GM Pavel Eljanov was the outstanding player of the last two International Dortmund Chess Days: in 2021 and 2022 he won the grandmaster tournament in the Sparkassen Chess Trophy. In 2023 the Ukrainian will return to the stage in the Goldsaal of the Westfalenhallen: he will compete in the NC World Masters of the 50th International Dortmund Chess Days.
Eljanow will meet Vladimir Kramnik and Dmitrij Kollars in No Castling Chess. He had a thrilling head-to-head race with the defending champion Kollars for the tournament title in the "Deutschland Grand Prix" in 2021. In the sixth hour of the last round, Eljanow was able to secure victory with a world-class performance in the final against Rustam Kazimdzhanow.
In 2022 he then showed a superior performance and won the Grandmaster Tournament ahead of Bogdan-Daniel Deac, although he himself noted that he no longer concentrates so much on his own chess but more on coaching activities (Winner's Interview 2022). This year Eljanow (current ELO 2704) will compete in the NC World Masters for the first time and will certainly also want to play for the tournament victory.
Eljanov's personal record against Vladimir Kramnik in tournament chess has been negative so far. He also lost his last tournament game against the World Champion in the 2017 Gashimov Memorial with White, although he had chances to win this game himself.
Three of the four participants in the NC World Masters have now been decided. All three have made a big name for themselves in Dortmund in recent years with outstanding performances and will offer the spectators spectacular chess in the Westfalenhallen.