Oleksandr Kasapchuk (photo left) from Schachfreunde Brackel is the sole leader of the B-Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy after 5 rounds following his victory over Dario Adam.
Last year, he missed out on winning the tournament by just half a point and came second with a strong 7.5 points from 9 games. This year, he has not yet lost any points and leads the field alone. He won a short game in the fifth round. His opponent Dario Adam, who has done very well in the tournament so far, made a tactical blunder early on which Kasapchuk exploited and the game ended immediately.
On the first board, the winner of the chessemy game of the day Andreas Liebig faced the top seed Bernhard Zoremba. Neither side took any unnecessary risks and the game consequently ended in a draw. The youngest member of the top group, Harshill Pradeep, was caught in a dangerous kingside attack. His opponent Marie Sara Le Coz (photo) took the queen from him and won the game. With two rounds to go, she is now one of Kasapchuk's closest pursuers.