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Biel GMT R1: Fedoseev and Aravindh unyielding at the top

by Shahid Ahmed - 16/07/2025

GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) and GM Aravindh Chithambaram played another exciting draw in the first round of 58th Biel Chess Festival GMT Masters Qualifiers event. Unlike their Rapid encounter, neither side had any real chance to push for a win. The remaining two Masters games also ended in draws. In the Challengers section, all three games ended decisively. GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE), GM Aram Hakobyan (ARM) and GM David Navara (CZE) scored a win each against GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ), GM Qun Ma (CHN) and GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) respectively. Theodorou maintains his sole lead 12/14. Round 2 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Challengers: Three decisive games

GMT Masters: GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) - GM Aravindh Chithambaram: 1.5-1.5 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Fedoseev - Aravindh: 1.5-1.5

GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO, 2739) and GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2724) had three draws against each other in Classical rated games. Their fourth battle also had the same outcome. Just like their Chess960 encounter, this one was also an exciting draw.

GM Aravindh Chithambaram drew his first Classical game at Biel GMT against GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Interview with GM Aravindh Chithambaram | Video: Biel Chess Festival
GM David Navara (CZE) analyzes his win over GM Daniel Dardha (BEL) | Video: Biel Chess Festival

GMT Challengers: GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) is the early sole leader 12/14 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Interview with GM Nikolas Theodorou (GRE) | Video: Biel Chess Festival

Scoring

Classical: 4 points for a win; 1½ point for a draw; 0 point for a loss.

Rapid: 2 points for a win; 1 point for a draw; 0 point for a loss.

Blitz: 1 point for a win; ½ point for a draw; 0 point for a loss.

Replay live stream

Watch Biel Chess Festival GMT Masters and Challengers Round 1 live commentary by GM Arturs Neiksans (LAT) and Angelika Valkova (UKR) | Video: Biel Chess Festival

Replay Biel GMT Masters Round 1 games

Replay Biel GMT Challengers Round 1 games

Standings after GMT Masters Qualifiers Round 1

Details

Standings after GMT Challengers Qualifiers Round 1

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

Details

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