After the third round, 13 players remain undefeated in the B Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy. There should have been 14, but the match on the top board took an unexpected turn.
Fourteen-year-old Tony Zhou from Hong Kong faced the tournament’s top seed, Tim Geweniger. From the viewers, the entire course of the game initially looked like a foregone conclusion. Zhou lost a pawn to the favored Geweniger as early as move 8, and in the moves that followed, there was little to suggest that Zhou could still avert defeat. In the resulting position, the game ended on move 26 after White captured the knight on g6.
Anyone who had been following the game up to that point would have wondered whether the recorded result was a transcription error. No! White offered a draw in this completely winning position. He presumably overlooked the fact that after Black captured the knight on f3, the move exf6 would immediately decide the game. Although Black can take back with the queen on f6 to prevent checkmate on g7, the attacked rook on e8 is subsequently lost.
Geweniger thus unfortunately dropped an important half-point and will hand over the top board to his clubmate Dr. Martin Werner (photo). Of the initial leading trio from Bruchsal, Werner is the last remaining player with three points from three games, after defeating Robin Schulz from Erkenschwick on the second board. The favorite also maintained the upper hand on the third board. In a frantic time-pressure phase, Max Pick captured his opponent’s unprotected knight, which ultimately secured him the victory.
Even after three rounds, the race for the tournament title in the B-Open remains wide open. The leading group remains tightly bunched, and the next few rounds will already show which players can defend their perfect records.