Oleksandr Kasapchuk emerged victorious from a wild tactical battle in the opening against Bernhard Zoremba to defend his lead in the B-Open with one round to go.
The opening phase was exciting. After 8 moves it was already the critical position of the game. After 9.Bb5+ with a rook sacrifice, Zoremba would have been left with a big initiative, but after 9.Nb5 Kasapchuk gained a big advantage and ultimately won easily.
The game: lichess
Kasapchuk now leads going into the final round with 6 points from 6 games. It would be a very special tournament win for Kasapchuk: 2.5 years ago, he moved from Ukraine to Dortmund with his family, has lived in Dortmund ever since and plays for Schachfreunde Brackel. In 2023, he missed out on winning the tournament by just half a point and came second. Now the big chance to the biggest tournament win of his young chess career.
Among the chasing players, Richard Walter prevailed with a victory after a tactical lapse by Marie Sarah Le Coz and Andreas Leidig scored a beautifully played victory. Both are only half a point behind Kasapchuk. The battle for the tournament victory will be decided between these three players on Saturday. The last round starts on Saturday at 10.30 am.