Giri Leads Biel As Morozevich Withdraws
The surprise withdrawal of Alexander Morozevich from the 2012 Biel GM Tournament due to illness has disrupted the balance of this 6-player double round robin event.
After losing his opening two games, Morozevich was due to play Magnus Carlsen today but that game was cancelled. Instead, Carlsen will now face Morozevich's replacement Victor Bologan on the rest day on Sunday 29th July.
The two wins by Anish Giri and Etienne Bacrot against Morozevich will still count for the final scores of those two players.
Meanwhile, back at the board in round three Anish Giri scored an excellent victory against Etienne Bacrot to take the tournament lead with 2½/3 points, and Wang Hao pulled off a surprise victory in a very complicated clash with Hikaru Nakamura.
The scores after 3 rounds (not all games completed):
| Name | Nat | Elo | Pts |
| Giri, Anish | NED | 2696 | 2½/3 |
| Wang, Hao | CHN | 2739 | 2/3 |
| Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2837 | 1½/2 |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2778 | 1/3 |
| Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 2713 | 1/3 |
| Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2770 | 0/2 |
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Alexander Morozevich at the opening ceremony on Sunday
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The festival also includes many other events including a Master Tournament, Main Tournament, Rapid Tournament and a Blitz Tournament.
The Biel Chess Festival runs from 21 July - 3 August. The main GM tournament started on Monday 23 July and there is one rest day on Sunday 29 July, with the final round on 2 August. Magnus Carlsen is defending the title he won in 2011.
The Grandmaster Tournament games start at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC) and a live broadcast is available at this link.
Picture from the official website. Games via TWIC.
