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The 2018-19 edition of the Bundesliga started with a surprise, as the DJK Aachen decided not to participate, leaving every team a 'rest day' when paired against them. This means that, after eight rounds, some teams have only played seven matches — and the current leaders OSG Baden-Baden are amongst them. The eleven-time champions have so far won all their seven matches with a wide margin — the smallest margin was 5½:2½ against MSA Zugzwang, when Radoslaw Wojtaszek was upset by Leon Mons on board one.
Nonetheless, the Baden-Baden have not yet faced any of the four teams that are close behind them in the standings. During the 'Central Rounds' in Berlin, however, they will face Schachfreunde Deizisau and SV 1930 Hockenheim in consecutive rounds — both teams are two match points behind the leaders currently.
Beat the Slav the classical way
The Slav has become one of the most popular defences against the advance of the d-pawn on the first move, and every ambitious d4-player faces the question how to successfully tackle this opening in tournament practice. Rustam Kasimdzhanov shares his knowledge with the viewer to explain how White has to place his pieces and which plans he has at his disposal. Learn the secrets of the dxc4-line and improve your chances of success with 1.d4
The defending champions, OSG Baden-Baden | Photo: Guido Giotta
After both these teams going against the most feared squad, they will face each other on Sunday. The other key match-up will be Hamburger SK v. SV Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Meanwhile, main chasers SG Solingen will face two teams from the bottom of the standings and will 'rest' on Saturday (when they are paired against DJK Aachen). They probably will not risk sending a sub-par team, however, as every match point is important if they want to take down Baden-Baden as they had done in the 2015-16 edition.
| Team | G | W | D | L | MP | BP | |
| 1. | OSG Baden-Baden | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 42.5 |
| 2. | SG Solingen | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 40.5 |
| 3. | SV 1930 Hockenheim | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 40 |
| 4. | Schachfreunde Deizisau | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 38.5 |
| 5. | Hamburger SK | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 31.5 |
| 6. | SV Werder Bremen | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 37.5 |
| 7. | SC Viernheim | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 31.5 |
| 8. | USV TU Dresden | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 27.5 |
| 9. | SG Turm Kiel | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 23 |
| 10. | SV Mülheim Nord | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 29 |
| 11. | SF Berlin 1903 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 23 |
| 12. | BCA Augsburg | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 21.5 |
| 13. | Düsseldorfer SK | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 22.5 |
| 14. | SV 1920 Hofheim | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 22 |
| 15. | MSA Zugzwang 82 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 17.5 |
| 16. | DJK Aufwärts Aachen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The encounter between Baden-Baden and Hockenheim on Saturday has stirred up big expectations, as it could theoretically reach 45,000 Elo points if we combine all the players' ratings. In fact, several former world champions might be part of that particular match-up: Anatoly Karpov, Hou Yifan, Vishy Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
As a warm-up for the match, we can enjoy two games that featured short wins by a member of each team. David Baramidze (Hockenheim) took down Zbigniew Pakleza (SG Turm Kiel) in 26 moves, while Sergei Movsesian (Baden-Baden) needed only 29 to beat Boris Margolin (SV 1920 Hofheim):
Click or tap the second game in the list below the board to switch games
No need to fear the Qd6 Scandinavian
In this "Learn in 60 Minutes" video GM Dejan Bojkov from Bulgaria offers a complete repertoire for White after the moves: 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 when all the main moves are covered: 5...Bg4; 5...g6; 5...a6 and Tiviakov's speciality 5...c6.
The organisers have put together a dedicated website for these three rounds, as they announced many side activities that will make this a "superlative chess event". On Saturday, everyone will be able to take part in the 2nd Emanuel Lasker Blitz Tournament in the evening, while children, teenagers and young adults can also take part in the Youth Rapid Tournament, also on Saturday from 9 a.m. onwards.
The event will take place at the MARITIM Hotel and the spectators will be able to follow the games closely from the parquet floor and from a gallery. Live commentary will be provided by GM Robert Rabiega on site.
Everyone's invited | Photo: schach2019.berlin
While the open tournament will still have four rounds to go after the Berlin event, the Women's Bundesliga will be decided in Germany's capital. The twelve-team competition has the SC Bad Königshofen in pole position, with SK Schwäbisch Hall and the Hamburger SK one point behind.
The team from Hamburg incidentally has up-and-coming Iranian star Sarasadat Khademalsharieh in their line-up — the 21-year-old International Master has 4/4 so far representing her team!
Learn to master the right exchange! Let the German WGM Elisabeth Pähtz show you how to gain a strategic winning position by exchanging pieces of equal value or to safely convert material advantage into a win.
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh | Photo: Amruta Mokla
