Great success for German national players at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy
What a finish in the A-Open of the 50th International Dortmund Chess Days! Alexander Donchenko wins his endgame after 5.5 hours against Ori Kobo, draws level on points with Frederik Svane and wins the tournament on fine rating.
In the No Castling World Masters Vladimir Kramnik won convincingly against Dmitrij Kollars. He took revenge for his defeat in the first game against the German. "I don't know Dmitrij's rating at all, but he has potential for 2700," Kramnik spoke highly of Kollars afterwards.
This result put Fabiano Caruana under pressure to defend his lead in the standings. The opening phase went better for Eljanov, but before the time control on move 40 he squandered his advantage. In the end, Caruana was able to settle into a rook ending with an extra pawn and lead the game to victory. He thus ended the NC World Masters of the 50th International Dortmund Chess Days as the winner with a half-point lead over Kramnik. Kramnik was nevertheless satisfied: "I played entertaining and, as runner-up, successful chess, it was a very nice tournament."
The A-Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy was a complete success for the German national players. Frederik Svane played a very strong tournament, taking 7.5 points from 9 games with a black draw in the final round against Gleb Dudin. Dudin was one of the surprises of the tournament and earned his second GM norm with the result. But then Alexander Donchenko fought his way to victory with an insane display of energy in the final game and has the luck of the fittest with his book wood total, which was higher than Svane's.
Final score:
1. Alexander Donchenko
2. Frederik Svane
3. Leon Luke Mendonca
4. Rasmus Svane
5. Gleb Dudin
The only competition decided earlier today was the Sportland NRW Cup 2023: Dinara Wagner was top-prepared and gained an early advantage against her pursuer Ruben Gideon Köllner. "In a better position I offered a draw and secured the tournament win," Wagner said after the game. She thus earned her second GM norm in a short time.
She gave a short winner's interview to press officer Patrick Zelbel: Siegerinterview mit Dinara Wagner