OSG Baden-Baden wins Bundesliga Championship

by Johannes Fischer
9/21/2020 – In the last 15 years the OSG Baden-Baden has won the title of German Team Champion no less than 14 times, and in 2020 they won it again. Though it was close. In the dramatic seventh and decisive round of the Bundesliga Championship Baden-Baden only narrowly won the top match against the SC Viernheim 4½-3½. | Photo: Christian Bossert

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A dramatic finish

The OSG Baden-Baden was clear favourite to win the Bundesliga Championship Tournament but the SC Viernheim was also seen as a contender. Both teams confirmed their roles as favourites and won the first six of their seven matches without too many problems but in the seventh, final and decisive round they had to play against each other. As Baden-Baden had more board points, Viernheim had to win the match to win the event.

Both teams brought a line-up of international top players to the boards – not even one single German took part in this crucial match for the title of German Team Champion.

After a dramatic match Baden-Baden narrowly won 4½-3½. The Ukrainian Grandmaster Sergey Fedorchuk who played against French Grandmaster Etienne Bacrot was the only player from Viernheim who could win.

 

Francisco Vallejo Pons who won against Dr. Bassem Amin and Arkadij Naiditsch who defeated Igor Kovalenko scored the decisive points for Baden-Baden. Naiditsch quickly achieved a better position against Kovalenko but it took some time before he converted.

 

An interview with Arkadij Naiditsch

But it was Michael Adams who saved the 4½-3½ win for Baden-Baden. The English Grandmaster was more than once lost against David Anton Guijarro from Spain but in the end managed to escape into a draw.

 
SC Viernheim   3½ − 4½   OSG Baden-Baden
1 GM 2764 AZE Shakhriyar Mamedyarov   ½ : ½   Fabiano Caruana USA 2835 GM 1
2 GM 2669 RUS Vladimir Malakhov   ½ : ½   Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2778 GM 2
3 GM 2682 UKR Yuriy Kryvoruchko   ½ : ½   Levon Aronian ARM 2773 GM 4
4 GM 2688 UKR Anton Korobov   ½ : ½   Richard Rapport HUN 2760 GM 7
5 GM 2688 ESP David Anton Guijarro   ½ : ½   Michael Adams ENG 2706 GM 8
6 GM 2686 EGY Dr. Bassem Amin   0 : 1   Francisco Vallejo Pons ESP 2710 GM 9
7 GM 2645 LAT Igor Kovalenko   0 : 1   Arkadij Naiditsch AZE 2624 GM 10
8 GM 2615 UKR Sergey A. Fedorchuk   1 : 0   Etienne Bacrot FRA 2673 GM 11
SG Solingen   1½ − 6½   Schachfreunde Deizisau
2 GM 2620 NED Erwin L'Ami   0 : 1   Gata Kamsky USA 2674 GM 2
3 GM 2630 NOR Aryan Tari   ½ : ½   Andreas Heimann GER 2617 GM 3
4 GM 2682 NED Jorden van Foreest   ½ : ½   Georg Meier GER 2622 GM 4
5 GM 2585 DEN Mads Andersen   ½ : ½   Matthias Blübaum GER 2660 GM 6
6 GM 2615 NED Loek Van Wely   0 : 1   Alexander Donchenko GER 2654 GM 7
7 GM 2585 NED Jan Smeets   0 : 1   Vincent Keymer GER 2568 GM 8
9 GM 2539 GER Alexander Naumann   0 : 1   Dmitrij Kollars GER 2585 GM 11
11 IM 2401 GER Jörg Wegerle   0 : 1   Zdenko Kozul CRO 2597 GM 14
SV Werder Bremen   5½ − 2½   SF Berlin
1 GM 2635 FRA Laurent Fressinet   1 : 0   Szymon Gumularz POL 2518 IM 4
2 GM 2680 ENG Luke J McShane   ½ : ½   Marco Baldauf GER 2503 GM 5
3 GM 2678 UKR Alexander Areshchenko   ½ : ½   Dr. Jan Michael Sprenger GER 2482 GM 6
4 GM 2602 UKR Zahar Efimenko   1 : 0   Felix Blohberger AUT 2467 IM 7
7 GM 2571 NED Wouter Spoelman   0 : 1   Krzysztof Jakubowski POL 2481 GM 8
9 GM 2580 NED Jan Werle   ½ : ½   Emil Schmidek GER 2395 FM 11
12 IM 2456 GER Martin Zumsande   1 : 0   Rainer Polzin GER 2415 GM 12
17   2304 GER Nikolas Wachinger   1 : 0   Johannes Florstedt GER 2353 FM 13
Aachener SV   2½ − 5½   FC Bayern München
2 IM 2461 GER Thomas Koch   ½ : ½   Sebastian Bogner SUI 2571 GM 2
3 IM 2435 BEL Thibaut Vandenbussche   0 : 1   Noel Studer SUI 2573 GM 4
4 IM 2347 BEL Tom Piceu   ½ : ½   Klaus Bischoff GER 2503 GM 5
5 FM 2307 GER Felix Klein   1 : 0   Michael Fedorovsky GER 2422 IM 6
6 IM 2348 NED Oscar Lemmers   0 : 1   Martin Lokander SWE 2406 IM 7
8 FM 2234 BEL Rudolf Meessen   ½ : ½   Philip Lindgren SWE 2358 IM 8
12   2130 GER Dr. Philipp Lamby   0 : 1   Makan Rafiee GER 2334 FM 10
15   1969 GER Christoph Jablonowski   0 : 1   Andreas Schenk GER 2431 IM 12

Final standings

Rk Team Gms 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mpts Bpts TB1
1 OSG Baden-Baden 7 + 4½ 6½ 5 6 7 7 7 14 43 182½
2 SC Viernheim 7 3½ + 5 6 5 5½ 6 7 12 38 167
3 Schachfreunde Deizisau 7 1½ 3 + 5 6½ 4½ 5 7½ 10 33 142½
4 SV Werder Bremen 7 3 2 3 + 4½ 5 5½ 6 8 29 132
5 SG Solingen 7 2 3 1½ 3½ + 5 7 5½ 6 27½ 125
6 FC Bayern Muenchen 7 1 2½ 3½ 3 3 + 5 5½ 4 23½ 111
7 SF Berlin 7 1 2 3 2½ 1 3 + 4 1 16½ 79

Games

 

Impressions from the final day

Links

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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