The Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2026 kicks off on Saturday with the open tournaments and promises to be an event full of exciting stories. Whilst established grandmasters battle it out for the title in the A-Open, up-and-coming talents and in-form dark horses are keen to seize their chance. The field of participants combines experience, youthful ambition and a number of players whose current form is hard to predict. Here’s a look at six prominent players whose performances in Dortmund are particularly worth watching and who, given their different starting positions, could have a significant impact on the course of the tournament.
The top favourite: GM Matthias Blübaum
It will come as little surprise to most that Blübaum, seeded number one, is considered the favourite. The German Grandmaster had already impressed in 2026 with a very strong performance at the Wijk aan Zee tournament and his participation in the Candidates’ Tournament. Recently, however, Blübaum had a difficult couple of weeks in Biel. At the 2026 Biel Masters Triathlon, he failed to win a single game in classical chess and suffered a defeat. In blitz and rapid chess, Blübaum performed well below his potential, ultimately finishing fifth out of six. Nevertheless, Blübaum goes into the tournament with a lead of just under 60 Elo points over his next-ranked national team colleagues, Dimitrij Kollars and Rasmus Svane. He already proved that Dortmund suits him by winning the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2025 last year. For Blübaum, there can be no other goal than winning the tournament.
An expert’s tip: GM Andrew Hong
Andrew Hong recently broke the 2600 barrier for the first time in his career and, in the process, seems to have developed into a true open tournament specialist. In his home country, the young American secured joint first place at the US Masters, before losing to Awonder Liang in the tie-break. He then finished fourth at the St Louis Masters. It is particularly noteworthy that, across both tournaments, Hong lost just a single game – against a certain Fabiano Caruana. At the Grenke Chess Open in Karlsruhe, Hong secured fourth place in a field of just under 1,000 players. In Aktobe, Kazakhstan, the 21-year-old has now also claimed the tournament title. Hong beat top players such as Wang Hao, Alexey Sarana, Daniil Dubov and Candidates Tournament participant Andrey Esipenko, winning the tournament by half a point. Given the trend of recent months, it would come as no surprise if Andrew Hong were to finish at the top of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy.
The Rising Star: IM Christian Glöckler
The exceptionally talented German player Christian Glöckler (photo: Dortmund 2025, Gorzinski) has been playing with unbridled vigour since the start of the year. Glöckler has gained Elo points every month, resulting in a jump from 2436 in December 2025 to just under 2520 now. The 14-year-old International Master currently seems to be winning almost every tournament he enters. This year, he has already secured victories at the Tata Steel Chess Qualifiers, the Limbourg Open and the Biel Chess Festival. The latter victory should also earn him his first GM norm. The consistency of his results is particularly remarkable. Unlike many young talents, Glöckler does not just impress with the odd standout performance, but has been consistently achieving strong tournament results for months. Hopefully, he will secure his second GM norm in Dortmund. If Glöckler can maintain the momentum of recent months, he could pose a threat to any of the established top players and compete at the very highest level.
Always one to watch: GM David Navara
For the exceptional Czech player David Navara (photo: Dortmund 2022), it has been a very mixed year so far. Alongside a disappointing result at the European Individual Championships and a match defeat against the Austrian Felix Blohberger, the former super grandmaster has repeatedly demonstrated his class. At the closed tournament in Prague, Navara – now 41 – achieved a remarkable score of 4.5/9 as the lowest-seeded player. Among others, Navara drew against World Champion Gukesh and Germany’s number one, Vincent Keymer, in the tournament. Furthermore, Navara has already won the Czech Championship for the 14th time (!) this year. Which version of the Czech player turns up in Dortmund is likely to have a decisive influence on the course of the tournament. The fact is: if David Navara is on form, victory at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy is well within his reach.
The comeback contender: GM Surya Ganguly
The six-time Indian champion is no stranger to Dortmund. At the 2025 Sparkassen Chess Trophy, Surya Ganguly (photo: Dortmund 2025) was pipped to the post by Matthias Blübaum only on tiebreaks and settled for second place. Ganguly had already achieved a 
good result this year with a third-place finish at the Bangkok Chess Club, but recently had a week to forget at the tournament in Biel. Ganguly, the tournament’s top-seeded player, lost 22 Elo points and finished in 19th place. It is to be hoped that he can use the break between Biel and Dortmund to recharge his batteries, and last year’s strong result in Dortmund is helping him turn things around, allowing him to make a strong comeback with a solid tournament performance.
The favourites-killer: FM John Heinrich
John Heinrich heads into the Sparkassen Chess Trophy on the back of a huge success. The 18-year-old won the Candidates’ Tournament at the Chess Summit in Dresden, thereby securing his place in next year’s German Individual Championship. Without suffering a single defeat, Heinrich managed to pull half a point clear of the rest of the field by the end – with a tournament performance of 2543 and an Elo gain of 42! Heinrich had already put in a similarly strong performance back in May, when he won the IM norm tournament in Munich. With the Chess Trophy about to begin, the young FIDE Master is now just one norm and not even ten Elo points away from the magic 2400 mark and the title of International Master. John Heinrich’s goal for Dortmund is therefore crystal clear. On his way there, he is sure to take important points off one or two higher-ranked players.
As well as the six players mentioned, there are countless other stories that will shape the course of the 2026 Sparkassen Chess Trophy. The field of participants is a colourful mix ranging from top players to amateurs, and everyone is going into the tournament with their own expectations. It is precisely this unpredictability that makes the tournament so appealing. In Dortmund, therefore, we can look forward to thrilling duels, surprising twists and possibly an unexpected winner.
Admission for spectators is free, and GM Artur Yusupov will be providing live commentary on the top games in German from Saturday onwards!
