Reigning European champion Matthias Blübaum put in an outstanding performance from start to finish and secured a narrow victory in Dortmund.
Indian grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly tied for second place. Third place was the sensation of the tournament: 14-year-old Khuong Dau Duy defeated two grandmasters, drew with two others and finished just ahead of Dmitrij Kollars on tiebreak.
At the top board, Blübaum and Ganguly drew in the final round after a short but intense exchange of blows. ‘I actually wanted to play for the full point, but after two inaccurate moves I was no longer satisfied with my position and quickly offered a draw,’ explained Blübaum. Ganguly was also satisfied – partly because he was feeling tired after 18 chess games in a short period of time and was thus able to conclude a very strong tournament in Dortmund.
‘I will definitely be back,’ he enthused yesterday about the ‘fantastic’ Sparkassen Chess Trophy Open.
On board two, 14-year-old Vietnamese IM Khuong Dau Duy and GM Luis Engel fought long and hard for victory before this game also ended in a draw. GM Dmitrij Kollars, on the other hand, made sure of a clear result: with a victory on board three against GM Matthieu Cornette, he caught up with the leading group.
‘I'm exhausted – I'm going to get some more sleep,’ he said with a laugh after the game had started at 10:30 a.m. – not the preferred time for the regular Dortmund participant and crowd favourite. GM Jan Malek (Czech Republic, 6th place) and Chinese grandmaster Liu Yan (5th place) also joined the leading group with strong 7 out of 9 wins.
As several players finished with the same number of points, the Buchholz score was used as a tiebreaker to decide the tournament winner.
Particularly noteworthy: U14 player Bayastan Sydykov crowned a strong tournament with a fulfilled IM norm.
Also worth mentioning is the performance of Christian Glöckler, who was officially awarded the IM title during the tournament, making him the second youngest International Master in German history. With a confident performance and great fighting spirit, he left an extremely positive impression in Dortmund. Pradeep Harshill provided one of the biggest surprises: seeded 180th, he finished the tournament with a strong 6/9 points, defeating FM Enis Zuferi in the final round.
Pähtz secures second place – Wagner finishes tournament on a high note
In the final round of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy International Women's Tournament, places 2 to 4 were still up for grabs. The winner, Miaoyi Lu from China, had already been decided after her brilliant tournament. Lu had white against Dinara Wagner in the final round. The German national player followed up her announcement that she would now play every game to win with action and started the game sharply in the Sicilian. Lu once again played aggressively on the kingside with early g2-g4-g5, a trademark of her white games. But today, the tactically strong 15-year-old made a mistake in the middle game. Wagner seized the opportunity, first pinning the white king in the centre and later converting to an easily won rook endgame.
Afterwards, in conversation with commentator GM Artur Jussupow, she spoke about her best performance in the tournament: ‘Winning twice with black makes me very happy!’
However, the victory was not enough for second place. Elisabeth Pähtz played a solid draw with black against Deimanté Daulyté-Cornette. ‘I probably played too cautiously,’ was the Frenchwoman's conclusion.
Final table:
1. Miaoyi Lu 4.5
2. Pähtz 3
3. Wagner 2.5
4. Daulyté-Cornette
Korchynskyi and Neumann win Sportland.NRW Cup
The prizes for the best young players from North Rhine-Westphalia go to Mykola Korchynskyi in the U18 boys' category and Helena Neumann in the U18W girls' category. In the girls' category in particular, it was a particularly close duel between Helena Neumann and Lisa Sickmann, with the better end for.
The B-Open ended on Saturday. The outstanding winner, Ihor Nahornyi (Ukraine), was honoured again at the start of the round on Sunday and took the opportunity to make the symbolic opening move with the winner of the International Women's Tournament, Miaoyi Lu.