Mitropa Cup: Hungary and Italy take gold

The Mitropa Cup is one of the great traditional chess festivals, marked not only by the numerous tournaments held in all modalities, and chess-popularizing activities, but the unique team event organized with national squads of players. With events such as the Asian Nations Cup and numerous others, readers might ask in what way the Mitropa is different, and the answer is that it is not a part of the official FIDE calendar. Why is this relevant? It is far easier to bring in teams of players representing a country if there is a promise of qualifying for the Olympiad or FIDE's special incentives such as norms being worth double. The Mitropa, stemming from the German 'Mittel' (central) Europe', has managed to establish itself by virtue of the power of its tradition, and a promise to help players not committed elsewhere to prepare for the Olympiad.

The trophies and medals for the winners

History

The first unofficial Mitropa Cup was organized and held in 1953. It was the brainchild of Gertruda Wagner, who together with her husband Karl, and the president of the Austrian Chess Federation, Kurt Jungwirth, managed to organize the inaugural edition in Vienna. At its origin this tournament was organized only for countries from Central Europe. Later countries from South and Western Europe joined. The winner that year was Belgium, but it would take another 23 years for the concept to be rehabilitated after which the event has persisted regularly. The first Women's Mitropa Cup was organized in 2002, and since 2005, the men's and women's events have been held together.

Organizer Marek Zelnicky and IA Ivan Syrovy

The 2014 Mitropa Cup

The playing hall

This year the Mitropa Cup, held in Hotel Kultura in the Ruzomberok town square in Slovakia, is enjoying its greatest draw since 1993, with ten teams playing in both the Open and Women's team event, and over 20 grandmasters in all. In the Open event, teams of four players come to play, and the Elo favorites were unquestionably the Hungarian, who not only fielded a team of grandmasters on all boards, but also held the highest average Elo.

The Czech team with players and coaches

The Polish team was led by GM Jan-Krysztof Duda on board one (left)

Naturally, favoritism only takes you so far, especially when the advantage is a meager 15-25 Elo against top rivals, and one must still perform accordingly, but the team was led by Peter Acs (2572) who posted an astounding 8.0/9 throughout and a 2806 performance. Though the team performed within their expectations, none of the players actually performed beyond their ratings, and it was steamroller result of Peter Acs that clinched match after match for the Hungarians, making it no exagerration to say he won the Mitropa Cup for them.

The competition was decided in a thrilling final round between Germany and Hungary, with everything on the line. Hungary had five team wins and three draws, while the Germans led with six wins and two draws. On board one, Germany scored first with a lightning win by David Baramidze over Robert Ruck, while Svane and Hera drew on board three. Hungary struck back after Krisztian Szabo (2543) overpowered  Max Berchtenbreiter (2409), leaving the match, and tournament, fittingly in the hands of Acs-Heimann on board two.

GM Peter Acs was the name of the tournament with his fantastic result

A fantastic win that not only secured the win for Hungary, but also won the gold for the Hungarians. The German team, no doubt disappointed by the turn of events, can be proud of their performance though. Their second place result came in spite of having no fewer than three teams ahead of them on the initial pecking list. In third came Slovakia, whose star player GM Petrik Michalik, scoring 7.5/9 and a 2770 performance, was only overshadowed by Acs, and no one else coming close.

First board of Slovakia, GM Michalik, put in a star performance

Slovakia came in third in the Open section

Final Open standings

Women's Event

The Italians were the Elo favorites in the Women's competition

The Women's event was no less dramatic, and the initial lineup favored the Italians, who fielded two full Ims, the only team with this pedigree, followed by the German team, coached by Dorian Ragozenco in his first outing as the squad leader. Italy and Germany both scored an equal number of match points, and the final tiebreak was decided by game points, in which Italy edged out Germany by a single half point! Italy's IM Olga Zimina, with 5.0/6 and WIM Marina Brunello with 5.5/7 exceeded what was expected of them, and deservedly earned the gold, but special mention must be made of Germany's WIM Filiz Osmanodja who punched in a fantastic 8.0/9 and was the single greatest performer in the competition.

Final Women's standings

A festival

Aside from the main team competition, attracting platoons of viewers every day online at both the official site and on Playchess, it bears remembering this was as much a festival of chess as a main event. In parallel, the Slovak Rapid Chess Championship was held won by Slovak grandmaster Mikulas Manik, while second place was taken by the budding young talent Zilina Jergus Pechac.

The live chess game was all about wowing the audience

There was also a classic live chess game, using people as pieces, but with a twist. Although each move was played out by costumed chess players and swordmen, the game itself was played blindfold by two talented young players, Juraj Druska and Stefan Mazur. The game ended in a draw in 55 moves. After the game, a large fireworks display was held that lasted for over ten minutes. Finally, at the end, there were blitz tournaments that are always a success with aficionados.

A festival without children would be no festival at all

GM Sergey Mosvesian receives some guidance from his betters

The event is organised by Ruzomberok Chess Club under the supervising of the tournament director  Marek Zelnicky and the chief arbiter Ivan Syrovy, with thanks to the contribution of the Slovak Chess Federation, the town of Ruzomberok, Kia Motors Slovakia foundation in Pontis Foundation and other partners.

Links Official tournament site All Open games in PGN All Women games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.