Starting Monday: Kader-Challenge in Magdeburg

Covid-19 tests for all

The German Chess Federation will hold an over-the-board classical tournament on April 5-11. The event will be played at the Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, the capital and second-largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

People with contagious viral infections have always sat down at the board in chess tournaments. If the symptoms were perceived by the — still healthy — opponent, he or she still had no chance of success with any complaints. The topic simply never played a role in tournament regulations and rules. And how should that have been possible? Arbiters want to judge the facts surrounding each game — for example, is the mobile phone on or off? The symptoms of an infection, however, are not so easy to grasp. So, chess players have always had to bite the bullet: risk an illness of their own or simply suffer a defeat. 

It is possible, however, that a drastic cultural change is taking place, which is quite banal since Covid-19 test results or — perhaps in the near future — entries in vaccination cards can be clearly grasped and translated into an unambiguous rule. If the prevailing narrative that everything will return to ‘normal’ when everyone is vaccinated ‘in the summer’ crumbles in the next few months, then these measures could indeed be applied in chess tournaments for some time to come. Arbiters would then be able to cope with the issue. 

At any rate, the usual Covid-19 tests have arrived at the playing site of the Kader-Challenge. They will be carried out on every single person participating in the tournament. The audience in front of the screens will surely keep their fingers firmly crossed that the results will always come out negative! 

[Pictured: Town hall and golden Magdeburg Rider statue, via Wikimedia Commons]

Men’s tournament

Tactic Toolbox Najdorf

The aim of this DVD is to demonstrate the typical tactical themes of the Sicilian Najdorf and to improve your understanding of them, as well as to practice them with the interactive examples.

Starting rank list of players

Round 1 pairings

Women’s tournament

How to exchange pieces

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.

Starting rank list of players

Round 1 pairings

Links

• Official site
• More info at Chess-Results: Men’s section | Women’s section