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Baden-Baden wins German League
4/9/2019 – The last weekend of Germany's Premier League, (a.k.a. the Bundesliga), brought the perennial champions OSG Baden-Baden another success. With a 7-1 victory against Düsseldorf, Baden-Baden (pictured) once again became German Team Champion, securing their 13th title in 14 years. 14-year old German talent Vincent Keymer narrowly missed his third and final GM norm. | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
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Vincent Keymer misses GM norm
The 2018/19 season of the German League ended with OSG Baden-Baden once again defending their league title. After fourteen matches Baden-Baden finished with a board tally of 26:2 points in front of SV Hockenheim (24:4) and SG Solingen (22:8). It was Baden-Baden's thirteenth title in the last fourteen years, giving them a new record in league history moving past Solingen (12 titles) and the SG Porz (10 titles).
"It has been a thrilling season...the strongest league in the world is getting stronger and thirteen titles in fourteen years have been a fantastic and intense journey. It cost me a lot of hair, but in the end it's an incredible track record that has been made with great players, a great club and, with the GRENKE group, a great sponsor", Team boss Sven Noppes commented directly after the historic success.
GRENKE commissioned a special video for the 13th Schachbundesliga victory of Baden-Baden
Before the final Bundesliga weekend, Solingen, champion of 2016, could still nourish hopes for another title but these hopes were gone after Solingen had lost against Baden-Baden in round fourteen. In the fifteenth and last round, Solingen played against the strong team of Deizisau and lost again to finish behind Baden-Baden and Hockenheim.
With 5½/7 Gata Kamsky scored well for Deizisau | Photo: Guido Giotta
Last year Deizisau finished fifth, this year they finished fourth. Germany's great talent, 14-year-old Vincent Keymer, who plays for Deizisau, missed his third and final GM norm by an inch. Keymer's opponents had an Elo average of 2562.9 but for a norm an average of 2564 was necessary and Keymer's last-round draw against Borki Predojevic did not suffice for the norm.
Vincent Keymer | Photo: Schachbundesliga.de
Deizisau 5½ : 2½ Solingen
| GM | 2675 |  |
Peter Leko | ½ | : | ½ | Pentala Harikrishna | 2723 | GM | 2 | ||
| GM | 2676 | |
Gata Kamsky | 1 | : | 0 | Markus Ragger | 2687 | GM | 3 | ||
| GM | 2610 | |
Matthias Blübaum | ½ | : | ½ | Loek Van Wely | 2612 | GM | 4 | ||
| GM | 2628 | |
Georg Meier | 1 | : | 0 | Surya Shekhar Ganguly | 2654 | GM | 5 | ||
| IM | 2516 | |
Vincent Keymer | ½ | : | ½ | Borki Predojevic | 2621 | GM | 7 | ||
| GM | 2584 | |
Alexander Donchenko | ½ | : | ½ | Mads Andersen | 2595 | GM | 9 | ||
| GM | 2616 | |
Andreas Heimann | ½ | : | ½ | Jan Smeets | 2602 | GM | 10 | ||
| GM | 2570 | |
Dmitrij Kollars | 1 | : | 0 | Predrag Nikolic | 2578 | GM | 11 |
So close: Vincent Keymer finishes the season with a performance of 2599 | Photo: Guido Giotta
Baden-Baden 7 : 1 Düsseldorf
In their last match of the season the OSG Baden-Baden was clear favourite and indeed cruised to a smooth 7:1 victory against Düsseldorf. Best scorer on the team is Richard Rapport with 10½/13, second best scorer is Etienne Bacrot with 9/12.
| 2 | GM | 2773 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 1 | : | 0 | Jan Hendrik Timman | 2549 | GM | 3 | ||
| 5 | GM | 2735 | Peter Svidler | 1 | : | 0 | David Miedema | 2369 | IM | 8 | ||
| 6 | GM | 2724 | Radoslaw Wojtaszek | 1 | : | 0 | Lars Stark | 2362 | IM | 10 | ||
| 7 | GM | 2726 | Richard Rapport | 1 | : | 0 | Michael Coenen | 2357 | FM | 12 | ||
| 8 | GM | 2695 | Arkadij Naiditsch | ½ | : | ½ | Marcel Harff | 2412 | FM | 13 | ||
| 9 | GM | 2693 | Francisco Vallejo Pons | 1 | : | 0 | Bernd Kohlweyer | 2328 | IM | 14 | ||
| 10 | GM | 2698 | Michael Adams | ½ | : | ½ | Dr. Guntram Hainke | 2331 | FM | 15 | ||
| 11 | GM | 2683 | Etienne Bacrot | 1 | : | 0 | Inna Agrest | 2276 | WIM | 16 |
Vachier-Lagrave discusses his win against Pentala Harikrishna and the team's title
The 13th title in 14 years for OSG Baden-Baden | Photo: Guido Giotta
For top scorer Richard Rapport it was the first season for Baden-Baden | Photo: Guido Giotta
Dresden beats Kiel, but after scoring an important point against Schachfreunde Berlin in round 14 Kiel was sure to stay in the league. After losing in round 14, Hamburg also lost in round 15 and dropped down to place 8 in the final rankings, one place ahead of Berlin.
Dresden 4½ : 3½ Kiel
| 3 | GM | 2680 | |
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | 1 | : | 0 | Ivan Salgado Lopez | |
2601 | GM | 1 | ||
| 5 | GM | 2593 | |
Mateusz Bartel | ½ | : | ½ | Marcin Dziuba | |
2559 | GM | 2 | ||
| 8 | IM | 2478 | |
Maximilian Neef | ½ | : | ½ | Igor Khenkin | |
2548 | GM | 3 | ||
| 9 | GM | 2525 | |
Uwe Bönsch | ½ | : | ½ | Artur Jakubiec | |
2474 | GM | 6 | ||
| 10 | GM | 2432 | |
Jens-Uwe Maiwald | 1 | : | 0 | Jonny Hector | |
2478 | GM | 7 | ||
| 11 | GM | 2435 | |
Raj Tischbierek | ½ | : | ½ | Zbigniew Pakleza | |
2498 | GM | 8 | ||
| 12 | IM | 2390 | |
Paul Hoffmann | ½ | : | ½ | Carsten Hoi | |
2354 | GM | 10 | ||
| 15 | FM | 2374 | |
Hans Möhn | 0 | : | 1 | Thorbjorn Bromann | |
2387 | IM | 11 |
Berlin 4½ : 3½ Hamburg
| 1 | GM | 2660 | Kacper Piorun | ½ | : | ½ | Rasmus Svane | 2605 | GM | 3 | ||
| 3 | GM | 2597 | Wojciech Moranda | ½ | : | ½ | Niclas Huschenbeth | 2608 | GM | 4 | ||
| 4 | GM | 2628 | Jacek Tomczak | 1 | : | 0 | Sune Berg Hansen | 2590 | GM | 7 | ||
| 7 | GM | 2482 | Dr. Jan Michael Sprenger | 1 | : | 0 | Lubomir Ftacnik | 2516 | GM | 10 | ||
| 8 | IM | 2477 | Peter Schreiner | ½ | : | ½ | Thies Heinemann | 2497 | GM | 11 | ||
| 12 | IM | 2464 | Felix Blohberger | 1 | : | 0 | Dorian Rogozenco | 2497 | GM | 12 | ||
| 14 | IM | 2429 | Alexander Seyb | 0 | : | 1 | Luis Engel | 2490 | IM | 13 | ||
| 17 | FM | 2393 | Emil Schmidek | 0 | : | 1 | Dirk Sebastian | 2455 | IM | 14 |
Before the last round Zugzwang München (Munich) had lost all previous matches but against Hofheim they finally scored. Zugzwang still finished last (DJK Aachen had withdrawn before round on but too late to allow team to replace them) and will to have to leave the League, just as their opponents Hofheim.
Hofheim 3½ : 4½ Zugzwang München
| 1 | GM | 2637 | Andrei Volokitin | 0 | : | 1 | Leon Mons | 2553 | GM | 1 | ||
| 2 | GM | 2577 | Jan-Christian Schröder | 1 | : | 0 | Stefan Kindermann | 2498 | GM | 2 | ||
| 3 | IM | 2450 | Thore Perske | ½ | : | ½ | Gerald Hertneck | 2490 | GM | 3 | ||
| 6 | GM | 2430 | Gennadi Ginsburg | ½ | : | ½ | Robert Zysk | 2404 | IM | 4 | ||
| 7 | GM | 2449 | Mathias Womacka | 0 | : | 1 | Stefan Bromberger | 2476 | GM | 5 | ||
| 8 | IM | 2424 | Davit Lobzhanidze | ½ | : | ½ | Erasmus Gerigk | 2341 | FM | 8 | ||
| 9 | GM | 2473 | Vladimir Gurevich | ½ | : | ½ | Dr. Falk Hoffmeyer | 2342 | FM | 9 | ||
| 10 | IM | 2402 | Boris Margolin | ½ | : | ½ | Markus Lammers | 2318 | IM | 11 |
Viernheim 5½ : 2½ Mülheim
| 4 | GM | 2675 | Anton Korobov | 1 | : | 0 | Michael Feygin | 2480 | GM | 5 | ||
| 5 | GM | 2669 | David Anton Guijarro | ½ | : | ½ | Thomas Beerdsen | 2483 | IM | 6 | ||
| 6 | GM | 2708 | Dr. Bassem Amin | ½ | : | ½ | Liam Vrolijk | 2465 | IM | 7 | ||
| 7 | GM | 2580 | Sebastien Maze | ½ | : | ½ | Daniel Hausrath | 2458 | GM | 10 | ||
| 8 | GM | 2604 | Sergey A. Fedorchuk | ½ | : | ½ | Patrick Zelbel | 2434 | IM | 11 | ||
| 9 | GM | 2662 | Igor Kovalenko | 1 | : | 0 | Dr. Volkmar Dinstuhl | 2378 | IM | 12 | ||
| 11 | GM | 2437 | Thal Abergel | 1 | : | 0 | Max Warmerdam | 2472 | IM | 13 | ||
| 12 | GM | 2554 | Konstantin Tarlev | ½ | : | ½ | Valentin Buckels | 2453 | IM | 17 |
With the win against Mülheim, Viernheim made it to the top 5. Top scorer of Viernheim is Igor Kovalenko who finished the season with 10½/12.
Hockenheim 4 : 4 Bremen
| 9 | GM | 2673 | Ruslan Ponomariov | ½ | : | ½ | Laurent Fressinet | 2639 | GM | 2 | ||
| 10 | GM | 2701 | David W L Howell | 1 | : | 0 | Luke J McShane | 2686 | GM | 3 | ||
| 11 | GM | 2646 | Alexander Moiseenko | 0 | : | 1 | Alexander Areshchenko | 2663 | GM | 4 | ||
| 12 | GM | 2602 | Arik Braun | ½ | : | ½ | Zahar Efimenko | 2633 | GM | 5 | ||
| 13 | GM | 2595 | David Baramidze | ½ | : | ½ | Romain Edouard | 2650 | GM | 6 | ||
| 14 | GM | 2581 | Rainer Buhmann | ½ | : | ½ | Wouter Spoelman | 2582 | GM | 9 | ||
| 15 | GM | 2577 | Dennis Wagner | ½ | : | ½ | Jan Werle | 2556 | GM | 11 | ||
| 16 | GM | 2614 | Tamas Banusz | ½ | : | ½ | Martin Zumsande | 2461 | IM | 13 |
Final standings
| Team | Games | TP | BP | BW | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | OSG Baden-Baden | + | 4 | 5 | 4½ | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5½ | 14 | 26 | 79 | 352 |
| 2. | SV Hockenheim | 4 | + | 5 | 4½ | 5½ | 4 | 5 | 3½ | 7 | 7½ | 4½ | 6½ | 7 | 4½ | 6 | 14 | 24 | 74½ | 328½ |
| 3. | SG Solingen | 3 | 3 | + | 2½ | 5½ | 4½ | 5½ | 6 | 4½ | 5 | 5 | 6½ | 6 | 4½ | 6 | 14 | 22 | 67½ | 277½ |
| 4. | SF Deizisau | 3½ | 3½ | 5½ | + | 4 | 3 | 5½ | 4½ | 5½ | 7½ | 4½ | 7½ | 6 | 5 | 7½ | 14 | 21 | 73 | 315½ |
| 5. | SC Viernheim | 4 | 2½ | 2½ | 4 | + | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4½ | 5 | 5½ | 4 | 6½ | 5 | 4½ | 14 | 19 | 61 | 297½ |
| 6. | SV Werder Bremen | 3 | 4 | 3½ | 5 | 3 | + | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5½ | 4 | 5 | 5½ | 5 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 62½ | 291 |
| 7. | USV TU Dresden | 2 | 3 | 2½ | 2½ | 4 | 5 | + | 4½ | 2½ | 4 | 5½ | 4½ | 5 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 16 | 55 | 262½ |
| 8. | Hamburger SK | 2 | 4½ | 2 | 3½ | 4 | 4 | 3½ | + | 3½ | 4½ | 5½ | 4 | 4½ | 6 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 57½ | 244 |
| 9. | SF Berlin | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 2½ | 3½ | 3 | 5½ | 4½ | + | 3½ | 2½ | 4 | 5 | 5½ | 6 | 14 | 11 | 51 | 230 |
| 10. | BCA Augsburg | 2 | ½ | 3 | ½ | 3 | 2½ | 4 | 3½ | 4½ | + | 4 | 5½ | 4½ | 2½ | 5 | 14 | 10 | 45 | 202 |
| 11. | SV Mülheim Nord 1931 | 2 | 3½ | 3 | 3½ | 2½ | 4 | 2½ | 2½ | 5½ | 4 | + | 5½ | 3½ | 3 | 5 | 14 | 8 | 50 | 232 |
| 12. | SG Turm Kiel | 2 | 1½ | 1½ | ½ | 4 | 3 | 3½ | 4 | 4 | 2½ | 2½ | + | 4½ | 4 | 5 | 14 | 8 | 42½ | 186 |
| 13. | Düsseldorfer SK | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1½ | 2½ | 3 | 3½ | 3 | 3½ | 4½ | 3½ | + | 4½ | 4½ | 14 | 6 | 40 | 200 |
| 14. | SV 1920 Hofheim | 1 | 3½ | 3½ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2½ | 5½ | 5 | 4 | 3½ | + | 3½ | 14 | 5 | 46 | 202½ |
| 15. | MSA Zugzwang | 2½ | 2 | 2 | ½ | 3½ | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3½ | 4½ | + | 14 | 2 | 35½ | 159 |
| 16. | DJK Aachen | + |
Apart from DJK Aachen Düsseldorf, Hofheim and Zugzwang München also have to leave the league. Next year Speyer-Schwegenheim, Bayern München, the SV Lingen, and the Aachener SV will try their luck.
All Games
(Just before the time control the live transmission in Mülheim went on strike and therefore the games of the matches Hockenheim-Bremen and Viernheim-Mülheim are incomplete.)
Top scorer of the season is the Latvian grandmaster Igor Kovalenko (SC Viernheim) with 10½/12 (9 wins, 3 draws). Richard Rapport (Baden-Baden, 10½/13) and Mads Andersen (SG Solingen, 10½/14) reached the same number of points but played more games.
Igor Kovalenko | Photo: OIBM Tegernsee
Luis Engel (Hamburger SK) finished the season with a GM norm. Engel was certain to reach a norm after getting a big, surprising and curious gift in round 14, when he was playing against Paul Hoffmann from the USV Dresden. In a position with king and queen vs. king and rook Hoffmann was so focused on finding a win that he forgot about the clock and lost on time. But with his last round win Engel showed that he does not need such gifts, though he gratefully accepts them.
Luis Engel | Photo: André Schulz
The second GM norm in this season was made by yours truly (Marco Baldauf). I secured the norm in round 12 and thus could afford the luxury to follow the last matches of my team Berliner Schachfreunde from home.
Translation from German: Johannes Fischer
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