Six co-leaders on 4½/5

Five rounds have been completed at the 29^th Open International Bavarian Chess Championship, a nine-round Swiss tournament taking place from 31 October to 8 November at Gut Kaltenbrunn, on the northern shore of Lake Tegernsee. Six players share the lead with 4½/5 points, including three Indian grandmasters and 15-year-old German IM Hussain Besou.

The opening two rounds saw most of the favourites make a good start, although Santos and Hungarian GM Peter Acs were both held to draws by considerably lower-rated opponents in round two. Fifty players entered the third round on perfect scores, a group that was reduced to just fourteen by the end of Monday's play.

One of the notable results in round three was 62-year-old IM Dieter Morawietz's victory over Norwegian GM Elham Amar. The 21-year-old grandmaster mixed up the move order in a line he had previously played, losing material early in the game. Morawietz, who had earned a GM norm at Tegernsee back in 2005, thus joined the leaders and occupied first place on tiebreaks. Meanwhile, Svane and Donchenko both conceded their first draws of the tournament.

Mastering the London System

In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
The London System is one of the most popular openings at every level of chess but not all Londons are the same. In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: 5...cxd4 6.exd4 Qb6 sidelines

Dieter Morawietz, aged 62, upset fifth seed Elham Amar | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

Tuesday's fourth round saw three Indian grandmasters emerge as joint leaders with perfect 4/4 scores: G.N. Gopal, Krishnan Sasikiran and Rithvik R Raja. The latter defeated German youngster Neil Albrecht, who had previously been among the fourteen co-leaders. Behind the Indian trio, twenty players stood half a point back, including Svane, Donchenko, Morawietz and Azerbaijani GM Nijat Abasov, a participant in the 2024 Candidates Tournament.

In round five, all five games on the top boards ended in draws, leaving no player on a perfect score. Gopal and Sasikiran agreed to a draw after 31 moves in their direct encounter, while Svane, playing black against Rithvik Raja, obtained a symmetrical position and split the point after 25 moves. Donchenko also drew, against Turkish IM Eray Kilic, despite having enjoyed promising chances earlier in the game.

The main result of the day came from Besou, who defeated seventh seed Peter Acs with the white pieces. The Hungarian grandmaster, now 45, won the World Junior Championship in 2001, ten years before Besou was born. The German youngster has already established an impressive record in youth chess: he won bronze at the 2022 World Under-12 Championship, became the youngest player to represent Germany at senior level in 2023, aged eleven, and won the German under-14 title in 2024.

Besou's victory took him to 4½/5, alongside Gopal, Sasikiran, Rithvik Raja, Polish GM Kacper Piorun and Turkish GM Emre Can. The teenager is the only German representative, the only junior and the only non-GM among the six co-leaders. Piorun joined the group by defeating Morawietz, while Can benefited from a decisive mistake by IM Tobias Kügel, who lost a piece.

A further 31 players are half a point behind the leaders, including top seed Svane, third seed Donchenko, Abasov and reigning German champion Leonardo Costa. With four rounds remaining, the standings are still closely packed, while second seed Santos has more ground to make up, having collected 3½ points from his first five games.

Practical Tips for the Tournament Player Vol.1: Fundamentals of Practical Chess

How grandmasters win without fireworks: GM Jan Markos shows you 11 very practical tips from "How to play in a lost position" to "Be patient like Carlsen" that will improve your tournament chess.
Most chess books teach you what to think about. This series teaches you what to actually do when the clock is running and the result is on the line. Compiled from GM Jan Markos's acclaimed "Practical Tips for the Tournament Player" column in ChessBase Magazine, Volume 1 covers the decisions every tournament player faces before the position ever gets complicated: how you use your time, how you handle pressure, and how you think when the stakes are real.
Free Video Sample: How to use your time effectively

Rithvik R Raja drew with white against top seed Frederik Svane | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

The endgame in Alexander Donchenko v. Eray Kilic attracted a lot of attention - the rating underdog held the draw after resilient defence | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

German champion Leonardo Costa and American IM Evan Park signed a 57-move draw on Wednesday | Photo: Sandra Schmidt

Standings after round 5

10 Chess Principles That Actually Matter

Keep it simple. Stay objective. Watch the clock. Sometimes take the risk. GM Loek van Wely explains the ten principles that decide real games. They aren’t about theory. They’re about what you do at the board when it counts.
Opening theory gets all the attention. But according to GM Loek van Wely, a player who has played in 14 Olympiads, is eight-time Dutch champion, and has decades of experience against Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, and Carlsen, most of what separates strong players from the rest has nothing to do with memorised lines.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Don't Bluff the Donkey

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