The 50th anniversary of the Dortmund Chess Days promises extraordinary open tournaments: from 24 June to 2 July 2023, a world champion, the reigning European champion and numerous other renowned grandmasters have already registered for the Open. In the Gold Hall of the Westfalenhallen Congress Centre, the Sparkassen Chess Trophy will offer € 25,000 in prize money.
The two Sparkassen Open will be a focus of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2023. The B-Open for players up to a rating of 1900 will again take place daily in the morning so that the participants have the opportunity to watch the stars live in the afternoon.
Last year's popular live commentary by GM Artur Jussupow and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni will be supplemented by the opportunity to talk directly to GM Klaus Bischoff. Bischoff will be available on site to the participants in the analysis area for explanations, analyses and anecdotes.
Kamsky, Ponomariov and Blübaum pre-registered
The A-Open will take place daily from 3 pm. Almost the entire German top has already announced their participation: GM Matthias Blübaum (European Champion 2022), GM Alexander Donchenko (winner Wijk aan Zee Challengers 2023), GM Rasmus Svane, GM Dennis Wagner and GM Jan-Christian Schröder are registered.
But international stars will also participate in the A-Open under top conditions. The most prominent so far are GM Gata Kamsky and GM Ruslan Ponomariov. Both have great memories of Dortmund: Kamsky beat World Champion Garry Kasparov in 1992 as an 18-year-old and subsequently rose to the absolute top of the world. Ponomariov, himself FIDE World Champion in 2002, won the Grandmaster Tournament of the Chess Days in 2010 with a full point lead over Vladimir Kramnik.
Many other familiar faces are expected at the Dortmund Open. The Big Greek" Georgios Souleidis, the winner of the Sportland NRW Cup 2022 Lara Schulze and national player Josefine Heinemann have already registered.
The established NC World Masters will be played on stage in the Gold Hall in "No Castling Chess". The participants of the Open can thus watch Dortmund's 10-time winner Vladimir Kramnik and the defending champion Dmitrij Kollars play live. The two other participants in the four-player tournament will be announced shortly.
3 Questions for Tournament Director Andreas Jagodzinsky
What can participants and spectators expect from the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2023?
In 2023, participants in the A-Open will have the opportunity to play in a tournament with German national players and some established top grandmasters. The first 3 boards will take place daily alongside the NC World Masters on the stage in the Gold Hall.
The participants of the B-Open will not only be able to play an Open, but also experience the games of the A-Open and NC World Masters in the afternoon with the spectators and have Klaus Bischoff explain the moves of the top players on the spot.
What do 50 years of the International Dortmund Chess Days mean to you?
When I first watched the game between Dr. Hübner and the then World Champion Kasparov as a spectator in Dortmund in 1992, I could not have imagined that I would one day be allowed to be the tournament director of this traditional event.
I think that many other chess friends have also experienced a more or less large part of the Dortmund Chess Days in various roles, above all as spectators or Open participants, and are hopefully happy that Dortmund is one of the few events in the chess world that has taken place over such a long period of time with only one exception every year. This could only succeed because there have always been people who have been passionate about this event.
What changes is the organising team planning compared to 2022?
The biggest change this year is the abandonment of the closed tournament in classical chess and a stronger focus on the open tournaments. We will optimise a few points here to further improve the enjoyment of the game. The increase in the prize fund alone already leads to a significant increase in the number of participating grandmasters, which considerably increases the chances of (W)IM and (W)GM norms. And for the spectators on site, GM Klaus Bischoff will be available in the afternoon as a supplement.
Registration is open. The complete announcements of the open tournaments, accommodation and further information can be found at www.sparkassen-chess-trophy.de.