On the evening of August 4, the Initiative Pro Schach e.V., in cooperation with the German Soccer Museum, hosted the event “Women Playmakers on the Chessboard.” In Conference Room “N11,” the players from the International Women’s Tournament competed in a blitz tournament. In this unique setting, the nearly 100 guests enjoyed a fantastic view of both the Plaza of German Unity and the 64 squares.
Tournament Director Patrick Zelbel opened the event together with Tobias Moos, Director of the German Soccer Museum. Moos not only warmly welcomed the guests but also highlighted the similarities between soccer and chess. He then skillfully passed the “ball” to someone who knows both worlds inside and out: Marco Bode. The former national team player and 1996 European champion is himself a passionate chess player. He took up the royal game when there was no more room in the soccer club in fifth grade, so he opted for the chess club instead.
In the ensuing conversation with Patrick Zelbel, Bode shared anecdotes—both big and small—from the worlds of soccer and chess in a relaxed atmosphere and also presented his project “Chess Makes You Smart.” For quite some time now, he has been promoting chess in schools in Bremen, his former sporting home, and is working to integrate it specifically into the curriculum.
After the interview, another athletic challenge awaited the former professional soccer player. Alexander Rogner, a young chess prodigy from Dortmund, was invited to play a blitz game with Bode. Alex himself impressively demonstrates how chess and soccer can be successfully combined. Last year, he became the North Rhine-Westphalia champion in the U12 age group and also plays as a goalkeeper for Bayer Leverkusen’s youth team. Although Bode put up a valiant fight against Alex, in the end the 12-year-old confidently won the exhibition match.
The sporting highlight of the evening was kicked off by Sebastian Junker, a member of the Dortmund Sparkasse board, and Mayor Britta Gövert. As sponsors of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy, they were given the honor—along with Tobias Moss—of making the ceremonial first move at the women’s blitz tournament.
The tournament was played in a double round-robin format, so that each player faced every opponent once with white and once with black. The blitz tournament also served as the tiebreaker for the International Women’s Tournament of the Dortmund Chess Days.
It quickly became clear that Klaudia Kulon, Dinara Wagner, Yuxin Song, and Nataliya Buksa weren’t going to give each other an inch. When the referees called a break halfway through the tournament, not a single game had ended in a draw.
Kulon gets off to a flying start – Song makes an impressive comeback
Klaudia Kulon got off to the best start in the tournament. The Polish player started with two games playing White and won both after strong performances against Yuxin Song and Dinara Wagner. However, she fared much worse playing Black. While she had remained undefeated in the classical tournament after two rounds with two draws playing Black, she lost all three games playing Black in the blitz section. As a result, she ultimately finished in third place.
For German national team player Dinara Wagner, too, the games with Black were not very successful—she, too, failed to score a single point with that color. Despite a victory over Kulon in the final round, she was unable to overtake the Polish player in the standings and finished in fourth place.
As a result, the tournament turned into a neck-and-neck race between the Ukrainian Nataliya Buksa and the Chinese player Yuxin Song. Going into the final round, Song was still half a point behind the leader, Buksa. She played uncompromisingly for a win, but Buksa initially defended strongly and even managed to gain the better position. However, with both players in time trouble, the Ukrainian made decisive mistakes, which Song consistently exploited to secure the full point and thus the tournament victory.
This finalizes the tiebreak order for the International Women’s Tournament:
1. Yuxin Song
2. Nataliya Buksa
3. Klaudia Kulon
4. Dinara Wagner.
After thrilling blitz games, entertaining conversations, and a successful supporting program, the evening came to a close, showcasing the sport of chess from a different perspective. Following the tournament, the guests took the opportunity to chat with the players and the numerous guests of honor. Attention now turns back to the Sparkassen Chess Trophy International Women’s Tournament, which continues tomorrow with the third round and promises to be even more exciting following the thrilling blitz tiebreaker.