With almost 400 participants from 32 nations, the 51st International Dortmund Chess Days took place in Huckarde for the first time. IM Nico Zwirs was a surprise winner, beating world grandmasters Anton Korobov (2nd place) and Frederik Svane (3rd place).
Pähtz vs Wagner - two German players with equal strength
There was no winner in the much-anticipated match between the two top German players. Dinara Wagner had the slightly better chances: she was able to win tactically in game 1 and then tried for a long time in a slightly better endgame. In game 5 she then had a clearly advantageous endgame, but again Pähtz defended excellently and Wagner was unable to convert the material advantage into a full point. After six exciting and combative games, there was no decision on the German number 1 in women´s chess.
In September, both will play side by side in the German national team. ‘We have a young, very good national team and the chances of finishing in the top 5 have probably never been so good,’ said Pähtz, looking forward to the Chess Olympiad in Budapest.
Zwirs wins ahead of grandmaster squad
The A-Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy was exciting right up to the last move. The top favourites GM Anton Korobov and GM Frederik Svane played the whole tournament at the front boards. They drew in the last round and suddenly IM Nico Zwirs from the Netherlands had a chance - he won his game in the rook ending against GM Christopher Wojin Yoo (USA) and thus the tournament. ‘The biggest success of my career, definitely,’ said Zwirs, who got advice from his mate Max Warmederdam - winner of the 2022 A-Open - before the final round.
Korobov and Svane finished in 2nd and 3rd place. Grandmasters David Gavrilescu, Yahli Sokolovsky, Evgeny Romanov and Andrey Sumets each won their final games to finish in 4th to 7th place in the prize ranks. Bitter for IM Vadim Petrovskyi: the young German was leading the tournament for a while, but after the two defeats at the end he missed the grandmaster norm after all. FM Nadav Zemach was luckier, who had an outstanding start to the week and was rewarded with a norm for the title of International Master at the end.
Special atmosphere in the Alte Schmiede cultural centre
The atmosphere of the chess festival in the ‘Alte Schmiede’ was excellent. Catering was provided over 9 days, the outdoor area was used in the best weather and there were large opportunities for analysis in the foyer. GM Artur Yusupov commented whimsically and free of charge on the current top games for the visitors on site and was always available for a chat. The popularity of the event was huge - the 400 places were sold out weeks before the start and participants from 32 nations were registered.
‘We have already pencilled in a date for next year. 2 August can be noted as the start date for 2025,’ said Christian Jochmann, chairman of the organising association Initiative Pro Schach e.V., during the award ceremony.
The B-Open took place in the mornings. The winner was the young Dortmund player Oleksandr Kasapchuk from Schachfreunde Brackel. New ideas were realised for the club players on site. A rapid chess tournament was organised by the Dortmund Chess Club in the Ardeyschoppen during the Chess Days and was attended by 45 participants. Every day, the chessemy game of the day was selected from all the games submitted and a voucher for chessemy worth €100 was presented daily as a prize. For the first time, 20 boards of the B-Open were also broadcast live every day. The games of the A-Open can be found in full on the tournament homepage, thanks to the support of Klaus Knopf's PGN app.
Overall, the organisation team is very grateful for the decades of loyalty of the main sponsors Sparkasse Dortmund and the City of Dortmund, without whom the event would not be possible, and the new partners around the IntercityHotel Dortmund and the Alte Schmiede cultural centre. At the award ceremony, Mayor Norbert Schilff and Sparkasse board member Peter Orth emphasised the great importance of the Dortmund International Chess Days for Dortmund and the region.