Sensational result at the Bavarian U10 Team Championship! 2 cups, 1st as runner-up, 2nd in 4th place!
We still can’t get over our amazement — miracles do happen again and again! That’s how one father put it. It got off to a good start: right in the first round our second team faced SC Norris-Tarrasch, who were seeded 2nd. The boys on the first two boards could not withstand the DWZ superiority, but the girls, Melli and Madhushri, took the points. Our 1st and 2nd teams each consisted of two girls and two boys! In the 1st round the 2nd team therefore drew 2-2, and with that the first surprise was already complete. Lovis and Shamil fought undaunted, and the girls diligently collected the points. Madhushri even reached 6 points over the course of the tournament — no other girl reached that many points! SF1 won clearly against SK Schweinfurt 4-0, and SF3 lost 1-3 against FC Ergolding. Here Florian shone with the consolation point; he, like Fabian of SF1 and Madhushri of SF2, would give up only one point until the end of the tournament. In the second round SF1 won 3-1 against Kelheim, and SF2 won narrowly against TV Altötting thanks to Shamil’s important draw and the two points on 3 and 4. The 3rd team took the first team point against SK Schweinfurt. Now, besides Florian, Nico was also successful on board 1.
SF1 continued against MSA Zugzwang; here, thanks to the defended board 1 — Jonas would remain unbeaten over the course of the tournament and give up only one further half point — we won the narrowest of all possible team victories, as Barbara surprisingly lost. In return, Fabian and Smrithi now sealed the deal. So it became tighter with every round — who would be waiting for SF1 in the next round? SF2 did their job well; finally Lovis also scored (the girls continued to collect the points reliably), so it ended 3-1 against Gräfelfing. SF3, unlike SF2, managed a clear 4-0 win against TV Altötting. Finally Matteo also scored.
In the fourth round it was SF1 against SF2! We could not have reckoned with that at all; for SF2 even this pairing was a huge success. The form on paper nonetheless held true with 4-0. SF3 faced SC Noris-Tarrasch, the no. 2 seed, and lost 0-4 — that was no surprise either.
Now TV Tegernsee were up for SF1. On board 4 things went very quickly; Atreyu played against us this time, and although he wavered against Fabian — a rook is said to have been lost — he took the point anyway. Jonas and Barbara put in good performances, jointly prising a half point each from the Tegernsee players. SF2 achieved a 2-2 against Dachau in their usual manner. In SF3 only Florian took a point, against SC Dillingen.
Rounds 6 and 7 were to be highly dramatic for the top teams. Against Tegernheim, SF1 followed up with a 3-1 (two draws), and with that qualification was as good as done. SF2 achieved an important win; again Shamil took a draw on board 1 and the girls took all the points. The next team victory for SF2! For SF3 the points from the youngest, Florian and Sai Varun, were successful and enough for a 2-2 against SK Wasserburg. In the final round SF3 had the bye; I had expected it much earlier. But they had fought better than expected, and with Seva, who had fallen ill shortly before the match, a better result would have been possible.
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SF1 had TSV Kareth-Lappersdorf ahead of them and SF2 had MSA Zugzwang. This time Smrithi gave up a negligible point; she had delivered a strong tournament on board 2 until then. SF1 won 3-1. SF2 fought sacrificially; they had it in their hands. In the event of a win, even 3rd place would have been possible. The form on paper held true once again; Melissa and Madhushri won, and in the end both teams were winners of the final round. SF2 won the cup as the fourth-placed team, and MSA Zugzwang had qualified. Madhushri and Melissa would thus, as the fourth-best team, have qualified for the DVM; to make this possible for them anyway, we have submitted an application for a wildcard place in the U12w. The guest player Suzanna Sobczak (SK Wasserburg) will reinforce the team. We look forward to being represented with three teams at the historic DVM in Magdeburg!