57th Biel Festival MTO R9: Ayush Sharma stuns Sasikiran, joins the lead with Leon

by Shahid Ahmed - 25/07/2024

IM Ayush Sharma outplayed GM Krishnan Sasikiran in Round 9 of 57th Biel Chess Festival MTO. The teenager capitalized his opportunity when the legend made a minute positional mistake. There was an opportunity for the 'Indian wall' to get back and draw the game. However, it was not easy to spot. Ayush also earned his second GM-norm and joined the lead with GM Leon Luke Mendonca. They will inevitably clash in the final round to determine the winner. GM Liem Quang Le (VIE) defeated GM R Praggnanandhaa to win GMT Masters for the third consecutive year. GM Alexander Donchenko (GER) got the better of GM R Vaishali to secure second place in the GMT Challengers. GMT Round 3 Final, MTO Round 10 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Liem Quang Le wins the GMT Masters for third year in-a-row

GM R Vaishali has lost both of her games in the Finals of GMT Challengers. However, finishing third in such a strong field where she was tested in all formats - Classical, Rapid, Blitz and Chess960 is definitely a fantastic performance. In the MTO section, it goes without saying that IM Ayush Sharma is having a great tournament. If he manages to win it, that will be a spectacular finish to his already great run.

IM Ayush Sharma defeated GM Krishnan Sasikiran to score his second GM-norm and join the lead with GM Leon Luke Mendonca| Photo: Biel Chess Festival

57th Biel Festival GMT Masters winner - GM Liem Quang Le (VIE) 29.5 points | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

Interview with GMT Masters winner GM Liem Quang Le | Video: Biel Chess Festival

MTO: Ayush - Sasikiran: 1-0

IM Ayush Sharma (2342) scored a huge win over the Indian legend - GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2581). The 'Indian wall' made a positional mistake which made things difficult for him.

Position after 25...f4?!

25...f4?! is something White exactly wants in this position. It blocks the b8-h2 diagonal, stops e4 and g5-g4 threats. In fact, g5, h5, g4 is too slow which is what happened in the game. 26.Bf2 Qe7 27.Bc6 Bd6 28.Qe2 Ra6 29.Rxa6 Bxa6 30.Ra1 Bc8 31.Qe1 h6 32.Bh4 Black should have played g5 immediately Qf7 33.Kh1 g5 34.Bf2 h5 35.Ra5 Qe7 36.Qg1 e4 37.Bxc5 and White has gained the upper hand. However, Black could have saved the game after 37...exf3 38.Bxd6? Qxd6? instead fxg2+ is what Black needed to play to get back in the game.

IM Ayush Sharma en route his victory over GM Krishnan Sasikiran and second GM-norm | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

IM Ayush Sharma scored 7/9 with a performance of 2592 and gaining 58.4 Elo rating points as of Round 9

GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ) - GM Leon Luke Mendonca: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

GM Aryan Chopra - IM Mukhiddin Madaminov (UZB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Biel Chess Festival

From Press Release

Every day, the best games from MTO and ATO are voted for on social media.

Winner MTO Round 8: FM Moritz Valentin Collin (SUI, 2255) vs. IM Timothe Razafindratsima (FRA, 2449): 0-1

Winner ATO Round 7: Patrick André Pantillon (SUI, 1782) vs. Frank Dreke (GER, 1915): 1-0

Replay live stream

Replay 56th Biel International Chess Festival 2024 GMT Finals Round 2 Live commentary by GM Arturs Neiksans (LAT) and Angelika Valkova (UKR) | Video: Biel Chess Festival

Scoring in GMT Classical

Win = 4 points

Draw = 1.5 point

Loss = 0

Replay all GMT Masters Finals Round 2 games

Replay GMT Challengers Finals Round 2 game

Replay MTO Round 9 games

GMT Masters Finals Round 2 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg			Name	Result		Name		Rtg	No.
1	4	2757		GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	0 - 1	GM	Le, Quang Liem		2731	1
2	3	2604		GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu	½ - ½	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.		2661	2

Details

Standings after Finals Round 2

Liem Quang Le (VIE) wins the GMT Masters with a round to spare | Source: Official site

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Finals Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg			Name	Result		Name		Rtg	No.
1	2	2661		GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.		GM	Le, Quang Liem		2731	1
2	3	2604		GM	Mishra, Abhimanyu		GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		2757	4

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GMT Challengers Finals Round 2 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg			Name	Result		Name		Rtg	No.
1	2	2633		GM	Donchenko, Alexander	1 - 0	GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu		2488	3
2	1	2638		GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh	0		bye		0	-1

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Standings after Finals Round 2

Salem Saleh (UAE) had already won the GMT Challengers, Alexander Donchenko (GER) secured second place and Vaishali third | Source: Official site

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Final Round 3 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg			Name	Result		Name		Rtg	No.
1	1	2638		GM	Salem, A.R. Saleh		GM	Donchenko, Alexander		2633	2
2	3	2488		GM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	0		bye		0	-1

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MTO Round 9 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	9	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat	2565	6	½ - ½	6½	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2615	2	PGN
2	1	GM	Aryan, Chopra	2632	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	2512	15	PGN
3	3	GM	Nesterov, Arseniy	2602	6	½ - ½	6	IM	Gan-Erdene, Sugar	2407	30	PGN
4	44	IM	Ayush, Sharma	2342	6	1 - 0	6	GM	Sasikiran, Krishnan	2581	6	PGN
5	26	IM	Fromm, Marius	2448	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2592	4	PGN
6	29	IM	Amartuvshin, Ganzorig	2427	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Gavrilescu, David	2540	10	PGN
7	13		Xiao, Tong(Qd)	2518	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Tahay, Alexis	2392	32	PGN
8	18	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2472	5½	½ - ½	5½	FM	Dotzer, Lukas	2375	38	PGN
9	23		Xue, Haowen	2452	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Ritviz, Parab	2334	46	PGN
10	7	GM	Moiseenko, Alexander	2570	5	½ - ½	5	WIM	Balabayeva, Xeniya	2210	69	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 9

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB2	TB3
1	2	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	IND	2615	7	37,25	46
2	44	IM	Ayush, Sharma	IND	2342	7	35,00	43
3	9	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat	KAZ	2565	6,5	35,75	47
4	1	GM	Aryan, Chopra	IND	2632	6,5	35,00	46,5
5	23		Xue, Haowen	CHN	2452	6,5	34,00	45
6	15	IM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	UZB	2512	6,5	33,25	45,5
7	3	GM	Nesterov, Arseniy	FID	2602	6,5	33,25	44,5
8	30	IM	Gan-Erdene, Sugar	MGL	2407	6,5	33,00	44,5
9	32	IM	Tahay, Alexis	FRA	2392	6,5	32,25	42
10	26	IM	Fromm, Marius	GER	2448	6,5	28,00	36,5

Details

Round 10 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	2	GM	Mendonca, Leon Luke	2615	7	7	IM	Ayush, Sharma	2342	44
2	30	IM	Gan-Erdene, Sugar	2407	6½	6½	GM	Aryan, Chopra	2632	1
3	3	GM	Nesterov, Arseniy	2602	6½	6½		Xue, Haowen	2452	23
4	32	IM	Tahay, Alexis	2392	6½	6½	GM	Jumabayev, Rinat	2565	9
5	15	IM	Madaminov, Mukhiddin	2512	6½	6½	IM	Fromm, Marius	2448	26
6	6	GM	Sasikiran, Krishnan	2581	6	6	IM	Saraci, Nderim	2447	27
7	10	GM	Gavrilescu, David	2540	6	6	GM	Bilguun, Sumiya	2458	19
8	20	IM	Ansat, Aldiyar	2458	6	6	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2472	18
9	38	FM	Dotzer, Lukas	2375	6	6	IM	Razafindratsima, Timothe	2449	25
10	4	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2592	5½	6	IM	Amartuvshin, Ganzorig	2427	29

Details

Links

Official site

GMT details

MTO details

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