The Challengers section includes David Navara, Daniel Dardha, Ma Qun, Aram Hakobyan, Nikolas Theodorou, and Rinat Jumabayev

Less than two weeks before the start of the festivities, registrations are pouring in, and the organization is working tirelessly to ensure, as every year, optimal playing conditions for participants, a warm welcome for on-site spectators, and a high-quality live broadcast of the Masters and Challengers games online, commented by GM Arturs Neiksans, assisted by Angelika Valkova.

Update 01.07: Biel Chess 2025 organizers comment, “As always, each edition brings its share of surprises and unforeseen events that require quick solutions. Unfortunately, we must announce the withdrawal, for family reasons, of the three-time winner of the last editions, Quang Liem Le. However, the Tournament Director has secured an impressive replacement in Vladimir Fedoseev, ranked 16th in the world with an Elo of 2739, who is set to raise the level of competition even further!”

On a brighter note, the organizers are thrilled to announce an exciting new event: the Biel Hospital Center Blitz (SZB), scheduled for Friday morning, July 18. This free tournament, open to local youth and U20 players participating in the MTO or ATO, features an innovative format inspired by the knockout system. The 64 selected players will compete over six rounds, with each round consisting of a two-game match, followed by an Armageddon in case of a tie. With a time control of 3’+2’’, the tournament promises thrilling moments, culminating in a single winner who conquers all six rounds!

Live games and detailed coverage from the Biel Masters and Biel Challengers 2025 will be daily on Chessdom.

The twins Raphael and Lionel Gut playing for the school chess professionals (DSSP) provided a show in the U16 premier class. For the first time in the history of the Swiss chess, a tie-break between two brothers occurred in the fight for a championship title. They had 5,5 points out of seven rounds each (Raphael Gut drew against Marc Cristian Arsenie [SK Bern/3], his brother and Emanuel Angelovski [SC Seebach/4.], Lionel Gut played against Suvirr Malli [SK Olten/8.], his brother and also against Angelovski), they had to stand against each other for gold and silver.

In the first two tiebreak games with 10 minutes plus 10 seconds the twins divided the points. In the blitz games of 5 minutes plus 3 seconds, Raphael won 2:0.

For more events in Switzerland, type “Switzerland” in the European Chess Calendar search bar

Previous Swiss junior and youth champions

U16

2025: Raphael Gut

2024: Teimur Toktomushev

2023: Jakub Kwiatkowski

2022: Seyed Arvin Kasipour Azbari

2021: Igor Schlegel

2020: Niels Stijve

2019: Gohar Tamrazyan

2018: Noah Fecker

2017: Fabian Bänziger

2016: Fabian Bänziger

2015: Davide Arcuti

U14

2025: Colin Federer

2024: Colin Federer

2023: Lionel Gut

2022: Matthias Mattenberger

2021: Mikayel Zargarov

2020: Raphael Erne

2019: Lennox Binz

2018: Niels Stijve

2017: Noah Fecker

2016: Mircea Gherghel Bhutan

2015: Fabian Bänziger

2014: Thomas Goldie

2013: Martin Schweighoffer

2012: Davide Arcuti

2011: Aurélien Pomini

2010: Nico Georgiadis

2009: Benedict Hasenohr

2008: Alex Lienhard

2007: Gabriel Gähwiler

2006: Jonathan Rosenthal

2005: Marco Lehmann

2004: Emanuel Schiendorfer

2003: Lukas Muheim

2002: Damian Karrer

2001: Aurelio Colmenares

2000: Donjan Rodic

1999: Oliver Kurmann

1998: Corinne Rölli

U12

2025: Marius Neuschild

2024: Jan Saminskij

2023: Colin Federer

2022: Kala Kishan Udipi

2021: Cristian Marc Arsenie

2020: Julius Scherler

2019: Flavio Rotunno

2018: Dorian Asllani

2017: Igor Schlegel

2016: Noah Fecker

2015: Daniel Fischer

2014: Daniel Fischer

2013: Fabian Bänziger

2012: Benjamin Brandis

2011: Peter Wallmüller

2010: Martin Schweighoffer

2009: Fabian Welch

2008: Ivan Retti

2007: Lars Rindlisbacher

2006: Gabriel Gähwiler

2005: Jingle Li

2004: Sebastian Muheim

2003: Yannick Borel

2002: Kambez Nuri

2001: Lukas Muheim

2000: Lukas Muheim

1999: Donjan Rodic

1998: Donjan Rodic 

U10

2025: Grigorios Emmanouil Toumpakaris

2024: Marius Neuschild

2023: Anna Rosset

2022: Jan Saminskij

2021: Colin Federer

2020: Mikhail Akinkhov

2019: Lionel Gut

2018: Kala Kishan Udipi

2017: Aryan Anand

2016: Deyan Samuil Kostov

2015: Igor Schlegel

2014: Gohar Tamrazyan

2013: Daniel Fischer

2012: Fabian Bänziger

2011: Denis Perman

2010: Benjamin Brandis

2009: Martin Schweighoffer

2008: Vincent Burgener

2007: Jonas Lampert 

U8

2025: David Sadeh

2024: Ruben Rosset

2023: Sahasra Aragonda

2022: Leon Krokowski-Bednarz

2021: Marco Wilhelm

The women’s ACCENTUS Quadriathlon (DAQ), which, unlike the GMT, also includes Chess 960 for the ranking, was on the programme yesterday. The young players competed in rapid cadence over seven rounds. The winners of the day were the French players Juliette Cornileau and Iris Ciarletta, who had already played their way into the top 3 the day before and now lead in the Quadriathlon table. New on the board at the DAQ is Cecilia Keymer, the younger sister of Vincent Keymer, who replaced Veronika Kostina at short notice.

Read more: Vincent Keymer wins ACCENTUS Chess960 tournament in Biel / GM Maxime Lagarde wins Biel Rapid 2022 / Biel Chess Festival Grandmaster Triathlon LIVE

DAQ: Interim Ranking

* Scored by Veronika Kostina.

The Grandmasters visit a watch factory

The GMT grandmasters had their first day off today. They used it to visit the Omega watch factory in Biel – and were accompanied by none other than Vishy Anand, the five-time chess world champion, who stays in Biel for a few days. They were fascinated by the production process and had a lot of fun in the museum.

Outlook: Full bustle on Thursday

Today, Thursday, the four multi-day tournaments will all run in parallel for the first time. The Master Tournament and the Amateur Tournament will enter the second round, and the first rounds of the Grandmaster Triathlon (GMT) and the Women’s Quadriathlon will take place in the classical cadence. In the GMT, Lê Quang Liêm, who is leading after the rapid games, will meet last year’s winner Gata Kamsky, who is currently at the bottom of the table. High time for the old master to find his way into the tournament! On board 1, the best young players in the world will compete: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the No. 1 of the under-18s will face Dammaraju Gukesh, No. 1 of the U16s.

Despite all the turbulence, one constant is certain about the Biel summer: the Biel International Chess Festival is opening its doors for the 55th time in an uninterrupted series. A fact that Peter Bohnenblust, president of the organising committee, pointed out with pride in his opening speech. On behalf of the Canton of Bern, Martin Schlup, current President of the Grand Council, welcomed all participants and André Vögtlin, Central President of the Swiss Chess Federation, emphasised the good cooperation with the Biel Chess Festival.

Players from three dozen countries will visit the watch metropolis of Biel over the next two weeks and compete in one or more of a total of 16 different tournaments.

Monday under the sign of 960 Chess

Today’s first day of competition will be dominated by Chess 960. In this variant of chess, the positions of the pieces on the first and last row are drawn at random – the inspiration of the players is even more in demand!

The eight participants of the Grandmaster Tournament will meet for the first time at the ACCENTUS Chess960 Tournament and compete in this discipline. This tournament is rated separately, but serves as a tie-breaker in case several participants of the Grandmaster Triathlon are tied on points at the end of the festival.

At the same time, the Swiss Championship in Rapid 960 Chess will take place as a one-day competition at the Biel Congress Centre.

The event gathers the world’s chess elite competing in Grandmaster Triathlon (GMT) and Master Tournament (MTO). Eight grandmasters will compete in the Grandmaster Triathlon (GMT) which will be held from 10-22 July at the Main stage of the Concert Hall, Biel Congress Center. The Grandmaster Triathlon will be played in 3 round-robin sets with 28 games: 7 Classical games, 7 Rapid games (reversed colours), and 14 Blitz games (double round-robin). The distribution of points for each game is as follows:

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Grandmaster Triathlon (GMT) line up:

• GM Andrey Esipenko (FIDE, 2709)
• GM Liem Le Quang (VIE, 2709)
• GM Saleh Salem (UAE, 2690)
• GM Vincent Keymer (GER, 2667)
• GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2661)
• GM Gata Kamsky (USA, 2661)
• GM Gukesh D (IND, 2659)
• GM Arkadij Naiditsch (AZE, 2654)

Final standings of the GMT will be established according to the number of points scored, accumulating the three series (classical + rapid + blitz). In case of a tie, the ranking in the ACCENTUS Chess960 will decide the final ranking of the Triathlon and corresponding prizes. The total prize fund of the Triathlon is 30.500 CHF, with 10.000 CHF reserved for the Winner of the event.

Master Chess Tournament will be played from 13-22 July at the Concert Hall of the Biel Congress Center with participation of 140 players from 23 countries. GM Yu Yangyi, GM Kirill Alekseenko, GM Vladimir Fedoseev, GM Haik Martirosyan, GM Shant Sargsyan with 25 more grandmasters and more than 30 international masters headline the field. (scroll down for starting rank list of players)

The event will be played in 9 rounds, swiss system, with time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves + 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. The total prize fund is 37.000 CHF, with the Winner prize of 6.000 CHF.

Starting rank list of players – Masters Chess Tournament (MTO):

Several minutes earlier Alexander Grischuk split the point with Anish Giri, thus he could not catch the champion. Interview with the players

Among the decided games, Peter Svidler scored a nice victory against Hou Yifan, while Levon Aronian defeated Salem A.R.Saleh.

The closing ceremony was scheduled for 8pm, but as everyone arrived ready, Harikrishna and Jakovenko were still playing the notorious R+B vs R ending. Jakovenko demonstrated great skill in defending the difficult ending to finally secure a draw. With 30 minutes delay, the ceremony began.

FIDE Vice President Israel Gelfer awarded the trophy and medals. President of Geneva Chess Federation GM Gilles Miralles also delivered a speech. The winner Radjabov thanked everyone for following Geneva and promised that the fans will enjoy in the last Grand Prix tournament in Palma de Mallorka.

Radjabov earned 20.000 EUR and 170 Grand Prix points for the clear first place. Nepomniachtchi and Grischuk took 13.500 EUR and 105 GP points each.

In the overall Grand Prix standings Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is leading with 340 points, while Grischuk is second with 316,4. They have completed three events each and will cautiously await the results from the final 4th leg.

Radjabov jumped through to the third place with 241,4 points. Ding Liren on 240 and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on 211,4 can also hope to earn one of the two qualifying spots for the Candidates Tournament.

Final Geneva standings

Official website

Alexander Grischuk could not catch Radjabov as his game with Shakhryar Mamedyarov was drawn after a lot of excitement. Grischuk held the advantage for the most of the game, but Mamedyarov found a fantastic exchange sacrifice that granted him excellent counterplay.

Pentala Harikrishna dropped from the shared second place after a loss to Li Chao. Black sacrificed a pawn in the Ragozin defence and his compensation was sufficient, but white rejected a draw offer and found a way to bring his forces into play.

Black slipped with 22…Bd5 and white stabilized his advantage. Li Chao pointed that 22…Bc6 was more challenging. It took a long time to convert into victory, but the Chinese never allowed a shadow of doubt.

Levon Aronian went all guns blazing with black pieces against Ian Nepomniachtchi and succeeded in creating just enough of chaos on the chessboard.

White kept his cool and defended with precision, aside from the moment when he allowed 24…Nxg2 25.Kxg2 Qxh3+, but black likely rejected this line due to massive simplification.

In the resulting position white had two pawns for the exchange, but his pieces were perfectly coordinated to support the phalanx and soon black had to admit the defeat. Nepomniachtchi celebrated his birthday in style and is now sharing the second place with Grischuk.

Richard Rapport played a solid opening, which soon resembled the French defence, but it didn’t take long before he started seeking complications.

Michael Adams accepted the challenge and efficiently exposed white’s structural defects. Black collected one pawn and after the time control he won another. White gave up on move 53.

In the longest game of the day Anish Giri demonstrated a brilliant endgame technique to score against Hou Yifan.

Black actually entered the ending being pawn down with pair of bishops as a compensation. But after the wonderful 29…f5, the poor coordination of white pieces was exposed. After a handful of moves it was black who was pawn up.

The resulting position with all rooks on the board was very difficult but Giri provided a lecture that will be quoted in all endgame manuals.

Photo gallery / Interviews

Round 8 standings:

1. GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2724 – 5,5
2-3. GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2761 and GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2742 – 5,0
4-9. GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2800, GM Giri Anish NED 2775, GM Harikrishna Pentala IND 2737, GM Adams Michael ENG 2736, GM Li Chao B CHN 2735 and GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2654 – 4,5
10-13. GM Svidler Peter RUS 2749, GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2739, GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2728 and GM Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2703 – 4,0
14-15. GM Aronian Levon ARM 2809 and GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2707 – 3,5
16. GM Hou Yifan CHN 2666 – 2,5
17-18. GM Rapport Richard HUN 2694 and GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2638 2,0

Round 9 pairings:

GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2742 – GM Radjabov Teimour 2724
GM Giri Anish 2775 – GM Grischuk Alexander 2761
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2800 – GM Li Chao B 2735
GM Riazantsev Alexander 2654 – GM Adams Michael 2736
GM Harikrishna Pentala 2737 – GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2703
GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2707 – GM Gelfand Boris 2728
GM Svidler Peter 2749 – GM Hou Yifan 2666
GM Eljanov Pavel 2739 – GM Rapport Richard 2694
GM Aronian Levon 2809 – GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2638

Official website

Ernesto Inarkiev played a simul against the members of the UN Chess Club. He won all the games, but admitted it was tougher than he expected. Inarkiev added that he was proud to represent chess grandmasters and the Republic of Ingushetia in United Nations.

As Aronian weakened the king with careless 20.f4 and then 21.b5, Harikrishna pounced on the opportunity, and after the tactical transfer of the knight to g4-square he obtained a strong attack.

White lost a pawn but the trouble was that it was a really fast passer which advanced unopposed to the promotion square. Black sealed the victory right before the time control.

Li Chao was inspired by Mamedyarov’s games to employ a sharp line against Pavel Eljanov’s Queen’s Indian defence. Black was ever under the pressure and it only worsened as he was delaying the castle.

A mistake on move 15 allowed white to trade off the light-squared bishops and use the e4-square as transit point for the knight. From then on, black king remained in the center and white’s advantage grew until the opponent’s position collapsed.

Ian Nepomniachtchi spent the day off in his room, resting, and arriving fresh to the sixth round he defeated the compatriot Ernesto Inarkiev.

In the Ruy Lopez black was perhaps one move late with the break d6-d5. White’s neat reply 20.Nce5 posed certain problems for the opponent, who allowed too many pins and consequently lost the thread of the position. Nepo swiftly concluded the game.

The game between Salem A.R.Saleh and Hou Yifan was roughly equal until white buried his pieces far on the queenside. With several energetic moves (21…f5!) Yifan obtained initiative, but white fought his way back by transferring the queen back to defence.

However, white’s stand did not last long as being in the huge time trouble Salem blundered and run into checkmate.

Alexander Riazantsev was once again involved in the longest match of the day. In the post-game interview he said he is not feeling fatigue in the sixth hour of play, but that his calculation is sometimes weaker due to the fact that he is also the national coach of Russian women’s team. Having parallel careers of a player and a coach is very difficult, Riazantsev said. He added that all professional players have to be physically fit in order to stay focused on the board.

Speaking of the game with Richard Rapport, Riazantsev said that he obtained the advantage after the opening, but he was criticizing 23…Bxb4+ and 24…c5, which were poor compared to the alternatives.

Nevertheless, black managed to push the pawn all the way to h2, when Rapport erred again, and then Riazantsev advanced the phalanx on the queenside until white king was facing a checkmate.

The remaining games were drawn.

The honorary first move was made by Dr Haik Nikogosian, Special Representative of World Health Organization.

Photo gallery / Interviews

Round 6 standings:

1-3. GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2761, GM Harikrishna Pentala IND 2737 and GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2724 – 4
4-7. GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2800, GM Svidler Peter RUS 2749, GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2742 and GM Li Chao B CHN 2735 – 3.5
8-13. GM Aronian Levon ARM 2809, GM Giri Anish NED 2775, GM Adams Michael ENG 2736, GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2728, GM Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2703 and GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2654 – 3
14-15. GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2739 and GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2707 – 2.5
16. GM Hou Yifan CHN 2666 – 2
17-18. GM Rapport Richard HUN 2694 and GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2638 – 1.5

Round 7 pairings:

GM Harikrishna Pentala 2737 – GM Grischuk Alexander 2761
GM Radjabov Teimour 2724 – GM Svidler Peter 2749
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2800 – GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2742
GM Riazantsev Alexander 2654 – GM Li Chao B 2735
GM Giri Anish 2775 – GM Aronian Levon 2809
GM Adams Michael 2736 – GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2703
GM Hou Yifan 2666 – GM Gelfand Boris 2728
GM Eljanov Pavel 2739 – GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2638
GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2707 – GM Rapport Richard 2694

Official website

Grischuk made a good use of black pieces, “The point is that being tempo down is actually to my advantage”, he joked as he explained the subtle difference between his position and the game Jakovenko-Gelfand which was the same setup with colors reversed. “The extra move usually confuses them and they don’t know what to do”, he continued in the same style.

On the more serious note, Grischuk criticized white knights dance on the queenside, which allowed him to build strong presence on the central files. A timely break 18…e4 and white collapsed with his next move. Black snatched a pawn and proceeded to win the game.

Richard Rapport ended the bad streak with a fighting victory against the top rated woman Hou Yifan. The queens were exchanged and the position looked innocent enough when white grabbed the a7-pawn and black replied with ingenious 20…Rg8.

Suddenly, white found herself in big trouble as black piled the pressure along the g-file. Two mistakes, 23.Red1 and 28.Kf1, and white’s position was beyond salvation.

The clash between two fearless fighters, Ernesto Inarkiev and Salem A.R.Saleh, lived up to the expectations as we saw the Naidorf Sicilian with opposite castling and mutual attacks and counterattacks.

Salem surprised his opponent with 13…Qh4+, but Inarkiev did not flinch, castling long despite the porous pawn shield in front of the king.

White was first, however, to launch an assault by sacrificing two pawns in order to open up the h-file. As Inarkiev said in the post-game interview, this was his only advantage in the position, but he used it well.

Inarkiev believes that 31…Qf5 was a mistake after which black position deteriorated, and that the only move was 31…e3. Despite being in huge time trouble, white managed to reach the control and score a victory. “I am very proud of my game today”, Inarkiev concluded.

The remaining six games were drawn.

The honorary first move was made by GM Gilles Miralles, President of Geneva Chess Federation.

Photo gallery / Interviews

Round 5 standings:

1-2. GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2761 and GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2724 – 3,5
3-6. GM Aronian Levon ARM 2809, GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2800, GM Svidler Peter RUS 2749 and GM Harikrishna Pentala IND 2737 – 3,0
7-14. GM Giri Anish NED 2775, GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2742, GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2739, GM Adams Michael ENG 2736, GM Li Chao B CHN 2735, GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2728, GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2707 and GM Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2703 – 2,5
15. GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2654 – 2,0
16-17. GM Rapport Richard HUN 2694 and GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2638 – 1,5
18. GM Hou Yifan CHN 2666 – 1,0

Round 6 pairings (Wednesday 12th July):

GM Grischuk Alexander 2761 – GM Radjabov Teimour 2724
GM Aronian Levon 2809 – GM Harikrishna Pentala 2737
GM Svidler Peter 2749 – GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2800
GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2703 – GM Giri Anish 2775
GM Nepomniachtchi Ian 2742 – GM Inarkiev Ernesto 2707
GM Li Chao B 2735 – GM Eljanov Pavel 2739
GM Gelfand Boris 2728 – GM Adams Michael 2736
GM Rapport Richard 2694 – GM Riazantsev Alexander 2654
GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2638 – GM Hou Yifan 2666

Official website