Dmitrij Kollars made his first appearance in the 2021 Sparkassen Chess Trophy Grandmaster Tournament, narrowly missing out on the tournament win and finishing a strong second, so his participation in the 2022 Germany Grand Prix was also planned. But when Vladimir Kramnik dropped out at short notice, Kollars moved up to the NC World Masters and sensationally won the tournament ahead of Viswanathan Anand.
This chance to play two games on stage in the Goldsaal of the Westfalenhallen against World Champion Anand motivated Kollars in particular to enter the No Castling Chess tournament. He was able to draw both games and also celebrate an impressive victory against world-class player Michael Adams in the course of the tournament. Before the last round, he was half a point behind Anand.
When Adams parted peacefully with Anand, the young German national seized the opportunity and won his game against Daniel Fridman. Due to the better fine rating, number of winning games, he was rewarded for his combative games and stood as the winner. (Winner´s Interview)
2023 will be his third participation in Dortmund. Once again Kollars will be in the spotlight when he starts the NC World Masters as the defending champion. He has already shown that he can cope well with the format in No Castling Chess. Another world champion is waiting as his opponent this year: Vladimir Kramnik.
The third and fourth participants in the round robin tournament will be published in the next few days!