Exciting field of participants and norm chances in the 9-round tournament

As already announced, there will be a second top-class round robin tournament in addition to the Deutschland Grand Prix, which opens up opportunities for young German talents in particular to fight for coveted norms for the title of International Master. For this, one Grandmaster, two International Masters and 7 aspiring youngsters are at the start.

1. GM Mihael Saltaev, UZB, 2480, three Olympiads for Uzbekistan, Bundesliga player
2. IM Dennes Abel, GER, 2462, Bundesliga player
3. IM Thomas Beerdsen, NED, 2453, Bundesliga player
4. FM Ruben Gideon Köllner, GER, 2407, German Champion U16 2020
5. FM Oliver, Stork, GER, 2394, German Champion U18 2020
6. FM Alexander Krastev, GER, 2340, German Champion U14 2019, Team European Champion U18 2019
7. FM Marius Deuer, GER, 2283, 3rd place German Championship U16 2020
8. Sreyas Payyappat, IND, 2215, German Champion U12 2020
9. WFM Alessia Ciolacu, ROU, 2154, European Team Champion U18w 2018, Romanian Women's Champion 2021
10. Moritz Runte, GER, 2133, NRW Champion U18 2019, Winner German country Championship 2020

Picture: Alessia Ciolacu at the award ceremony for the Romanian Women's Championship

We wish good luck in the FIDE World Cup

GM Matthias Blübaum had been looking forward to the Dortmund Chess Days. But now the Chess World Cup is actually taking place at the same time and Blübaum has been given his place. As agreed with Blübaum in advance, the Dortmund organisation will therefore of course let him play in the Cup, which is part of the qualification cycle for the World Chess Championship, and the Sparkassen Chess Trophy will have to take place without Blübaum this year. Blübaum is part of a German trio: Arik Braun and Rasmus Svane are also qualified. We wish them good luck!

Blübaum will be replaced by a top player in the German Grand Prix. The tournament management will present the last two participants of the round robin tournament in a few days.

15th World Chess Champion looks ahead to the NC World Masters

The time has come: Viswanathan Anand will play the first match in chess without castling in the duel of the world champions against Vladimir Kramnik in the Westfalenhallen Dortmund. After Vladimir Kramnik had already talked about the special features of the "No Castling" chess variation in an exclusive interview, Anand was now the guest and looked ahead to the big match. He also talks about his current projects in the pandemic and explains the personal significance that both Dortmund and Germany in general have for him. Have fun!

Interview on YouTube

Test chess without castling against our tournament engine

As a nineteen-time world champion, the Shredder chess programme will be our tournament engine for the Deutschland Grand Prix. Now everyone can already try himselfe against Shredder in the new "No Castling Chess" on our homepage. Users can try themselves against Shredder on three different levels and thus perfectly prepare for the Sparkassen Online Open. Just try it out here: 
https://sparkassen-chess-trophy.de/de/infos/spielen-gegen-shredder.html