57th Biel Chess: Praggnanandhaa plays out a draw, Vaishali's hope dashed

The first day of the finals at the 57th Biel Chess Festival was an off-day at the board for GM Vaishali as she lost to Grand Master Saleh Salem of the UAE.

In the Masters Chess Triathlon, Praggnanandhaa played out a draw against Haik Martirosyan with the black pieces in hand.

Le Quang Liem maintains his lead, inching closer to a third consecutive victory. Despite a minor setback against Abhimanyu Mishra, Le secured a draw.

The other game of the day also ended in draws.

For Haik, it was his sixth draw in as many classical games in Biel. Praggnanandhaa thus failed to put Le under more pressure. Against the "king of draws", as he couldn't find a way to gain any advantage.

While the tournament remains open for all four players, Praggnanandhaa must secure a win on Wednesday to stay in contention.

He will play with the white pieces against the top-ranked Le Quang Liem and hopes to secure a win against the Vietnamese table-topper

Vaishali Bows Out

Vaishali's loss against the Emirati assured GM Saleh Salem the victory at the Biel Challenger Triathlon with a round to spare.

Salem secured a significant advantage against Vaishali, despite her strong performance in earlier classical games.

She struggled under pressure and was unable to hold out until the 40th move, where she would have gained additional time.

Ultimately, she had to resign due to time constraints and Saleh won the match along with the championship.

Vaishali will next take on the German Alexander Donchenko to decide the podium finishes.