BIEL, Belgium — He was one of the very few players from the world’s elite who had never previously competed at the Biel Chess Festival, and now he has won on his first attempt: Levon Aronian. The former world number two claimed the 2026 Masters Triathlon in late July, thanks in particular to outstanding performances in the fast-paced rapid and blitz disciplines. Aydin Süleymanli finished second, ahead of Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Lê Quang Liêm.
The Generations Challenge was won by Václav Finěk, the youngest player in the competition. The young Czech put in an excellent performance across all three disciplines, leaving Xiao Tong and Marco Materia in second and third place, respectively.
The Biel Chess Festival featured the Masters Triathlon, the Generations Challenge, and several side events. Both the Masters and the Challenge were 6-player round-robins that combined three different time controls (blitz, rapid, and classical), with results counting toward a cumulative final score. The top four players from the triathlon then competed in an additional classical single round-robin.
The situation looked highly favorable for Levon Aronian heading into the final round as the sole leader. Trailing by four points, his closest rival and final-round opponent, Aydin Süleymanli, had to go for a win with the black pieces to overtake him. However, the American played virtually flawlessly, leaving Süleymanli with no winning opportunities, and the game ended in a draw by threefold repetition. Aronian proved to be rock-solid in classical chess, drawing all eight of his classical games. Combined with his outstanding performances in rapid (9/10 points) and blitz (8½/10 points), he finished with a total of 29½ points, thereby clinching the 2026 Biel Masters Triathlon.
With his victory in Biel, Levon Aronian — the 43-year-old Armenian-born player who has represented the USA since 2021 — adds yet another title to his impressive resume. Once ranked number two in the world, he achieved the fourth-highest Elo rating of all time in 2014 with 2830. He has now been playing at the very highest international level for over 20 years, and with Aronian, the Biel Chess Festival has a highly worthy winner for 2026.
Aydin Süleymanli finished in second place. Had the Azerbaijani won his final-round game, he could have even secured the tournament title. He would have finished level on points with Aronian and would have claimed the trophy thanks to a superior performance in the ACCENTUS Chess960 tiebreak. Still, second place remains a major success for Süleymanli. According to his pre-tournament Elo rating, he was ranked only fifth out of the six players. Above all, he was called up at short notice to replace Yakubboev, who was unable to participate, meaning he could not prepare as thoroughly as his rivals.
