Three teams still perfect in the German Bundesliga

Solingen on 10 out of 10

The traditional Chess Bundesliga continues to attract a strong set of participants, ranging from 2700+ elite grandmasters to FMs and IMs in the 2250-2400 rating band. A total of 16 teams play a single round-robin, with each match consisting of eight boards. The current edition kicked off on October 22 last year and is set to finish on April 30.

Perennial favourites OSG Baden-Baden, who won their 15th title last year, are one of three teams that have obtained match victories in all their confrontations so far. SC Viernheim (2nd place last year) and SG Solingen (3rd) are the other two squads with a perfect record. 

There is one difference between these three teams, though, as only Solingen have played an extra match compared to the other two. On November 25, a day before round 3 took place, ten teams agreed to bring forward their round-7 encounters, and Solingen were among them. 

The fourth team that often keep chances of fighting for a spot on the podium as seasons unfold is the Schachfreunde Deizisau. As for direct confrontations between the four favourites, only Deizisau and Viernheim have already clashed in the first quarter of the season, with Viernheim obtaining a crucial victory by the smallest of margins in round 3. Out of the eight games of the match, seven finished drawn, and it was David Anton who got the full point in the one decisive encounter, thus giving his team overall victory. Curiously, the Spaniard arrived in Stuttgart only one hour before the registration deadline, after travelling all night from Jerusalem.

Viernheim 4½ - 3½ Deizisau

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David Anton playing next to Bassem Amin

During the next weekend of play, on February 3-5, two other key matches will take place, as Baden-Baden will face Deizisau in round 5, while Solingen will play against Viernheim in round 6.

A feature of the German League is that the top teams have very deep rosters, with the very best representatives often showing up for particularly relevant matches. This season, only Baden-Baden have yet to field most of their stars — and what stars! The squad sponsored by Grenke has not fielded any of his six highest-ranked players so far in the season: Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Richard Rapport, Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vishy Anand.

The following players led the top four teams in the first four (or five) rounds of the event:

• Solingen: Pentala Harikrishna (1½/5), Markus Ragger (2½/5), Aryan Tari (1½/3)
• Baden-Baden: Nikita Vitiugov (2½/4), Vincent Keymer (2/4), Michael Adams (2½/4)
• Viernheim: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (1/2), Jan Duda (1/2), Yuriy Kryvoruchko (1/3)
• Deizisau: Jules Moussard (2½/4), Matthias Bluebaum (3/5), Gata Kamsky (1½/3)

Annmarie Muetsch (Viernheim) defeated Nikita Kuznevocs (Deggendorf) in round 2

Current standings

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Full information on the Bundesliga’s official site...

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Links

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