6/25/2023 – All five games ended decisively in the first round of the Sportland NRW Cup in Dortmund. WGM Dinara Wagner (pictured), IM Georgios Souleidis and 12-year-old FM Hussain Besou had a dream start: they beat the three participating grandmasters. In the A-Open, most of the favourites won their games, although the accelerated Swiss format made for interesting fights on the very first day of action.
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Five (out of five) decisive games in the Sportland NRW Cup
What a start in the Sportland NRW Cup of the 50th International Dortmund Chess Days Festival! All five games ended decisively. WGM Dinara Wagner, IM Georgios Souleidis and 12-year-old FM Hussain Besou had a dream start: they beat the three participating grandmasters.
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
On stage, Wagner was able to quickly target the black king with her pawn advance g3-g4-g5 in the Catalan opening. Her opponent, Mihail Saltaev, defended inaccurately and quickly got in trouble. Wagner did not take long to secure the win, and later explained her game to press officer Patrick Zelbel.
Meanwhile, Ruben Gideon Köllner slowly outplayed Jana Schneider to confidently score a win with the black pieces.
Right in front of the stage, the German youngster Hussain Besou faced GM Alexander Bagrationi with white. Bagrationi played a risky opening, and very quickly found himself in an inferior position. Besou won two pawns on the queenside and converted his advantage confidently.
12-year-old FM Hussain Besou
In a wild Sicilian, Ukrainian Vadym Petrovskiy kept the upper hand against Arthur de Winter.
Meanwhile, ‘the Big Greek’ Georgios Souleidis played black against top seed Karthik Venkataraman. He later confessed that he “didn't feel like playing the game all week because Venkataraman just plays everything”. The Indian GM chose 1.c4 and Souleidis surprised him with the ‘Adhiban Variation’. Souleidis won the game thanks to a beautiful attack.
On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.
22...Bg3 was a magnificent shot by Souleidis! Black threatens ...Qxf2 and has created a discovered attack against the white queen on d4. Karthik went for 23.hxg3 and resigned the game only four moves later.
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.
569 participants (555 of them in the Sparkassen Open).
43 nations
121 titleholders
31 grandmasters, 15 women grandmasters
In the Sparkassen A-Open most of the favourites won their games. Playing on the stage of the tournament hall, GM Matthias Blübaum, GM Alexander Donchenko and GM Michael Adams scored full points. On board 5, GM Gata Kamsky, who already beat Garry Kasparov in the Westfalenhallen in 1992, had to give up half a point against FM Michael Coenen. All in all, the accelerated Swiss format quickly provided a number of high-class games in the opening round.
Alexander Donchenko, the second see in the A-Open
Tomorrow we will continue at 10:30 with the second round in the B-Open, while the second rounds in the A-Open and the Sportland NRW Cup will kick off at 15:00 (local time).
YOUR PERSONAL CHESS COACH - Whether you’re taking your first steps into the world of club chess, or already playing at a tournament level: with FRITZ, you can train more efficiently, intelligently and with a more personalised approach than ever before.
Keep it simple. Stay objective. Watch the clock. Sometimes take the risk. GM Loek van Wely explains the ten principles that decide real games. They aren’t about theory. They’re about what you do at the board when it counts.
2026 Chess Olympiad with analyses by Abdusattorov, Donchenko, Duda, So and many more – ‘Rooks love open files’: Tactics training with Oliver Reeh – ‘Don’t underestimate it’: Caruana’s blitz weapon 1.e4 e5 2.d3 – Total Video playing time: over 6 hours!
Most players don’t lack the urge to attack, they just strike at the wrong moment, and GM Sipke Ernst shows you which signals tell you to go for the king and which tell you to choose another plan.
How grandmasters win without fireworks: GM Jan Markos shows you 11 very practical tips from "How to play in a lost position" to "Be patient like Carlsen" that will improve your tournament chess.
The Nimzo-Indian has stood the test of time for over a century: Still a top choice for elite players today, from Magnus Carlsen to Praggnanandhaa, it remains one of Black's most reliable ways to fight for real chances against 1.d4 2.c4 3.Nc3.
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4!? is an opening idea well worth considering. Black immediately threatens to double the pawns on c3 in the style of the Trompowski or Sicilian Grand Prix attack.
In this 60-minute video course you’ll learn how to use the Austrian Defence as a practical weapon for Black!
€9.90
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