Biel Chess Festival 2025 - Challengers Qualifier
Round-RobinStandard
6 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 15 Jul 2025 to 19 Jul 2025 in Biel, Switzerland. 6 titled players from 6 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 2616, and top seed was David Navara (🇨🇿 CZE, GM, 2662).
Nikolas Theodorou (🇬🇷 GRE, GM, 2625) won with 3.5/5, ahead of Aram Hakobyan (3.0) and David Navara (2.5). Theodorou won solo starting round 2.
Location
🇨🇭Biel, Switzerland
Dates
15 Jul 2025 → 19 Jul 2025
Time control
Standard: 120 minutes for first 40 moves and 30 minutes with 30 seconds increment from move 40
System
Round-robin · 5 rounds
Titled players · 6
GM×6
Federations · 6 represented
🇧🇪Belgium×1
🇬🇷Greece×1
🇰🇿Kazakhstan×1
🇦🇲Armenia×1
🇨🇳China×1
🇨🇿Czech Republic×1
Top 3
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsGM Nikolas Theodorou led from R2 onwards, the runner-up race stayed tight.
Co-leaders
3
1
1
1
1
R2–R5 · LEAD HELD
GM Nikolas Theodorou held the sole lead from R2 through R5 without losing it.
R5 · HEAD-TO-HEAD · WINNER VS 2ND
GM Nikolas Theodorou drew with GM Aram Hakobyan (White).
R1–R5 · UNBEATEN
GM Nikolas Theodorou went unbeaten across 5 games (R1–R5).
Cross-table
| # | Player | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pts | SB | Bh | Δ Elo | Perf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇬🇷GMTheodorou, Nikolas | 2625 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 3.5 | 8.25 | 11.5 | +9.2 | 2763 |
| 2 | 🇦🇲GMHakobyan, Aram | 2621 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 3.0 | 7.00 | 12.0 | +4.7 | 2687 |
| 3 | 🇨🇿GMNavara, David | 2662 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | 5.25 | 12.5 | -3.9 | 2607 |
| 4 | 🇰🇿GMJumabayev, Rinat | 2546 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 2.5 | 5.25 | 12.5 | +5.8 | 2630 |
| 5 | 🇨🇳GMMa, Qun | 2615 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 2.0 | 5.00 | 13.0 | -4.9 | 2544 |
| 6 | 🇧🇪GMDardha, Daniel | 2627 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1.5 | 4.25 | 13.5 | -10.9 | 2465 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
Top rating gainers
- 1Theodorou, NikolasGMGRE+9.23.5 pts · #1
- 2Jumabayev, RinatGMKAZ+5.82.5 pts · #4
- 3Hakobyan, AramGMARM+4.73.0 pts · #2
Top rating losers
- 1Dardha, DanielGMBEL-10.91.5 pts · #6
- 2Ma, QunGMCHN-4.92.0 pts · #5
- 3Navara, DavidGMCZE-3.92.5 pts · #3