Mitropa Cup: Both German teams in the lead

by André Schulz
2/21/2024 – The German teams continue to dominate the Mitropa Cup in Apolda, Germany. In round 6 both German teams won against France, and with this win Germany defended its lead in the Open while the women's team took the sole lead. | Photos: German Chess Federation/Frank Hoppe

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After a rather fortunate performance against the Croatians in round five of the Mitropa Cup, the Germans put in a pretty convincing performance against the French in round six.

But in the Open Dmitrij Kollars came into trouble with Black in a rare line of the Scotch and lost. But Matthias Bluebaum equalized the score by winning a fine game with Black in a Caro-Kann.

Frederik and Rasmus Svane showed brotherly unity and both won with White to give Germany a clear 3-1 victory.

Frederik Svane

Germany tops the table with a maximum of 12 points, but Switzerland, which has only lost to Germany, is hot on their heels. The Czech Republic is third.

Standings after 6 rounds

Rk. Snr Team Matches   +    =    -   Tb1   Tb2   Tb3 
1 Germany 12
2 Switzerland 10
3 Czech Republic 9
4 Slovenia 7
5 Italy 5
6 Hungary 4
7 Austria 4
8 Slovakia 4
9 France 4
10 Croatia 1

Games

Women's Mitropa Cup

In the women's Mitropa Cup, France, Germany and Switzerland shared the lead going into round six. Up to that point, France had only lost to Switzerland, but had won all their other matches.

But the German women had a brilliant day at the right time. Josefine Heinemann drew against Yosha Iglesias, but Germany won all three games on the other boards.

In a Sicilian, Jana Schneider kept up the pressure on Black until her opponent Manon Schipke finally cracked.

Hanna Marie Klek won with Black against Andrea Navrotescu. In a Nimzo-Indian Klek won material and then successfully parried the attack against her somewhat exposed king.

Hanna Marie Klek

Lara Schulze, who had White against Camille Blanquet, scored the third win for the German team. Blanquet had tried to free her position with an exchange sacrifice, but failed to get adequate compensation.

The result was an emphatic 3.5:0.5 victory for the Germans. With Switzerland held to a 2-2 draw by Italy, Germany is now the sole leader in the Women's Mitropa Cup.

Standings after 6 rounds

Rk. Snr Team Matches   +    =    -   Tb1   Tb2   Tb3 
1 Germany 10
2 Switzerland 9
3 Slovenia 9
4 France 8
5 Italy 7
6 Hungary 7
7 Czech Republic 4
8 Slovakia 2
9 Croatia 2
10 Austria 2

Games

Links

Tournament page of the German Chess Federation...

Chess-results...


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.