55th Biel MTO R4: Visakh N R emerges sole leader
GM Visakh N R completely outplayed GM Abhimanyu Puranik to emerge as sole leader at 55th Biel Chess Festival MTO. Visakh locked down the kingside to prevent any kind of onslaught on his king and then launched an attack on the queenside. Abhimanyu kept fighting in a crippled position to find a way to revive his chances, however Visakh thwarted all his attempts. IM Pranav Anand held GM Aryan Chopra to a draw. Aryan, Pranav, Shant Sargsyan (ARM), Sethuraman S P, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Alexander Motylev and Leon Luke Mendonca are in pursuit at 3.5/4 each. Today is a rest day. MTO Round 5 will start tomorrow Monday 18th July at 2 p.m. local time (5:30 p.m. IST). Photo: Biel Chess Festival
Five Indians in pursuit
Abhimanyu Puranik - Visakh: 0-1
Something went terribly wrong in the opening for GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2612). His opponent GM Visakh N R (2503) locks down the kingside before launching an attack of his own on the queenside.
18...f3 certainly speaks volumes about White's chances of getting a breakthrough on the kingside. 19.Qf1 is forced b5 20.Bxd5 White had to exchange Black's theoretically bad bishop at d5 as his own bishop lacked a decent square due to space constraints cxd5
White's position is absolutely crippled on both sides of the board. Abhimanyu still managed to put up some fight and create some chances for himself. However, it was not enough, Visakh managed to convert his advantage into a full point in another eleven moves.
A total of 114 players including 26 GMs, 23 IMs and 3 WIMs are taking part from 31 countries across the world. The nine-round Swiss League tournament is organized by Biel-Bienne Chess at Biel Congress House, Biel, Switzerland from 13th to 22nd July. The sole rest day is Sunday 17th July. The time control is 90 minutes/40 moves with 30 seconds increment + 30 minutes.
Replay MTO Round 4 games
Round 4 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 11 | GM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2612 | 3 | 0 - 1 | 3 | GM | Visakh N R | 2503 | 23 |
| 2 | 27 | IM | Pranav Anand | 2463 | 3 | ½ - ½ | 3 | GM | Aryan Chopra | 2610 | 13 |
| 3 | 1 | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2720 | 2½ | ½ - ½ | 2½ | GM | Azarov Sergei | 2566 | 18 |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Sargsyan Shant | 2661 | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | GM | Gagare Shardul | 2514 | 22 |
| 5 | 7 | GM | Motylev Alexander | 2632 | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | GM | Iniyan P | 2533 | 20 |
| 6 | 9 | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2623 | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | GM | Pavlovic Milos | 2461 | 28 |
| 7 | 17 | GM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2567 | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | GM | Banusz Tamas | 2611 | 12 |
| 8 | 15 | GM | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | 2608 | 2½ | 1 - 0 | 2½ | GM | Bharath Subramaniyam H | 2479 | 24 |
| 9 | 31 | IM | Panjwani Raja | 2450 | 2½ | ½ - ½ | 2½ | GM | Erdos Viktor | 2586 | 16 |
| 10 | 21 | GM | Muradli Mahammad | 2523 | 2½ | ½ - ½ | 2 | GM | Martirosyan Haik M. | 2672 | 4 |
Round 5 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 23 | GM | Visakh N R | 2503 | 4 | 3½ | GM | Sargsyan Shant | 2661 | 5 | |
| 2 | 15 | GM | Ganguly Surya Shekhar | 2608 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Motylev Alexander | 2632 | 7 | |
| 3 | 27 | IM | Pranav Anand | 2463 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Sethuraman S.P. | 2623 | 9 | |
| 4 | 13 | GM | Aryan Chopra | 2610 | 3½ | 3½ | GM | Mendonca Leon Luke | 2567 | 17 | |
| 5 | 16 | GM | Erdos Viktor | 2586 | 3 | 3 | GM | Yu Yangyi | 2720 | 1 | |
| 6 | 2 | GM | Alekseenko Kirill | 2708 | 3 | 3 | GM | Azarov Sergei | 2566 | 18 | |
| 7 | 29 | CM | Prraneeth Vuppala | 2457 | 3 | 3 | GM | Fedoseev Vladimir | 2686 | 3 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Lagarde Maxime | 2631 | 3 | 3 | GM | Muradli Mahammad | 2523 | 21 | |
| 9 | 10 | GM | Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo | 2619 | 3 | 3 | IM | Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh | 2445 | 32 | |
| 10 | 26 | GM | Raja Harshit | 2477 | 3 | 3 | GM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2612 | 11 |
