Mitropa Cup: German teams lead both sections

The rating favourites playing on home soil

The 2024 edition of the Mitropa Cup is being played on February 15-23 in Apolda, Germany. Apolda is a town in central Thuringia, the capital of the Weimarer Land district. It is situated in the centre of the triangle Weimar–Jena–Naumburg near the river Ilm.

Open and women’s tournaments are taking place separately, with the participation of ten federations: Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. The tournaments are single round-robins with a time control of 90 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes to finish the game, with 30-second increments from move one.

Each team consists of four players, plus one reserve player. The top-seeded team in the open section is Germany (rating average: 2636), with Matthias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko, Rasmus Svane, Dmitrij Kollars and Frederik Svane in the lineup. The Italian team is second on the starting list with an average rating of 2511, while Austria and Switzerland have teams with an average rating of 2479.

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The German team is also the top seed in the women’s championship (rating average: 2309), with Josefine Heinemann, Jana Schneider, Hanna Marie Klek, Lare Schulze and WIM Kateryna Dolzhykova in the lineup. The Hungarian team is seeded second with an average rating of 2241, while Italy stand as the third seed with a rating average of 2216.

Frederik Svane (Germany) facing Lukas Dotzer (Austria) in round 2 | Photo: Frank Hoppe

Both local teams are leading the standings after five rounds. In the open, Germany won all five matches so far, including a first-round victory over Italy.

Switzerland stand in second place with 8/10 match points, while the Czech squad has collected 7/10 match points to stand in third place.

Standings after round 5 - Open

Full information on Chess-Results...

In the women’s section, the favourites playing on home soil drew two matches but are leading the standings on the first tiebreak criterion nonetheless (game points). Germany drew Switzerland and Slovakia, but still have to face the second seeds from Hungary.

France and Switzerland stand in second and third place, respectively, as both teams have collected as many match points as Germany.

Standings after round 5 - Women’s

Full information on Chess-Results...

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

The symbolic first move on the board of Josefine Heinemann, performed by Christine Lieberknecht, Minister President of Thuringia from 2009 to 2014 | Photo: Frank Hoppe

Bluebaum 1 - 0 Georgiadis

Analysis by Klaus Besenthal

Bluebaum, Matthias2655

1–0

Georgiadis, Nico2547

Mitropa Cup Open 2024 Apolda17.02.2024[Besenthal,Klaus-Guenther]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.Qc2 c6 8.h4 Nbd7 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.Rd1 Nd5 11.Ne4

The position was equal, but Black would now have had to deal with White's attacking plans against h7. 11...c5? This move was certainly positionally correct - as long as you only look at the pawn structure. If you add the piece activity to the analysis, then it doesn't work: Black loses the bastion d5, and the attack against h7 in combination with the open d-file and the diagonal towards g7 suddenly open for the d2-bishop all favour White. 11...f5! was very strong. After 12.Neg5 N7f6 the black position would have been extremely stable. 12.Neg5 N5f6 12...g6? was here a mistake due to 13.h5+- with a strong attack. 13.Bc3 Qc7 14.dxc5 Now Rxd7 is threatened. Re8 This makes room for the king if Qxh7+ were to come. 15.Nxf7! This wouldn't have worked: 15.Rxd7 Bxd7 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Qxh7+ Kf8 15...Kxf7 16.Ng5+ Kg8 17.Nxe6 Qb8

The only square. 18.Ng5 Now was the time for 18.Rxd7‼ and after Bxd7 19.Ng5 Qxh7+ is threatened, together with Bd5+, Nf7+, Ne5+ and mate by Ng6. There was no defence against this. 18...Nf8 19.Bd4 Be6 20.Nxe6 Nxe6 21.Qxc4

But this position is also winning. 21...Qc8 22.Bh3 Bf8 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.0-0? Giving up the initiative. The obvious pawn push is simple and strong: 24.b4 24...Kh8? 24...a5! 25.b4 The minor crisis has been put to bed. b5?! 26.Qxb5 Rb8 27.Qc4 Qc6 28.Rd3 a5 29.a3 axb4 30.axb4 Now it's four pawns for the knight. Ng7 31.Bd7 Re4 32.Rd4 Rxd4 33.Qxd4 Qc7 34.Rd1 Be7 35.Qe4 Qe5 36.Qc4 f5 37.Rd5 Qb2 38.b5 Ra8 39.Rd1?! Here 39.Kg2! was the easiest, as there is no problem on the back rank: Ra1 40.Bxf5 39...Ra1 40.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 41.Kg2 Qe5

The exchange of rooks was good for Black - winning this position is no longer so easy for White. 42.c6 Bd8 Better was 42...Bc5! The move keeps f8 covered, attacks f2 and the white pawns are stopped. The computers now sugges 43.g4 and give White a clear advantage, but Black would have kept good practical chances. 43.Qf7! The position is now clearly winning. Qc5 44.h5 Bb6 45.e3 h6 46.Be6 Nxe6 47.Qxe6 Qxb5 48.Qxh6+ Kg8 49.Qg6+ Kh8 50.Qh6+ Kg8 51.Qe6+ Kh7 52.c7 Bxc7 53.Qf7+ Kh8 54.Qxc7 Qd5+ 55.Kh2 1–0

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Matthias Bluebaum | Photo: Frank Hoppe

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Links

• Official website
• European Chess Union website