Dortmund: Bluebaum and Engel co-leaders with two rounds to go

Ten players stand a half point back

Round seven of the A-Open at the Dortmund Chess Festival featured a much-anticipated all-German encounter on the top board between co-leaders Luis Engel and Matthias Bluebaum. Both entered the day with 5½ points from six games.

The game was fought on balanced terms, with Engel showing clear ambition by declining an early repetition in search of a full point. Despite this, Bluebaum, a two-time European champion, defended with precision. He kept his position solid, neutralising Engel's attempts without being forced into serious difficulties. After 32 moves, the players agreed to a draw, with Engel later remarking in relaxed fashion that the result was fine under the circumstances.

The draw meant that Engel and Bluebaum maintained their shared lead on 6 points out of a possible 7. The chasing pack remains close behind, with Dmitrij Kollars and Marius Deuer sitting just half a point adrift.

Kollars made the most of his opportunity to close the gap by securing a convincing victory against Adrian Gschnitzer on board four. The German grandmaster took control early in the game and converted his advantage in just 20 moves, demonstrating clean and efficient play.

IM Gschnitzer had already played riskily with 17...f5, but his even more dicey 18...g5, which loses at once to 19.Nd4. White ignores the attack on his bishop, as he threatens to place the knight on c6, with a double attack against the queen and the dark-squared bishop.

Black tried 19...Bf6, but nonetheless had to resign after 20.Nc6

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Resignation did not come too hastily, as Black's position will soon collapse - e.g. 20...Qd7 21.Qg3 h6 22.Bxd6 Re8 23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Re1, etcetera.

This result allowed Kollars to rejoin the main group of contenders for the top spots going into the final weekend.

The playing hall during round seven | Photo: Dariusz Gorzinski

Meanwhile, the other two top-board games also ended peacefully. On board two, Surya Ganguly accepted an early draw offer from his 14-year-old opponent Khuong Duy Dau. Ganguly explained afterwards that although he could have continued for another hour and a half, the presence of opposite-coloured bishops meant that the position was bound to be drawn, and conserving energy made sense ahead of the decisive rounds.

On board five, Rinat Jumabayev and Wang Tonseng also settled for a draw by repetition in a balanced position.

As a result, the standings at the top remain largely stable, with four German players in strong contention for the title - occupying the top three spots and also sixth place. The final two rounds will decide the outcome: on Saturday, Bluebaum faces Kollars, Engel will have the black pieces against Ganguly, and Deuer will take on Xiao Tong. The concluding round will take place on Sunday morning, promising tense battles as the leaders fight for overall victory.

Surya Shekhar Ganguly | Photo: Dariusz Gorzinski

Standings after round 7

Endgame essentials you need to know Vol.1 & Vol 2

In this video course, GM Surya Ganguly joins IM Sagar Shah and drawing from his colossal experience, shares some uncommon endgame wisdom. The material mostly features positions with rook against rook and a pawn, and starts by covering the fundamentals.

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Links

• Official website
• Chess-Results: A-Open | B-Open
• Nico Zwirs outright winner in A-Open (2024)
• Caruana, Donchenko and Wagner triumph in Dortmund (2023)
• Late replacement Dmitrij Kollars wins No-Castling World Masters (2022)
• A successful experiment: The Anand vs Kramnik "No Castling" match (2021)