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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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In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures. “Open and half-open files†and “the pawn chain†will be covered extensively on this video course. New: now also available as stream!
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.
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 10 | 14 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Switzerland | 8 | 10,5 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Czech Republic | 7 | 11 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Slovenia | 5 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Italy | 5 | 8,5 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Hungary | 4 | 10,5 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Slovakia | 4 | 10 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | France | 4 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Austria | 2 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Croatia | 1 | 6,5 |
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.
| Rk. | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 8 | 13,5 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | France | 8 | 12,5 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Switzerland | 8 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Slovenia | 7 | 10,5 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Italy | 6 | 11,5 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Hungary | 5 | 10,5 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Czech Republic | 3 | 9,5 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Croatia | 2 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Austria | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Slovakia | 1 | 7 |
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
Analysis by Klaus Besenthal
Improve your pieces - a winning system you need to know
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.
Matthias Bluebaum | Photo: Frank Hoppe
