Chess On The Net
Swiss Hospitality At Biel
www.bielchessfestival.ch
By R.R.Vasudevan
The month of July evokes visions of Swiss chess hospitality thanks to the tradition of Biel. With four decades of impeccable organizing, the Biel Chess Festival has got itself a very unique flavor. Added to the flavor is the twin languages that play host in the city viz., French and English.
The event normally starts in the third week of July and runs for a fortnight. Offering a lot for chess lovers, the Biel event has managed to sustain the tradition along with variety. The main attraction surrounds the Grandmaster tournament, that has seen all the top chess players in the playing dais at one time or the other. Recently, Russian genius Morozevich won thrice (2003,2004 & 2006) at Biel and almost made it his own event. But health reasons are keeping him away this year, and we are sure to see a different winner. Past winners of the event include Karpov, Korchnoi, Anand, Ivanchuk.
Proving the fountain of youth is evergreen Kortchnoi who won titles here spanning three decades - @ 1979 and 2001. Biel also holds the history of hosting three Inter-Zonals, (1976, 1985 & 1993) which are qualifiers for Candidates matches of World Championship.
The homepage welcomes the browser with the photos of the participants of the Grandmaster tournament, which takes one to the pen picture details of the Grandmasters. Being the fortieth edition of the prestigious tournament, the organizers have offered special jubilee offers, group offers and free participation for youth. It is one tournament that keeps the momentum on in the Festival with events for every other day.
The main menu includes, a series of events organized under the aegis of the Biel Chess Festival. The event has got three major tournaments happening under one roof, which starts and ends in one-go. The top drawer stuff is the Grandmaster tournament (a closed high category invitation event), followed by the Brain Store Master tournament (an Open event that offers the participants to perform out their IM, GM Norms) and the General tournament which offers amateurs and those with an Elo rating of 2050 or less to take part.
In a way, the Festival has something to offer for all categories of players, making it a it an event to look forward to. Indian participation has always been quite high and consistent here, with several players making their International Master and Grandmaster Norms.
Completing the Festival menu are the rapid, blitz, youth, simultaneous and that of chess-tennis, a special event found only in Biel. During the event, the Grandmaster event is webcast live and majority of the top games in the other section is provided in PGN format. Holding traditions similar to Hastings, Wijk Aan Zee and Dortmund, the Swiss chess festival of Biel is surely a household name in world chess.
Every year, the Festival is timed to coincide with the National Day of Switzerland that falls on August 1. Upon sunset that evening, the spectacular fireworks are unfolde in the azure skies upon Biel lake, making it a festival in the true sense.
The author is a Chennai based banker and had been in Biel as manager for Parimarjan Negi before. E-mail: chessvasu@yahoo.com