Matthias Blübaum wins German Masters

German Masters 2020

The 2020 German Masters was played as an over-the-board tournament in Magdeburg. It all started with a blitz tournament, a 30-player single round-robin won by Matthias Blübaum with an astounding 25½ score. Rasmus Svane and Georg Meier finished in second and third places. In the women’s section, which included 18 players, Marta Michna, Josefine Heinemann and Elisabeth Pähtz made up the podium.

Third seed Matthias Blübaum also won the main tournament. The 22-year-old from Lemgo won three games and drew the rest to secure clear first place on 5 out of 7. The experienced Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu finished in second place, as he also had a strong performance but lost his round-4 encounter against the eventual champion. Niclas Huschenbeth came in third.

Georg Meier, who finished in fourth place after drawing all seven of his games, pragmatically agreed a quick draw with black in the final round against an in-form Blübaum, who knew a half point was likely to secure him first place.

Fundamentals of Chess Openings

Starting out in chess is difficult, and this DVD aims to reduce that stress. Designed for beginner levels in openings, a brief introduction to the reasons we play some of the most common moves in popular openings like the Spanish and Sicilian is given.

Matthias Blübaum celebrated one of the greatest successes in his still young career  

In the remaining three games, the players never left the realms of equality, so none of the encounters was particularly exciting, but because they played until move 40, it was at least a bit more entertaining.

“J'adoube”, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu might have muttered, while Dmitrij Kollars penned his 1.e4

Another player, same ritual: Niclas Huschenbeth adjusts his pieces carefully

Final standings

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	TB	Perf.
1		Bluebaum,M	2647		5.0	7		1	½	½	1	½	½	1	3.00	2781
2		Nisipeanu,L	2655		4.0	7	0		1	½	½	1	½	½	2.00	2672
3		Huschenbeth,N	2605		4.0	7	½	0		½	1	½	1	½	2.00	2679
4		Meier,G	2621		3.5	7	½	½	½		½	½	½	½	2.00	2627
5		Donchenko,A	2657		3.5	7	0	½	0	½		½	1	1	1.00	2622
6		Heimann,A	2622		3.0	7	½	0	½	½	½		½	½	2.00	2577
7		Kollars,D	2586		3.0	7	½	½	0	½	0	½		1	1.50	2582
8		Fridman,D	2615		2.0	7	0	½	½	½	0	½	0		1.50	2470
TBs: Koya, Wins with black, Wins

All games

Women’s German Masters 2020

While the seventh round of the main tournament was very peaceful, the women’s tournament was quite different — they were still fighting hard for points and none of the games were drawn. Fiona Sieber had secured tournament victory after six rounds, but ended up losing for the first time in the event against second-placed Elisabeth Pähtz. A tactical oversight was the culprit of the champion’s defeat:

How to play the Sicilian Defence!

The continuous stream of new ideas in the Sicilian makes 1..c5 the most popular answer to 1.e4. On this DVD I do give an introduction to the most important Sicilian systems.

For Elisabeth Pähtz, the results of this tournament looked quite good in the end, but the title went to Fiona Sieber

Final standings

All games

German Individual Championships

The Individual Championships, open and women’s, were also played in Magdeburg as 9-round Swiss tournaments. The open section was won by Luis Engel, with Alexander Graf and Max Hess completing the podium. Among the women, Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky finished in clear first place, followed by Brigitte Burchardt and Anita Just.

Calculation Training

This DVD emphasizes the importance of training your calculation skills. Dutch IM Robert Ris made a selection of training material which he uses in lessons with students ranging from 1400 to 2400.

Luis Engel

Carmen Voicu-Jagodzinsky

Final standings - Open (top 10)

...34 players

Final standings - Women’s (top 10)

...23 players

Translation from German and additional reporting: Carlos Colodro

Links

• Official site
• More info at Chess-Results