Baden-Baden second, Wolfhagen third
SC Viernheim completed the 2025/26 Chess Bundesliga season with a perfect score, winning all fifteen matches to finish on 30/30 match points and claim their second league title. The club, based in Viernheim - a midsize industrial town on the outskirts of Mannheim in the Rhine-Neckar agglomeration - thus added another championship to the one they had secured in the 2023/24 campaign, when they had also achieved a flawless record.
Final standings
*Due to the announcement by Sfr. Wolfhagen that they will withdraw their team for the 2026/27 season, Sfr. Berlin will remain in the top division of the Bundesliga
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
The London System is one of the most popular openings at every level of chess but not all Londons are the same. In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: 5...cxd4 6.exd4 Qb6 sidelines
In the previous season (2024/25), Viernheim had finished second behind Düsseldorfer SK before returning to the top this year.
Viernheim entered the final weekend in Berlin, where the last three rounds were staged, with a 3-point lead over OSG Baden-Baden. They maintained their perfect record by winning all three remaining matches, including the direct encounter with Baden-Baden. Their success over the season was marked by their ability to secure results in closely fought matches: five of their victories came by the narrowest margin of 4½–3½, among them the key clashes against Baden-Baden and Sfr. Wolfhagen during the final weekend.
Baden-Baden, the sixteen-time Bundesliga champions and pre-season rating favourites, finished second on 23/30 match points. They ended the campaign 7 points behind Viernheim after losing the direct match against the leaders and drawing their two other weekend matches. Wolfhagen also scored 23/30 but placed third on tiebreaks, having collected 70 individual board points compared to Baden-Baden's 72. Viernheim, for their part, amassed 81½ board points out of a maximum of 120 across the season (with eight boards per match).
Baden-Baden's Viswanathan Anand (2/4) and Vincent Keymer (1½/3) | Photo: Stefan Liebig
The champions' squad combined continuity with consistent scoring throughout the lineup. Many players from the 2023/24 title-winning team remained part of the roster and were active during the season, including Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Parham Maghsoodloo, David Antón, Anton Korobov, Bassem Amin, Dennis Wagner, Georg Meier, Rainer Buhmann and Dinara Wagner. In total, sixteen players represented Viernheim during the campaign, and only one finished with a negative score, reflecting a broadly even contribution across the team.
This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.Among the individual performances, Bassem Amin was the leading scorer. He was the only player to appear in all fifteen rounds and finished with 11½/15. Alexey Sarana scored 9½ points from 13 games, while Dennis Wagner reached 9½/14. Georg Meier contributed 6½/8, Jan-Krzysztof Duda scored 6/8, and Jorden van Foreest added 6½/9. Several other players also produced strong percentage scores, although from fewer appearances than those listed.
Van Foreest played a notable role in the final weekend, scoring wins in rounds 14 and 15, which helped secure two of Viernheim's narrow victories.
Viernheim's team captain Stefan Martin holding the winners' trophy | Photo: Nils Rohde
Dennis Wagner and Dinara Wagner playing on boards 7 and 8 for Viernheim in the league's final round | Photo: Nils Rohde
Full roster - SC Viernheim
In the first part of the video series, we will look at White’s four main moves: 6. Bg5, 6. Be3, 6. Be2 and 6. Bc4.
OSG Baden-Baden 3½-4½ SC Viernheim
Round 14
Van Foreest 1-0 Bacrot
Annotations by Martina Gerdts
SC Viernheim 4½-3½ SC Heimbach-Weis-Neuwied
Round 15
All games - Bundesliga 2025/26
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