4/10/2020 – Back in 1999, Peter Leko confirmed his status as a serious contender for the World Championship title by winning the 27th edition of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, ahead of 'Mr. Dortmund' himself, Vladimir Kramnik. Leko was only 19, and three years later would qualify to face Kramnik in a match for the world crown. The event was also important for the Hungarian's personal life, as he met his future wife Sofia during the tournament. | Pictured: Leko in 2009 | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/22/2019 – Leinier Dominguez Perez won the Grandmaster Tournament at the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund. In the last round, a draw against Radoslaw Wojtaszek gave him the top spot on 4½/ 7. Ian Nepomniachtchi came in second, thanks to his tiebreak score in the four-player chasing group (all on 4/7). Germans Daniel Fridman and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu ended up with 2½/7 at the bottom of the standings table. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/23/2018 – The 2018 Sparkassen Chess Meeting finished on Sunday. Ian Nepomniachtchi took clear first place after beating Georg Meier with a dazzling attack. Vladislav Kovalev could have finished in clear second place had he been able to defeat Vladimir Kramnik in a winning but difficult endgame — the former world champion defended until a draw was agreed on move 104. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/22/2018 – With one round to go, no less than four players are half a point behind sole leader Ian Nepomniachtchi at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund. Giri and Meier beat Kramnik and Nisipeanu, respectively, to join Kovalev and Duda on 3½/6. LAWRENCE TRENT analysed both decisive games and the final stage of Duda-Nepomniachtchi, where the young Polish star missed his chance to defeat the leader. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/21/2018 – The fifth round of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund had only one decisive result, but it was a big one: Ian Nepomniachtchi took down Vladimir Kramnik in the only match-up that faced two of the previous co-leaders. Nepo is now in front on 3½/5, half a point ahead of Vladislav Kovalev and Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The final two rounds of the tournament will be played this weekend. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/19/2018 – Jan-Krzysztof Duda had a great start at the Sparkassen ChessMeeting in Dortmund, but fell victim to Vladimir Kramnik in the fourth round. Anish Giri also got a full point on Wednesday, as he beat Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu. These results left four players tied in first place. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/18/2018 – All four games in Dortmund's third round could have easily finished with decisive results. Ian Nepomniacthchi and Vladislav Kovalev obtained their first victories, while Jan-Krzysztof Duda beat his compatriot Radek Wojtaszek to stay at the top of the standings. Vladimir Kramnik pushed for a win once again, but was stopped by Georg Meier's solid defence. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis

7/22/2017 – Matthias Bluebaum's luck seems to have turned. After missing chances on Thursday against Dmitry Andreikin in a long draw, Wang Yue ground him down in an endgame on Friday as the Chinese scored his first win.

7/18/2016 – After six rounds Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was certain to win the Grandmaster Tournament in Dortmund, but four of the eight participants still wanted or had to fight in the seventh and last round. Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana drew in 18 moves, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Rainer Buhmann in 27. Leinier Dominguez Perez tried to beat Vachier-Lagrave but without success. Vladimir Kramnik was the only winner of the round. He defeated Evgeniy Najer with energetic play.

7/17/2016 – With a fine game against Ruslan Ponomariov Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund with one round to go. He leads with 5.0/6 and is 1.5 points ahead of his closest rivals Leinier Dominguez Perez and Fabiano Caruana. The other decisive game of round six was Caruana's smooth victory against Rainer Buhmann. Evgeniy Najer and Dominguez Perez drew after 54 moves, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Vladimir Kramnik after 146 moves.

7/15/2016 – After a long fight the top game between Vladimir Kramnik and Fabiano Caruana in the fifth round of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund ended in a draw. But Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ruslan Ponomariov could win. Vachier-Lagrave played against Najer and showed how well he knows the Najdorf. Ponomariov won against Buhmann. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Leinier Dominguez drew. With two rounds to go Vachier-Lagrave leads with 4.0/5.

7/13/2016 – In round four of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting Dortmund Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won against German grandmaster Rainer Buhmann. Long time Buhmann's Breyer looked solid but then the French grandmaster opened lines with a tricky pawn-break. The three other games ended in a draw: Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu could not convert an advantage against Evgeny Najer, Fabiano Caruana found no recipe against Leinier Dominguez' Petroff and Ruslan Ponomariov and Vladimir Kramnik also drew without too much excitement.

7/12/2016 – Round three of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund was a delight for spectators. This was to a huge part due to Vladimir Kramnik, ten times winner in Dortmund, who really seems to be inspired by the flair of this tournament. The former World Champion played with White against Rainer Buhmann and initiated a brilliant sacrificial attack in the spirit of Mikhail Tal. But Buhmann defended well and saved a draw!

7/11/2016 – In the second round of the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting in Dortmund only one player managed to win: Ruslan Ponomariov. He beat Evgeniy Najer and with 1.5/2 he now leads together with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who played a bloodless draw against Vladimir Kramnik. Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu neutralized Fabiano Caruana's winning attempts and German GM Rainer Buhmann tried hard but in vain to win against Leinier Dominguez Perez.

7/10/2016 – With four interesting games of which two had a winner the "Sparkassen Chess Meeting" in Dortmund is off to a promising start. Defending champion Fabiano Caruana wanted too much against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and lost, while German Grandmaster Rainer Buhmann did not want enough and also lost. Leinier Dominguez Perez drew a long endgame against Vladimir Kramnik and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu played a tactical draw against Ruslan Ponomariov.

7/7/2016 – On Saturday, the 44. Sparkassen Chess Meeting begins in Dortmund. From 9th to 17th July some of the world's best players compete against the best German players. Vladimir Kramnik will play his 22nd tournament in Dortmund and hopes to win his eleventh title. But he has strong rivals such as Fabiano Caruana, the winner of the two previous events, or Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, currently number four in the world.

7/16/2015 – Hou Yifan is currently the world's best women player and extremely popular with the public. Inviting her to the Sparkassen-Chess Meeting in Dortmund was definitely a good move by the organisers. German chess journalist Dagobert Kohlmeyer used the chance to talk with the Chinese about the World Championship, the young Chinese players, and much more.

7/20/2005 – The Sparkassen Chess Meeting was a great success, especially from the point of view of chess reporting. After every round TV ChessBase broadcast interviews with experts and with the players themselves, hot from the games they had just finished. If you missed these great shows not to worry: there are archive links to them.

7/17/2005 – This is what everybody was waiting for: the underdog, bottom seed, finishes one of the strongest tournaments in the world in first place. And a local boy at that. Arkadij Naiditsch clinched it with a last-round draw against Peter Svidler, while his main rivals Loek van Wely and Vladimir Kramnik failed to catch him. Now with full report.

7/16/2005 – Arkadij Naiditsch, the lowest-rated player, is still in the lead in Dortmund, but three top GMs are in hot pursuit one round before the end of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting: van Wely, Kramnik and Svidler. Kramnik achieved this by beating Nielsen, and both players afterwards analysed their game for a world-wide audience on TV ChessBase.

7/15/2005 – The excitement continues: Peter Svidler beat Peter Leko, Etienne Bacrot outplayed Michael Adams, and Arkadij Naiditsch took a full point off Peter Heine Nielsen with the black pieces. The games were transmitted live on the official web site and on Playchess.com. In the end Peter Svidler commented for TV ChessBase. Full report with video.

7/14/2005 – Round six of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting was blisteringly exciting, Naiditsch-Kramnik especially so, with the audience in Dortmund applauding loudly when it ended in an astonishing must-be-seen draw. Michael Adams defeated Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen and analysed his game for TV ChessBase. Full illustrated report.

7/13/2005 – Round five of the Sparkassen Chess Meeting saw a lot of hard-fought draws and one win: Peter Leko defeated Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen to join the lead group before the rest day. On our live post-game commentary on TV ChessBase Emil Sutovsky demonstrated exciting lines in his draw against Svidler. Full report.

7/11/2005 – First results from the Sparkassen Chess Meeting: Top French GM Etienne Bacrot, who was languishing with half a point from three games, struck out with black to defeat Emil Sutovsky. All the other games were drawn, although van Wely had Svidler on the ropes. Full report with video.