Biel Chess 2024, Round 4: Keymer defeats Praggnanandhaa

That much-needed win for Keymer put him four points ahead of Praggnanandhaa, whose tournament could be over on Sunday if the fifth and sixth-placed players are eliminated before the final three rounds. Praggnanandhaa also dropped to 12th place on the live rating list as a result.

Going into the round, GM Abhimanyu Mishra was the sole leader, but he was held to a draw by GM Haik Martirosyan. In fact, Martirosyan pushed from the opening to the final stage, but was unable to make a decisive move. In the end, it was Mishra who made the move 36…Bxh3+! to seal the draw.

After 37.gxh3 Qf2+ The white king could not escape check.

That gave Le, the winner of 2022 and 2023, the chance to take the lead in 2024 as well.

Shankland 0-4 Le

Shankland only found out he would be able to play a few days before the tournament, after GM Javokhir Sindarov had trouble obtaining a visa. The American star was pleased to be able to take a direct flight from San Francisco to Zurich, but understandably he has not been at his best after a lack of preparation and jet lag.

However, the match against Le ended in a draw until the Vietnamese number one capitalized on some inaccuracies and ruthlessly took home the maximum points.

We also got a new leader: the Challengers.

Biel Challengers Round 4: Salem Leads Ahead of Vaishali Showdown

The only quiet game in the fourth round was the 52-move draw between GMs Jonas Bjerre and Alexander Donchenko, while there was drama elsewhere.

Maurizzi 1.5-1.5 Vaishali

Vaishali, who had won her last three games in a row, was outpaced by Maurizzi and found herself with just 10 minutes left, compared to an hour and 27 minutes when she went for the risky match. 20…f6?!.

As it turned out, the move almost meant a forced loss with 21. Qb3!, the point being that h3 would distract Black’s queen, allowing the trapped knight on e6 to be taken into check.

That was the only knockout blow, however, and when it was missed, Vaishali was suddenly in a much healthier position. Despite the dangerous clock situation, she played almost perfectly and even threatened to gain an advantage before, with the time control reached, a draw was agreed.

The draw saw Vaishali raise her rating yet again, rising to the world number nine in the women’s rankings. However, in terms of the tournament, it provided an opportunity for a new leader.

Salem 4-0 Samunenkov

“The way he played, I know, is not correct, so I’m waiting non-stop for punishment,” Salem said after beating his 15-year-old Ukrainian opponent, although the curious thing is that Samunenkov apparently did little wrong, which is why the UAE number one struggled to win. In the end, it was only a poor choice of endgame that did Black in.

That gave Salem a one-point lead over Vaishali, but they now face each other in the final round of classical chess, before Sunday’s blitz.

Round 5 Pairings: Masters and Challengers

How can I watch?

The 2024 Biel Chess Festival will take place from 13 to 26 July in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, and will feature over 20 individual events. The most important are the six-player Masters and Challengers GM Triathlons, where players compete in five rounds of Rapid chess (2 points for a win/1 for a draw), five rounds of Classic (4/1.5) and 10 rounds of Blitz (1/0.5). The top four then play three more rounds of Classic, with colours reversed. Ties will be settled by the standings of the Chess960 tournament held on the opening day.