The third and last preliminary round on lichess.org was again very well attended and 8 qualification places were up for grabs. In the end, Marc Schulze (photo), a visitor from the weekend, prevailed.
A decisive game took place in Round 3: Schulze was playing with White against IM G.B. Harshavardhan (India), who at first glance looks thirsty on the last move with 38...Tc2. But White has a deadly answer:
39.gxh5! gxh5
40.Rg1!
A beautiful rook sacrifice - White threatens mate with Dg6+, Black has no defence:
40...Rxd2+ 41.Kf3 1-0
Mate cannot be prevented and the white king on f3 is protected, Black has no check bids.
In the end, IM Harshavardhan also qualified for the grand final in sixth place. WGM Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky played the whole tournament on top and ended up in fifth place after a final round defeat - so she is also in the final.
All in all, the preliminary rounds were a complete success: 132 participants from all over the world took the chance to try their hand at the exciting No Castling Chess. The tournament was completely fair. In the finals, the participants were sent a link to a zoom call in order not to allow any cheating.
Final score 3rd preliminary round:
1. Marc Schulze (GER)
2. Arseniy Shturman (FID)
3. Evgeny Mikheev (FID)
4. "DeniskaPalin007"
5. WGM Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky (ROU)
6. IM G.B. Harshavardhan (IND)
7. FM "Paradoxxx1"
8. "RobertT74" (BIH)
We ask all qualifiers to send their full names to tournament referee Andreas Junk. The final will take place on Sunday, 24 July, at 10 a.m., also in the Swiss system on lichess. There, an invitation to the 50th International Dortmund Chess Days in 2023 will be at stake. All qualifiers at a glance:
1. Jonas Gallasch (GER)
2. Vincent Francisco (PHI)
3. Rajarishi Karthi (IND)
4. Alparslan Cenikli (TUR)
5. Amir Ali Ghafourian (IRN)
6. Shahid Ahmed (IND)
7. Alfredo di Cerbo (ITA)
8. FM Janusz Koscielski (GER)
9. Peter Zackrisson (GER) (Jg. 2004)
10. "samiii125"
11. Norbert Wagner (GER)
12. Michal Slomczewski (POL)
13. "SweetChinMusic_04" (ARM)
14. Reinhard Krahn (GER)
15. Nikola Krajinovic (BIH)
16. Arthur Friesen (GER)
17. Marc Schulze (GER)
18. Arseniy Shturman (FID)
19. Evgeny Mikheev (FID)
20. "DeniskaPalin007"
21. WGM Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky (ROU)
22. IM G.B. Harshavardhan (IND)
23. FM "Paradoxxx1"
24. "RobertT74" (BIH)