The cup team advances! On 12 February there will be the final against SC Roter Turm!
In the meantime there was the round in the team championship; for the first time all teams won, although the fourth team was not awarded the two match points after all due to an incorrect entry. The round was marked by unoccupied boards: in Solln, three players did not turn up against the first team, against the Fourth, as mentioned, boards 1 and 2 cancelled, against the Third board 1 was missing, and in the second team we had to leave a board free. Against Solln it was in the end a hard-fought victory after all, as two lost very quickly and things looked bad for Volker. Manfred again managed an important point. Marcus also salvaged a half point, so we got through. The Second matched the First and also won 4.5 to 3.5. Two old acquaintances turned up at the Höhenkirchen team, Sebastian and his father Andreas. They took 1.5 points off us. The Third, unwillingly led by me on board 2, managed a 4–2 against the second team of Vaterstetten. Bhav and I gave away our points; Saksham, Maxim and Gerd won.
In the U20 league there were strong games by Niklas and Ardian against Ergolding and Regensburg in Augsburg with our chess friends. They took 1.5 points from two games. Unfortunately the boards behind them did not manage anywhere near as good a performance. It could have ended differently from 2–4 and 2.5–3.5 against Regensburg. We can console ourselves that we took the most points, a full two, off the league leaders FC Ergolding. The final then takes place on 11 March in Regensburg and it will be exciting; two of the four teams in the relegation zone go down, and it will come down to every board point.
On Sunday the cup semi-final took place; we played against the Third team of Zugzwang and it became extremely close. As already against Solln, the roles were assigned: Manfred took the full point and Marcus again the decisive half. Julio on board 1 also drew, so the higher winning board decided the match, after Leon lost once again on the last board following his debut in the Bayernliga. On 12 February there is then the showdown at the ASZ against my old club, SC Roter Turm. We are playing for the cup. On 10 February we will see some of the Zugzwang team from last Saturday again. On the match day of our three teams on 10 February or the cup final on 12 February we will receive a prominent visitor. Paul Meyer Dunker of the German Chess Federation, or rather the Berlin Chess Association, is visiting us at the ASZ.