Elisabeth Pähtz defeats Dinara Wagner after more than 100 moves

by ChessBase
8/4/2025 – The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Festival started on the weekend. The Open began on Saturday, the Women's Tournament on Sunday. In the duel of the best German women players Elisabeth Pähtz won against Dinara Wagner - after 129 moves and showing good knowledge of basic endgames! The 15-year old Chinese talent Lu Miaoyi also started with a win. | Photo: Mayor Norbert Schilff makes the ceremonial first move | Photos: Sparkassen Chess Meeting
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Press release (Text: Patrick Zelbel)

With a symbolic first move on the top board of the German duel between Dinara Wagner and Elisabeth Pähtz, Mayor of Dortmund Norbert Schilff officially opened the International Women's Tournament on Saturday as part of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy in Dortmund.

This game was not only the opening game, but also the longest game of the day.
After much back and forth, Pähtz finally had an extra piece for two pawns in the endgame. After 93 moves, she ended up in the classic endgame of knight + bishop + king against king, which she won after 129 moves!

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.

Right at the start, the tournament's super talent caused a stir: 15-year-old Lu Miaoyi from China seized her opportunity against the experienced French player Deimanté Daulyté-Cornette. Daulyté-Cornette, who was in a better position, was too ambitious in going for the full point instead of taking the safe draw by perpetual check – a mistake that Lu Miaoyi punished. This underlines why she is already considered one of the world's elite at such a young age.

Lu Miaoyi

Results - Round 1

Bo. No. White Elo Pts Result Pts Black Elo
1 1 IM Daulyte-Cornette, Deimante 2402 0 0 - 1 0 IM Lu, Miaoyi 2439
2 2 IM Wagner, Dinara 2404 0 0 - 1 0 GM Pähtz, Elisabeth 2424

Games

European champion Blübaum wins second game in A-Open

Reigning European champion Matthias Blübaum and his teammate from the German national team, Dmitrij Kollars, got off to a particularly good start at the top boards in the A Open.

Dmitrij Kollars

Like Dennis Wagner, both won their first two games convincingly and are now among the top favourites for overall victory. The three German players from the national squad appear to be in very strong form at the start of the tournament.

Standings after 2 rounds

Games Snr Name sex Country EloI EloN Club/Residence Pts  Tb1   Tb2 
1 22
IM Dau, Khuong Duy VIE 2462 0 2 2 5
25
FM Glöckler, Christian GER 2446 2449 Wiesbadener SV 1885 2 2 5
39
FM Otsuka, Shou JPN 2350 0 2 2 5
46
GM Mainka, Romuald GER 2331 2274 SC Remagen-Sinzig e.V. 2 2 5
5 19
IM Belurkar, Nitish IND 2486 0 2 2 4,5
34
FM Paltrinieri, Nicholas ITA 2359 2375 SK Freiburg-Wiehre 2000 e.V. 2 2 4,5
49
IM Soumya, Swaminathan W IND 2216 2320 Stuttgarter SF 1879 2 2 4,5
107
Arsenie, Cristian Marc SUI 2167 0 2 2 4,5
9 2
GM Kollars, Dmitrij GER 2644 2624 SF Deizisau 2 2 4
5
GM Engel, Luis GER 2548 2562 Hamburger SK von 1830 eV 2 2 4
6
GM Jumabayev, Rinat KAZ 2556 0 2 2 4
8
GM Xiao, Tong CHN 2539 0 2 2 4
18
IM Peyrer, Konstantin AUT 2490 2500 Hamburger SK von 1830 eV 2 2 4
30
FM Besou, Hussain GER 2390 2386 LSV Turm Lippstadt 2 2 4
36
IM Sargsyan, Anna M. W USA 2362 0 2 2 4
50
FM Radzimski, Antoni POL 2320 0 2 2 4
17 79
Engel, Bruno GER 2192 2222 Lübecker SV von 1873 2 1,5 5,5
18 1
GM Blübaum, Matthias GER 2660 2658 SF Deizisau 2 1,5 5
13
GM Klimkowski, Jan POL 2517 2474 Schachfreunde Berlin 1903 e.V. 2 1,5 5
15
IM Deuer, Marius GER 2487 2507 Münchener SC 1836 e.V. 2 1,5 5
21 31
IM Ahmadinia, Ebrahim IRI 2388 2313 Schachfreunde Berlin 1903 e.V. 2 1,5 4,5
48
FM Sydykov, Bayastan KGZ 2322 2289 SC Viernheim 1934 e.V. 2 1,5 4,5
23 3
GM Wagner, Dennis GER 2617 2621 SC Viernheim 1934 e.V. 2 1 6
4
GM Ganguly, Surya Shekbar IND 2566 2510 Schachgesellschaft Solingen e. V 2 1 6
16
IM Zwirs, Nico NED 2436 2502 Hamburger SK von 1830 eV 2 1 6

...196 players

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.

Games

The approximately 400 participants will continue on Monday at 10:30 a.m. with the third round of the B Open. After two days of tournament play, 31 players are still undefeated, including top seeded Tim Geist and last year's winner Oleksandr Kasapchuk. The A Open and the closed women's tournament will follow on Monday at 3 p.m. with the following pairings:

Dinara Wagner - Lu Miaoyi
Elisabeth Pähtz - Deimanté Daulyté-Cornette

Links

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