ | 2½ | IM | Razafindratsima, Timothe | 2449 | 25 | |||
| 7 | 28 | IM | Petkidis, Anthony | 2428 | 2½ | 2½ | GM | Moiseenko, Alexander | 2570 | 7 | |||
| 8 | 31 | IM | Juksta, Karolis | 2400 | 2½ | 2½ | Xiao, Tong(Qd) | 2518 | 13 | ||||
| 9 | 14 | GM | Sokolovsky, Yahli | 2516 | 2½ | 2½ | FM | Kalogridis, Antonios | 2391 | 33 | |||
| 10 | 32 | IM | Tahay, Alexis | 2392 | 2½ | 2½ | IM | Madaminov, Mukhiddin | 2512 | 15 |
