Promotion of the 4th Team – Report
Promotion of Schachfreunde 4 to Class C!
In Class D this season, the clubs brought players with a DWZ in the high 1200s to the boards on average. Only two teams, SG Aschheim/Feldkirchen/Kirchheim 3 and SF Dachau 3, stood out, fielding teams just below or somewhat above 1400. The season began in November with a match against the favourite, Dachau, which we had already mentally written off as a lost cause. But our first three boards surprisingly scored three points, even though they were each rated almost 200 DWZ points lower. Fedor completed the win on board 5 with a draw against a player rated 1750. With that the favourite was beaten – a real surprise!
The core team, each of whom played at least four games, consisted of team captain Jürgen Kölch, Oliver Weiß, Christo Botev, Fedor Kostial, Jonas Weiß and Saksham Gupta. Conceived as a youth team, there were on average always two junior players, mostly U12. On the second match day there were even three. Our opponent SC Haar 5 had the DWZ advantage on five boards, yet the match ended the other way around, 5:1 for us. Only Oliver had to give up a point on board 2 – his only defeat of the season, cleverly deployed against Alexander Tauchert, who was surely especially motivated after losing to Jonas the previous season.
We suffered our only defeat of the season on the third match day against TSV Forstenried 2, who could manage only one further draw. Although on paper we were almost on equal footing with the opponent, the result was ultimately open. Two losses on boards 3 and 4 proved decisive.
In February we faced FC Bayern 11, who were roughly equally strong. Here the favourites mostly prevailed, so the points were ultimately shared.
Against the bottom team SC Kirchseeon 2 we were on paper in the better position, but we made things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves, as one of our boards remained unoccupied. The points on boards 5 and 6 were quickly secured, but our front three players had to fight hard against their opponents. Jürgen played until past midnight and, with three further draws by the front players, secured the win. Notably, this was the only half point Jürgen gave up in the entire season. With 5.5 points from 6 games he achieved an outstanding season performance of 1933 DWZ on board 1!
On the penultimate match day the two joint leaders met, since SG Aschheim/Feldkirchen/Kirchheim 3 had also achieved a 3.5:2.5 win against the league favourite SF Dachau 3. Despite being outrated on all six boards, the final result was a surprisingly clear 4:2. Oliver and Jürgen won on the top boards, Christo took the full point on board 4 against a player rated 1400 with the best game of his season, and Fedor and Saksham each drew against strong opponents.
On the final match day we had to defend our lead without Jürgen on the top board. Even in this decisive match three U12 players were called upon on the back boards. After 13 moves Jonas’s Sicilian-playing opponent resigned, as the engine evaluated the position as mate in 8. A further point was added when TSV Solln 4 could not fill the third board. On the top board the opponent was able to hold material equality for a long time, but then had increasing concentration problems, so that Oliver could convert his positional advantages into a point for Schachfreunde. On the last board Kanthaneyan outplayed his opponent in the middlegame, first winning a knight for two pawns and then a further isolani, and converted this advantage confidently.
Fedor was the only one to play all seven games and scored more points than expected. Not only he, but practically all the team’s players exceeded expectations over the course of the season. Only through this collective effort were Schachfreunde able to secure top spot and celebrate the championship title and the associated promotion to Class C.
09.04. One promotion is already secured – congratulations to Schachfreunde München e.V. 4, led by Jürgen!
Jürgen couldn’t make it, he was at a company anniversary, but even without the boss there was a convincing 4-2 win against the Solln team (No. 4); the Weiß family, represented by Oli and Jonas, contributed 50% to the win, the other 50% came from junior player Neyan on the last board, who kept the upper hand after a long fight, and from Fedor, whose opponent failed to show up. Christo and Saksham drew the short straw.
Marcus’s 2nd team also moved to the top of the table and can earn promotion under its own steam. There was a convincing 6-2 win, also with an unoccupied board; Andreas gave up the other point. The direct rivals drew, and in the final round it’s away against Aschheim. We wish the team much success on 26.02.
The 3rd team already played away against Solln 3 on Thursday and won, like the fourth, 4-2. The team is thus in an excellent 2nd place in the final table. Alexander S proved his good form with another win; only Dominik gave up a full point, Ahmed and Anton drew.
The 1st team narrowly lost to Schach-Union. It all began very promisingly, Matvei and Leon put us 2-0 ahead. But it was foreseeable that the gap would shrink; Lukas was under pressure and lost. Then followed two draws, Norman and Ardian took half points. Julio managed, with plenty of time, to reach a pawn endgame that he lost after a long fight. So the scores were level. Niklas had reached a position in which he could keep the king in check with his queen, but he could not manage a win. Martin’s position left much to be desired; he was still fighting doggedly on board 7 when everyone else had finished. His rook left its cover and attacked, but to our misfortune the next queen check could be blocked; only briefly did the tide seem to turn. We did lose, but we saw that the team was a match for the opponent and more had been possible. According to the league oracle there is currently an almost 25% probability of relegation. We will give it our all again in the final round and accept the sporting challenge against the district champion!
08.04. The week of decisions is ahead – Quo Vadis?
First the 3rd team plays away at Solln on Thursday. On Friday the other three play in front of a home crowd at ASZ Laim. It’s about promotion and relegation; drama is forecast.
07.04. Bavarian Championship: of 11 only 10 took part, including one 1st place by Varvara in the U10w!
Already on the weekend of 8–10 March the Bavarian U8 Championship took place in Kronach. From Schachfreunde, Leo Rohr took part, having earned his place with 5 out of 6 games and a strong second place at the Munich Junior Individual Championship. He seeded himself at position 16 of 24 and was able to deliver exactly that level with 3 points from 7 games, so that he reached 15th place in the final table. Since he is allowed to play in the U8 for two more years, this was a great start for him at Bavarian championships. On Easter Monday, 1 April, the Bavarian Championship in the boys’ age groups U10 to U18 began in Bad Kissingen. In the U12 the field spread from DWZ 800 to 1750. But the very first round showed that the players are closer together than it seems, as the favourites in the top half together dropped 4 points to opponents seeded 11 places lower. Our Schachfreund Emir Sensoy was also affected, losing his opening game as the top seed. He gradually improved over the tournament and, before the final round, as fourth in the table, still had everything in his own hands to hold the 4th place needed to qualify for the German Championship, and even still had theoretical chances at the title, especially as he had to face table leader Daniel James Chua in the final round. He was able to keep this game level for a long time but ultimately had to bow to the new Bavarian Champion and fell back to 6th place.
Right behind him his teammate Jonas Weiß placed. Starting from seeding position 16, he lost only in the first round, when his rooks were no longer coordinated after a multiple exchange, which Quirin Fischer exploited confidently. Jonas’s error-free play allowed him to draw against three far higher-rated players and to score three further wins. As a result he increased his DWZ by over 150 points and was thus the riser of the tournament. What a great starting position, given that he is allowed to play in this age group once more next year!
In the U14 our Schachfreund and reigning vice-champion Tugrul Türel was surprisingly absent; on Easter Monday he wanted to play the final round of the Grenke Open, where he naturally faced far higher-class opponents and was able to raise his DWZ above 2100 for the first time. Congratulations Tugrul!
Lukas-Benedikt Merenda kept the Schachfreunde flag flying in the U14 instead. In the second round he was even able to play out a decisive advantage against top seed Stepan Mohylnyi (DWZ 2114), with a knight for two pawns. But a shaky pawn on his side proved his undoing, so the game still ended to his disadvantage. Lukas had to take only one other defeat, against the second seed Viktor Ratushnyi, and for his part defeated, for example, Vincent Blodig (DWZ 1982) in a 101-move game fully played out over a correspondingly long 4 hours and 40 minutes. In total 4 out of 7 points ultimately gave him 8th place and thus an improvement of one place compared to the seeding, which he was happy with, and he can look forward to next year, when he is allowed to play in the U14 once more.
In the girls’ category we were also represented by five players. In the U10 Barbara Mandziuk became champion after she beat Isabella Artemenko; this win earned her 1st place. Smrithi Suryaprakash was top seed at 1 of 22 but couldn’t quite prevail against strong opponents; she did manage some respectable results, however, fighting successfully and winning against her bogey opponent Georgia, who is also a passive member. Madushri Raghavan, seeded 10 of 22, sat out the final round and scored 2 points from 6. Tugce Türel was seeded No. 8 and also played a good tournament, landing precisely in eighth place. In the U16 Veronika Flierl improved by one place and came third, as she was seeded No. 4 of 14. So thanks to the girls there were two podium places for the club!
12.03. Trip to Deisenhofen, in some age groups with the second guard, yet with 29 participants we made up almost 15% of the field!
From this year on, Deisenhofen will be a fixed date on the club calendar. Last year we missed this tournament, as the chess festival was already casting its shadow ahead and, lacking a youth officer, no one drew attention to the tournament. Not everyone could be there this time either; some were at birthday parties, some already on holiday, and some, quite incorrigible, at the simultaneous training with Norman and Christo at the ASZ. Unlike in past years there was no podium place, but instead a trophy in the U12, where Fabian, after a furious start, at least reached 5th place. The tournament nevertheless brought a great deal of joy and some conclusions that have to be drawn. In the U10 there is the most room for improvement; perhaps we can hope here for reinforcement from the U8, since several made a quite good impression in the U8 tournament. Bruno and Benjamin finished in 14th and 15th place, just behind were Raphael with four on 21st and, with 3.5, David on 22nd behind him. It wasn’t quite enough for the top here, but we knocked on the door, and the depth in this age group is impressive. There were some fine wins and games. Bruno and Benjamin were beaten only by players in the top ten, and Mark even pulled off a surprise against the 10th-placed Sophie, reaching a winning endgame that he couldn’t convert due to too little time. But we will be practising that soon. The twin brothers Mark and David stood out especially for playing very thoughtfully for their age.
The results: http://www.schachfreunde-deisenhofen.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=973&Itemid=613
16.03. Four times the last available line-up in the MMM, twice successful!
These blasted match days – recently it was the Tuesday with the longest journeys to the edges of the chess district, and this round twice the Thursday, that is, a weekday on which most of the junior members can’t play. To make matters worse there were several withdrawals; the First played against Garching 4, complete after Herbert was drafted in, but the Second, at WB-Allianz, was all the more successful with one player fewer. It would turn out that the Garching players, who fielded four 2000-rated players, had a higher DWZ on every board. Our top board was missing. Anian and Ardian on 2 and 3 narrowly lost. Ardian had declined his opponent’s draw offer. Norman cut a good figure, fighting fearlessly against his opponent, who had almost 100 DWZ points more on his account. Norman has lately been playing against considerably weaker opponents, and it can be said that the preparation worked well. He fought in the endgame for equality, found a piece sacrifice with perpetual check, but according to the engine there was also at one point a mate in six on the board. Matvei on the seventh board delivered an exciting game and won convincingly. I was already able to drive him home at 10 o’clock; we were doing well on time with our youngest. As I left the playing room, Herbert was still playing; our view was that this game could not be lost. But it turned out otherwise, the 1-1 turned into a 3-2 for the Garching team. Herbert lost, Norman and Bernhard drew. That left Anian, a pawn down in a knight-versus-bishop endgame; it dragged on for a long time, but the miracle did not occur. With Ardian, the opponent lived off the increment for the last moves before move 40, but Ardian’s thinking time melted away too. Only a win would have helped the team; he threw everything into the balance, and in doing so a small but decisive mistake crept in, which had a psychologically devastating effect and from which the game tipped definitively in his opponent’s favour. Martin won for the third time in a row; he is our sure bank. On 12 April a decider follows against Schach-Union.
The fourth team won away yet again, this time in Aschheim; the Third had less luck against Haar 4. At first we thought we’d take the lead because of the time advantage on the last board, but this game also tipped in the opponent’s favour. Jakob built up large advantages on board 5 against Tobias, as did Emir; both won. But that was as far as the full points went; Corbinian laid down his arms on board 4 after a long and exciting game. Leon, who had been fielded as a points guarantor, came somewhat under the wheels in the Winawer Variation of the French Defence, although his opponent did not continue most effectively. There followed a play of the white pieces against the black goal. But Leon can defend very well; he did not, however, use his counterchances either, so the endgame headed for a draw. The summary is that, despite all the adversities, two teams are still mixing it up at the top of the league.
Last but not least, a small report from the after-show, that is, the Saturday morning with juniors and their waiting parents at ASZ Laim from 10–12. This time there were 22 children, some of whom dropped by for the first time and played for two hours, either with one opponent or taking turns. On the big chessboard out in the courtyard there was also a battle for victory.
12.03. There was a lot going on again!
At ASZ Laim there were two events on Saturday: the U20 Landesliga on the 1st floor and the four-round Elo tournament of the chess festival on the ground floor. There were as many as three title-holders who passed through here on Saturday. Only AFM Pachmayr had registered; the eventual tournament winner IM Singer and IM Costa in the U20 Landesliga were surprisingly part of the action. There were strong results, above all from the junior players. Yugay Artem of MSA Zugzwang managed the only draw against IM Singer. He remained unbeaten and was the best junior player. Saksham and above all Smrithi did the same and improved their DWZ by 100 points each. Madhushri also had promising positions, but nothing tangible came of it this time. Paul and Timon made their debuts and will soon have their first DWZ evaluation. Our U8 players played far from Munich; Sai Varun in Kiel, where he took part in an RKST and came 3rd with four out of five; Leo was at the Bavarian U8 Championship and scored three out of seven, although realistically more would have been possible.
In the U20 Landesliga we hosted SV Isental in the first round. Unfortunately Ardian couldn’t manage the win on board 2 in a better position but in time trouble. Tugrul was convincing on board 1; Anton and Zhafar came off worse. In the second round against the until-then pointless Ergolding team (2nd team) it became closer than expected after Vedarth lost in a better position and Ardian drew. Tugrul and Zhafar took full points, so 3rd place in the Landesliga was reached. The Augsburg team became champions; we were the only team to manage a win against the Augsburg side.
05.03. Visit by an Indian MP at the RKST – unbelievable performance by Atreyu and Sai Varun – the RKST was probably the best tournament in our young history!
There were two premieres in Munich with the RKST. Never before had such a strongly contested multi-day U8 tournament taken place in the state capital, and Stefano made his debut as arbiter, ensuring a calm and pleasant atmosphere. Of the 35 U8 children, even two thirds had a DWZ rating. Five girls played for the girls’ trophy.
ASZ Laim as the venue had many advantages. Worth highlighting was the gallery, from which parents had a view of the games without disturbing the children. Catering was also provided; the pizzas, salads and spaghetti with a drink could be ordered in advance. There were also QR codes for the results and pairings.
The tournament was full of surprises; alongside the wins by the favourites, our U8 hope Sai Varun stood out. He beat three opponents with a DWZ difference of about 250–400 points, who were also favourites for 1st place: Leon Tomovski, André Leclerq and Simon Roscher. In the fourth round he faced Atreyu, who started out with us and is still a passive member. Sai Varun was not familiar with the b5 variation of the Prussian Game. Instead of retreating the bishop to f1, he captured the knight on c6.
In the fifth round things became dramatic once more. There was a final for 1st place between Sriram Aumkar and Atreyu. A sharp variation of the Scotch Game came onto the board; Atreyu played the move Qh5 with Black. It cost the favourite a lot of time to find his way in this position. Even without knowledge of the theory, he was able to reach a rook endgame two pawns up. The win seemed beyond reach for him, only the clock spoke against him. He advanced his last connected passed pawns, but Atreyu fought doggedly. The 5-second increment was not enough; the flag fell before promotion could be reached. So the surprise was perfect. In the small final, Sai Varun played against Alicia Schaper, who had started the fifth round with 2.5 points. Sai Varun allowed the opening of his king position and countered successfully on the half-open g-file with his rook. There were nevertheless two winners of this game; Alicia became best girl and also qualified for the German Championship. She took up chess at one of the youth tournaments of the last chess festival and, motivated by the trophy she won, stuck with chess and has developed splendidly since.
Behind Atreyu with five points there were four further children on four points. Sriram came 2nd, Sai Varun, thanks to the better Buchholz score, landed in 3rd ahead of Simon Roscher. Liu Yining also played a very good tournament and came 5th. Behind them followed four children with 3.5 points: White William, Haberger Nino, Shtogrin Joseph and Zhong Oscar. In 10th place was the only six-year-old player, from SK Bad Homburg, with three points. Leo managed 2 points, Diego one, and the others gathered their first tournament experience.
The accompanying tournament was contested by 15 players. Here Fabian took first place with five points, behind him were Zhong Sophie in second and von Gehlen Samuel in third.
26.02. Successful week: Team Championship – two wins and an important draw; in the first youth district league, the team with the second-best line-up in 3rd place, so the championship is possible both for the first U20 team in the Landesliga Süd and for the 2nd team
After the chess camp the Team Championship was already coming up. On Tuesday two teams were due to play: the 2nd team in Höhenkirchen and the 4th team in Kirchseeon. For the 1st team, Deisenhofen was added on Friday. It was the round with the longest journeys. Only one board remained empty given the difficult mobilisation. Despite this circumstance, Jürgen’s troops carried the points off from Kirchseeon, winning 3.5 to 2.5. The 2nd team took the win in Höhenkirchen 4.5 to 3.5. Both teams confirmed their claims to 1st place; decisive matches follow in the next rounds.
On Friday we guested in Deisenhofen with probably the youngest team in the district league. There were exciting games, and we came within a hair’s breadth of achieving more than the deserved 4-4. Leon played very fast and with a big time advantage; he prepared the endgame for a bishop sacrifice that, after 40 minutes’ thought, he didn’t carry out, accepting his opponent’s draw offer instead. With Ardian it went back and forth; at first he was lost, a rook against two minor pieces and a pawn down. Then his opponent’s lead melted away and neither could prevail. With Matvei it actually looked good, he had an extra pawn, but his rooks were uncoordinated and the opponent could entrench himself in Matvei’s half and gain an exchange. Julio was winning on board 1 but didn’t find the way to the win, as Harald defended doggedly. Tugrul had a slightly better position, but the advantage wasn’t enough for the full point. The team’s oldies took care of the full points; Bernhard had to patiently fend off his opponent’s aggressive attacks and, after initial difficulties, prevailed against his opponent. With Martin it took a while until he initiated the decisive tactic and then converted the advantage convincingly. So the team has already scored 7 points in Munich’s strongest league and needs only two more points for safe survival.
The U20 Championship went as it has the last few years. In the first league we dominate and have what it takes to beat strong teams. This year we are still unbeaten. But the third suffers as a result, as we pull our strongest players up into the 1st. Several key players were missing due to squad training and illness. Some in the 4th and 5th teams gained their first experience of tournament chess. We benefited from our school chess courses in the east; some of the children had an extremely short journey. The conclusion is that we stand in 3rd place with title chances both in the youth district league and in the U20 Landesliga. In the Landesliga it comes to a showdown on 9 March. The last rounds of the youth district league will be played on 4 and 5 May.
19.02. Memorial tournaments for Stephan Grotz
It all started with the setup on Friday. It was a long day, as the chess camp was on at the Pelkovenschlössl from 9 to 15. We were delighted that the children took part so enthusiastically; in between, football was played on the forecourt, and the very youngest came together to build the anthill. In the second half Alex gave a talk on pawn endgames, and afterwards we played out the last rounds of the rapid tournament. Everything strictly according to the accelerated Baku system, and the Buchholz score was also calculated by hand. We had a lot of fun and everyone got their money’s worth. After the prize-giving it was time to sweep up and pack up, and then off to my place to pack up further materials to transport them to the ASZ. Alex helped with this but had to leave very soon for the station. Andreas helped later with the setup, and Swami joined too. In the cafeteria I had planned a row of tables; 24 would have fit closely together. The groups were to play upstairs, and 18 boards were set up. On Saturday it turned out that the big rush at the DWZ tournament didn’t materialise, and on the players’ own initiative a second row of tables was set up. So everyone had plenty of room. This was also the run-up to the Regional Children’s Chess Tournament; with a third row we’d reach 36 generously laid-out places at the children’s tournament on 2 and 3 March. In the DWZ tournament 16 players came together; in the Elo groups we had a four-player group of two-thousand-rated players and a three-player group of 1700s. There were also two six-player groups. The stronger had an average of over 1500, the second almost 250 points fewer. So a total of 35 players came together to play games over two days and to fight for trophies and, in the case of the DWZ tournament, for the cash prizes too. The text about Stephan Grotz was written by Jan and by Caroline and hung above the results. Some guests read the short biography with interest. Old acquaintances such as Moritz Monninger were also there and told of their shared time. Making their debuts, furthermore, were our chief arbiter Stefano, who umpired the tournaments excellently, and Victoria, who mainly looked after the Elo tournaments.
Here are the results:
Laimer WoE Tournament (Memorial Tournament)
https://chess-results.com/tnr895000.aspx
1. Laimer WoE Tournament (1st Master Class)
https://chess-results.com/tnr895043.aspx
1. Laimer WoE Tournament (2nd Master Class)
https://chess-results.com/tnr895045.aspx
1. Laimer WoE Tournament (1st Pre-Master Class)
https://chess-results.com/tnr895047.aspx
1. Laimer WoE Tournament (2nd Pre-Master Class)
https://chess-results.com/tnr895046.aspx
13.02. The club was extremely successful at the Munich Individual Championship, 19 entries in all, 4 times gold, twice silver and twice bronze
In the U10 and U18 age groups we had no entries. By contrast we dominated the U8 with 5 of 19 and the U12 with 6 of 23. New arrival Emir triumphed in the U12, Kanthaneyan came 3rd, Jonas 4th, Saksham 7th, Fabian 9th, and our newcomer Maxim landed in 14th. In the U8 it looked as though Florian, who had won his first four games and also beat the eventual champion, would qualify. But it turned out otherwise; there followed an unfortunate defeat against a player who was materially far behind. In the final game Sofie secured the girls’ trophy for herself with a win.
So chances arose for Leo and Sai Varun, who met each other in the final round, both on four points. Leo decided the game in his favour with a far-advanced rook and surprised everyone with his strong play. Only once, against Zhu Elias, did he come off worse. Benjamin and Diego also took part and scored points. We are in good spirits and think that our young players will bring us much joy yet.
In the U14, Lukas and Tugce were not alone in the wilderness; Siranjeev also scored a point and Soham Rath even 2.5. Both acquitted themselves respectably. Lukas triumphed in this age group, and Tugce also played a strong tournament and came second in the girls’ category. In the U16 Vroni took part and became best girl. Overall we expect that almost 10 players will represent the club at the Bavarian Championship.
**28.01. Memorial tournament for Stephan Grotz and further Elo tournaments on 17–18 February!
**
Announcement
Weekend tournaments in Laim (group tournaments also with Elo evaluation) 17.02–18.02.2024
Sat 17.2. at 9:00 (registration deadline 08:30)
Stephan Grotz Memorial Tournament
Venue: ASZ Laim, Kiem-Pauli-Weg 22
Format: On Saturday and Sunday an open DWZ tournament will take place in the cafeteria
on the ground floor and round-robin tournaments in the group rooms on the 1st floor at ASZ Laim.
The open DWZ tournament is played with 90 minutes’ thinking time. Pairings are made by the Swiss system.
Entry fee: 20 euros, 15 euros (juniors and seniors) – maximum 50 participants
Round times:
Saturday 17.02. three rounds starting 9, 13 and 17 o’clock; Sunday 18.02. two rounds starting 10 and 14 o’clock
Prizes: 1st place 100 euros, 2nd place 80 euros and 3rd place 60 euros
The group tournaments (six- or four-player groups) are submitted for both DWZ and Elo evaluation
Six-player group, short thinking time, format: full round-robin with 6 participants – 5 rounds
Thinking time: 60 min./game, bonus per move 30 sec./
Round times of the six-player groups
Saturday 17.02. three rounds starting 9, 13 and 17 o’clock, Sunday 18.02. two rounds starting 10 and 14 o’clock
Four-player group, long thinking time, format: full round-robin with 4 participants – 3 rounds
Thinking time: 90 min./game, bonus per move 30 sec./
Round times: Sat 1st round 10 o’clock, 2nd round 16 o’clock; Sun 3rd round 10 o’clock
Entry fee: 25 euros (juniors and seniors 20 euros)
There are trophies for the group winners.
FIDE rules apply to all tournaments.
Registration: by email, with name, DWZ (in the case of the group tournaments also the FIDE ID) and indication of open
or six-player group or four-player group, to
kontakt@schachfreunde-gern.de
Transfer the fee, stating the name
Account holder: Schachfreunde München e.V.
IBAN: DE 70 8306 5408 0004 1514 53
BIC: GENODEF1SLR
Reference: Wochenendturniere Laim
Transfer the entry fee by 12.02.2024, and the registration deadline is 16.02.2024 – 19 o’clock
By registering, the players or their legal guardians agree that
photos, results and reports of the tournament may be published.
27.01. Small setbacks in the U20 Landesliga and at the Bavarians’ DWZ tournament
First to the positives: both in the U20 Landesliga and among our junior players everything is still possible; in the final round of the U20 on 9 March it will be finally decided which of the three leaders is promoted. Among our juniors too, who had taken part in the Bavarians’ DWZ tournament, they had shown that anything is possible. Among the smallest we were represented by four; in the U10 there is clearly a lot of catching up to do, and there we still hope for several who will join later. It wasn’t quite enough for the very top in the other groups either, but many cut a good figure. We were represented by no fewer than 13 children, and all scored points. Florian landed in 2nd place in the U8; very exciting was the last game against club colleague Benjamin, in which Florian had fallen behind and saved himself with a mate. Lovis also played a good tournament; he came 3rd in the U12 under 1000 DWZ.
21.01. The first team keeps all chances open in the district league – U14 team champions without losing a point – both cup teams eliminated :)
It was an intense week with double and triple loads (on Saturday championship and youth training in parallel, on Sunday championship and two cup teams in parallel). It began on Tuesday at the venue of SG Schwabing-Nord. Almost at full strength, the host team took us on. For us, our super-sub Martin debuted on eight, and Manfred also mixed in on six. Julio proved the steadier nerves after a long fight in time trouble on one; Ardian outplayed his younger opponent and gained many DWZ points; Anian was first to finish and had a draw in the bag; Manfred was the first to have to admit defeat, and after my handball break at the Olympiahalle I no longer found him there. So it stood 1.5 to 0.5 for Schwabing. Bernhard had a difficult position, but the game tipped in his favour and a draw came out of it. Martin did better; he too was under pressure but lured the opposing rook into a trap during a pawn hunt and, after nine years, played and won his first game. Niklas had to resign against Mircea. So the final result of 5-3 was more than satisfactory.
The U14 team was the overwhelming favourite at the Team Championship and won the title convincingly. The other teams also mixed it up; the U10 team competed as the 2nd U14 and landed in 3rd place. The U16 began very well in the first round, then came two tough opponents, and on Sunday, without the strong regulars Vroni and Leon, no further match point came out.
Both cup teams were eliminated on Sunday. The second played with Emir 0.5, Dominik 0, Anton 0.5 and Corbinian only 3-1 in Höhenkirchen. We congratulate our hosts on reaching the final. The first team made it more exciting, as the highest-rated winning board, Tugrul, quickly took the lead. Anian was missing on four despite his commitment; Ardian on three couldn’t hold out against Simon. Everything depended on the game Niklas against Christian. Both attacked, but neither player had the strength for a decisive success; after more than four hours the fight ended in a draw and the match was lost 1.5 to 2.5. Congratulations to the SC Roter Turm team!
**29.12 U10 team pulls off the sensation! 5th place among 40 teams in Magdeburg
**
For the U10 age group, Magdeburg seems to be a good venue. Two and a half years ago the boys David, Lukas, Moritz and Lucas achieved the greatest success of the young club’s history to date and finished second behind Hamburger SK. This time the team included two girls; that was also what distinguished our team. The other teams had at most one girl. Of seven rounds, both played in five. It all started with a win against the Schachfüchse from Kempen. We had respect for this team; at the DVM in Düsseldorf we had lost to the Füchse in the final round. This time Smrithi played on the first board and delivered a good game but unfortunately lost through carelessness in the endgame. The opponents on board 1 were all very good. The other three won their games. The next team were the Schachfreunde Brackel from Dortmund. Against the exceptional talent with a DWZ of over 1700, Smrithi again played a notable game, but the two passed pawns guarded by a bishop proved too weak; after the exchange of rooks the game was lost. Here Seva shone with a game to his taste, finding a fine sacrifice to mate the opponent. In the third round we were able to win narrowly with the decisive half point from Jonas, 2.5-1.5 against USV Potsdam. The next and last stumbling block was to be SK Münster. Here we again scored only one board point; Varvara was the points provider this time. After two defeats she had arrived in the tournament and was to win all her remaining games from then on. The team too gave up no further match point. There followed Dresden-Leuben, 2.5 to 1.5, where Jonas again helped to the team win with his draw, and SC Ramstein Miesbach 3-1, where only Seva gave up a point for the first time, the others convincing.
In the final round there was a Munich final; MSA Zugzwang had delivered a really strong tournament. The winning team was to finish right at the top. There was a real competitive atmosphere in the hall with 160 young players. The excitement slowly settled; the contestants already knew each other from the Bavarian U10 Championship, when there had been a narrow 2.5 to 1.5 for us. Smrithi was outplayed this time on board 1 at the 2-0 score by Georgia in the pawn endgame; before that Fabian had taken the point fairly clearly on board 4 and Varvara in an exciting game on board 3 against Noel. Now all eyes were on the game between Jonas and Henry Wittenberger, which was on a knife’s edge, as both were threatening mate. But Jonas was faster and pushed his passed pawn through, ending the game. All in all, the last success was not yet enough to climb to 5th place. For that a draw between TSG Oberschöneweide and the Schachfreunde from Karlsruhe was also needed; the Berlin team led 2-1. On the first board a game was still running that went very dramatically. The boy from Karlsruhe attacked with a rook and two pawns against a knight with three pawns and brought about zugzwang situations. In the heat of the battle, with time trouble too, the children failed for several moves to notice that the black king was in check. The game ultimately ended with the Karlsruhe team’s equaliser. So it was official: after 27th and 26th places in previous years, with 5th place we achieved the second-best placing at a DVM to date, and we were also allowed to take a trophy back to Munich!
Many thanks to all who made this possible: the parents, Marcus and not least Alexander Stahl, who looked after the team excellently!
23.12. Merry Christmas
Our U10 and U14 teams will take part in the German Championship, this time centrally hosted in Magdeburg, between the holidays. We firmly cross our fingers for our teams; the U10 are seeded 15th of 40 and the U14 5th of 20.
The matches can be followed here:
DVM U14, 26. – 30.12.2023 (Deutsche Schachjugend) (deutsche-schachjugend.de)
DVM U10, 27. – 29.12.2023 (Deutsche Schachjugend) (deutsche-schachjugend.de)
It was again a very successful sporting year for Schachfreunde München e.V.!
The first team achieved the march straight through to the district league (with four promotions in a row)!
We became cup winners in the chess district!
Youth teams: U14 is Bavarian Champion, U10 Bavarian Vice-Champion, U12 in 4th place in Bavaria
The U20 played in the Bayernliga and there had to accept relegation back to the Landesliga, but in the new season the foundations for an immediate return have already been laid.
At the Kids Teen Cup of Bayern München we won the U10 and U8 trophies in the team rankings.
We were represented at the Bavarian and German Individual Championships and our young rapid-chess team was promoted to the Oberliga!
On 10 December: two of five cup teams advance!
We are probably the cup specialists, or rather the cup terrors, as we keep springing surprises. With five teams you can lose track; the juniors who were supposed to wait for the call were unreachable, the double loads of the intense chess weekend were underestimated, so we lost the third team’s match against Zugzwang 2 by default. The second team, by contrast, delivered some exciting games against Höhenkirchen. Seva fell behind early and his opponent gave him no chance. Neyan was in the game against Andreas Apelt for a long time, more precisely manoeuvring himself a pawn down into a queen-and-knight endgame. Only here did a capital blunder befall him; he overlooked a king attack with a piece win. Sebastian was on the front foot for a long time, but his namesake found the right defence and was able to mount a counterattack at the end. Wynnie delivered a so-called old-gentleman’s game; the king in the centre proved this time to be a decisive weakness.
The 5th team caused the very biggest surprise, lining up at Roter Turm. We have good memories of matches at Roter Turm with our first team; we have so far celebrated only successes here. So too this time with our student team, of which only Zhafar is still at school. Corbi turned it around in the game against his nominally stronger opponent on board 1. So we were able to cope with the missed chance – a mate in 1 was on the board for Florian. Now it came down to boards 3 and 4; Niklas, back from his world trip, seems settled and managed a draw against an opponent whose DWZ is over 1700, and Zhafar underlined his form too and did not let the game slip from his grasp. So we advanced; at 2-2 we had the higher-rated winning board. Last year we pulled off the surprise in Garching!
The fourth team guested in Neubiberg; Anton won on board 2, our juniors Saghana and Saksham lost on 3 and 4. Alexander couldn’t hold out against his overpowering opponent.
In the team cup our joker David made the difference this time on board 2. He underlined his superiority and took the point after barely an hour! The lead gave the team confidence. Ardian soon afterwards took the next half point surprisingly. Everything was going to plan. Now we needed either a half point on board 1 or a full point on board 4. It looked super good for Julio in the rook endgame. His opponent underlined that he was an FM and freed himself. Unfortunately this point was lost in the end. Anian, however, was already finished by then and back on track, taking the full point against Edvin. There was all the drama you could ask for; we look forward to the semi-final on 21 January. There is a reunion with SC Roter Turm at our place at ASZ Laim.
Also guesting were the National Tournament Director of the chess youth, Harald, with his team from Deisenhofen, and the team from Dachau, who competed in the team cup. The Dachau side put up resistance; after boards three and four, however, the second board also went down after an exciting fight. On board 1 there was a draw. Harald then analysed the possibilities for his opponent, who secured the half point for Dachau with a move repetition.
All in all it was a successful chess afternoon. We could record some successes this weekend: two of three on Friday, two of two on Saturday for the U20, and two of five on Sunday in the cup. One bitter pill remains the unexpected defeat against Tarrasch, which could hardly be exceeded in symbolism.
On 09 December: the U20 team won in Gräfelfing twice in a row
The car pool had come together in my car. Lukas, the youngest, was seeded right at the top, as our top board was missing. But even so, the first match went clearly in our favour with only one half point lost; Ardian drew in a better position against Gräfelfing’s exceptional, just nine-year-old talent.
In the second round it was against the strong Schachfreunde from Augsburg, who had come with their best four. There was a clear DWZ lead on the Augsburg side. The lateral entrant with a first rating of over 2150 on board 1 was unbeatable for Lukas; Ardian used his experience and pushed through a passed pawn that led to victory. Leon led his opponent into a rook endgame a pawn up, which temporarily left the drawing margin. But Leon could not convert it into a win. Matvei sacrificed a queen for a mating attack that, with precise defence, would have led to a disadvantageous position. But he was able to continue the attack and deliver mate. So we were highly satisfied with the day. We look with anticipation to the next challenges on 27 January in Freising.
On 08 December: three teams, two of them victorious
In sporting terms it was a memorable evening on Friday. Barely half a year had passed since we had said goodbye to Stephan, and the evening was the right time to recall it, as the 1st team hosted Tarrasch 2. For one thing, he had been active in both clubs and left his mark, and for another he was also part of the action at the last MMM encounter. It should be added that back then in Class A a winning streak of the team was interrupted and that since then the team had given up only one point, against the Bayern side in reduced numbers. Would it again be Tarrasch who shook us awake, and would the story of pulling together and the subsequent successful season repeat itself this year too? It all started, as said, with a minute’s silence.
SFM4 hosted the guests from Haar (5th team), who, owing to the weather conditions, had arrived a little late. SFM 2 hosted neighbours Sendling 2.
On our side in the first team there were six players under 25. First to make himself noticed was Ardian; he looked desperate, his opponent luring him into a Caro trap from which he could no longer free himself. Shortly afterwards David celebrated his debut with a convincing win. He knew the variation inside out and used barely any time; at the moment his opponent resigned, he still had 1:26. So after the first shock he provided calm. Many observed that advantages were being worked out on the boards, but as so often in life, so here too, appearances deceive. The advantages were soon given up again, or the games even tipped to our disadvantage. After the resignations of Bernhard and Anian, the interim result was 1-3. From here we should have taken full points. But Tugrul drew, and Niklas also wanted to know whether he could agree a draw. In view of the other uncertain boards, he was to play on and not to regret it. Christoph had advantages, but Alexander gave him no peace with his knight threats; after the exchange of rooks, the bishop pair faced the knight pair on the board. In view of the interim result he probably staked everything on one card, and the game tipped. Julio took the half point under pressure, and Niklas tried to convert the extra pawn until the end, but in the knight endgame there was nothing more to be had. So the match ended 2.5 to 5.5.
The lower teams did better, especially SFM4 with the very young guard on boards 4 to 6. They all won! In the team only Oli gave up a point, and Fedor and team captain Jürgen also won; it ended 5-1 for us and the team is now table leader with four match points. In the second team Emir made his debut. Manfred prevailed on the first board, Anton on the fourth and Emir on the fifth. Alexander drew and thus secured at least one safe match point. But Wynnie is in good form and rewarded himself with the full point. Markus and Norman, who also made his debut, lost their games. After the two tough opponents in rounds 1 and 2 and the interim relegation place, the team established itself in the middle of the league and looks to the upper half of the table.
From 25–26 November: Big weekend tournament in Schwabing-Freimann
Everything was already set up on Friday, the new tables placed and the stage equipped with 10 DGT boards. The juniors played on Saturday on the canteen tables of the primary school in two groups for the trophies. There were exciting games and it was a good opportunity for the new children to get a taste of competitive atmosphere. The premises were very suitable for such a tournament. Next to the stage there was a large television with a lounge area. This two-day tournament is to be continued in future. Guests came from all over Germany to Munich; Berlin and Hamburg were also represented, and the longest journey was made by an Argentine player :)
Adult groups (Elo)
https://chess-results.com/tnr853064.aspx?lan=0
Youth group U8/U10
https://chess-results.com/tnr853045.aspx?lan=0
Youth group U12
https://chess-results.com/tnr853049.aspx?lan=0
On 25 November U20 Landesliga, 1st round
The first round took place during the 1st Schwabing weekend tournament. The additional tables with the boards and clocks were set up; the time control was, after all, a different one. The top board of MSC did not appear; they should have moved up but left the board empty, so there was a 4-0. On the second board Lukas lost the game, and on boards 3 and 4 Ardian and Anton took the point. So it was a successful start to the U20 Landesliga. The next date is on 9 December in Gräfelfing, where, besides the hosts, the Schachfreunde from Augsburg are our opponents. There’s still a score to settle from last season :)
From 13–17 November 2nd round MMM (Four teams, three wins and one defeat)
The First and the Second guested at Roter Turm on Wednesday, where I am a passive member. The 1st team won as it had recently, then still with Stephan. This time it ended 6-2 without a loss. The 2nd team lost 4.5 to 2.5. The Fourth played in Dachau on Thursday and pulled off the surprise with 3.5 to 2.5! On Friday the Third hosted SC Vaterstetten-Grasbrunn and took 2.5 points at the board plus one point by default, as a board of the guest team remained empty. They too must go to Roter Turm on 6 December. The playing week was, all in all, very successful; we can be satisfied with the teams’ start.
Upcoming matches:
From 02–03 December: U14/U16 Championship at Quiddestr., with two U14 and one U16 team
On 08 December Showdown with four teams in the MMM (three teams will probably play at Gymnasium Moosach for the win, at least four grammar-school students take part too)
On 10 December Cup – Quarter-final
_Team Cup _(at ASZ Laim)
MSA Zugzwang 1 - SFM 1
League Cup
SFM2 - Höhenkirchen (at ASZ Laim)
SFM 3 - MSA Zugzwang 2 (at ASZ Laim)
SK München Südost 2 - SFM 4 (at SK München Südost Arastr. 2)
Roter Turm Altstadt 2 - SFM 5 (at Roter Turm Arcisstr. 45)
On 11 November: School chess tournament in Kirchheim; everyone had to register by 08 November:
There were, spread over the day – primary schools in the morning and secondary schools in the afternoon – a total of 9 competitions, in which 27 children from our chess clubs or members took part; we made up about 10% of the field. There were two golds, Fabian in 4th grade and Smrithi in 5th grade, three bronzes, Leo in 1st grade, Atreyu in 2nd grade and Lukas in 7th/8th grade, and three times 5th place with trophy, Sai Varun in 1st grade, Florian in 2nd grade and Lovis in 5th grade. The girls’ trophy winner, moreover, was Varvara in 4th grade; narrowly missing the girls’ trophy and 5th place were Madhushri and Melissa (the U10 heroines from Regensburg were in good form, both landing in an honourable 7th place with 4 of 6). There was also a 4th place in 2nd grade by Lev Zelenskij, who had only taken part once in the chess club at Strehleranger Str. Congratulations to all!
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On 05 November, instead of the cup – Club Championship 1st round
1 2. Shaik, Zhafar () - 1. Kaushal, Vedarth () 1 - 0
2 4. Helfer, Marcus () - 3. Swienty,Dominik () ½ - ½
3 5. Liu, Luke () - 13. Gupta, Saksham () 1 - 0
4 10. Lambert-Hartmann, Jakob () - 6. Daun, Anton () 0 - 1
5 14. Leo, Rohr () - 7. von Rosenberg, Lovis () 0 - 1
6 9. Fedorov, Matvei () - 8. Ajdari, Ardian () 1 - 0
7 12. Povetkin, Vsevolovod () - 11. Teichmann, Fabian () 0 - 1
On 04 November the article about us appeared in the SZ!
Featured alongside were the Chess Academy with GM Stefan Kindermann and Roter Turm with Ralph Alt!
**https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/schach-muenchener-schachakademie-muenchner-schachfreunde-schachverein-roter-turm-1.6298020
**
From 02 November – 05 November: Friendship Open Friedberg
Smrithi pulled off the big surprise right in the first round, beating an opponent with an Elo rating of over 1600. There then followed some defeats; she still scored 1.5 points in the final rounds. That then became her most successful multi-day adult chess open with 2.5 out of 7.
From 28 October – 05 November OIBM
Emir switched to us before the tournament. Many thanks for the trust. We will plan with him in the future both in the U14 and in the U12. The ‘12 cohort is strong with Luke, Neyan and Saksham. The ‘11 cohort is led by Lukas, Vedarth and Chris. The ‘10 cohort is, as is well known, the strongest. On balance Emir and Lukas were able to improve their Elo rating. Tugrul started the tournament unhappily but, with a strong final spurt, was almost able to hold his Elo rating above 2000.
On 25 October: Seniors’ League at Reinmarplatz – first thrashing 3.5 to 0.5 against the nominally stronger Solln team
The carefree showing led the team to a deserved win. The best team captain of all time, Gerd, also contributed; he had chosen the right line-up. Wynnie, the blitzer, had 1:40 on the clock after 40 moves and stood better. With Andreas, the opponent’s pawn storm on the queenside proved ineffective and too slow; Andreas was faster with his attack. Fedor had a more active king in the rook endgame. The three of them won, and Jürgen secured the half point.
On 20 October: 1st and 2nd teams play (at the ASZ in the two rooms on the first floor)
The first team made its debut in the district league yesterday against the second team of SK München Südost. It was a tough fight. It took a long time before the first decision fell. Bernhard resigned; his opponent, who had about 100 points more on his account, won. Niklas had drawn before that on board 2. Leon and Ardian dominated their opponents. With Anian it also looked very good for a long time. Tugrul and Julio had unclear positions. The first full point was taken by Ardian. Super performance – there are really a lot of DWZ points there. So the score was levelled. Lukas extended the lead; he opened the king position and set up the game-deciding tactic. Anian’s game unfortunately tipped. He too had the chance for a game-deciding tactic, but deployed it belatedly at the wrong moment and lost. So we had reached parity and had to hope for Tugrul and Julio. Leon fortunately kept the upper hand, and Tugrul’s game too left the drawing margin and tipped in his favour; he managed to trap the opposing rook with minor pieces and king and let nothing more go wrong. By then Leon’s game was already over and we had reached 4.5 points and taken the first two match points. Julio played longest and for a win; for a long time it looked good. He was on the front foot, but his opponent managed to free himself again and again and to liquidate into a more favourable knight endgame. Julio’s defeat was only a bitter pill, as the team’s debut in the district league had succeeded. The next opponent is SC Roter Turm II on Wednesday, 15.11. at 19:30.
The second team played next door. First Christoph drew and thus, after almost 20 victorious DWZ games, gave up a half point for the first time. Well, his opponent did have a rating of over 1900. Andreas took the full point with a beautiful mating attack. He is in good form! Matvei was really squeezed, but he managed to lure his opponent into a trap and win the queen. So against strong opponents we had taken 2.5 points early. With Dominik it was close; a distant passed pawn decided the game. Jürgen fought longest, parrying the opponent’s strong threats for a long time, but had to resign. Wynnie was already finished by then and took a draw, as did Marcus; both opponents had ratings well over 1800, so the team’s debut in the new Class B succeeded on seven boards. Against the favoured Eching team the team took a 3.5 to 3.5.
On 11 October: Simul against GM Pavel Eljanov from 18:00 at Reinmarplatz
About 20 Schachfreunde gathered, but Gerd and Swami had to fetch the catering from an Indian restaurant, so they couldn’t compete in the simul. Of the five challengers who were to play via lichess, only Leonardo remained until the end. The longest-serving challenger managed the first draw; the master congratulated Andreas on his good play. Ultimately Pavel had to give up two points; Leonardo played on time, Pavel had an advantageous position after the opening but gave it up due to the tighter thinking time, fought for a long time with an exchange for a draw but ultimately had to resign. Julio also played well but could not convert his advantage into a win. Like Sebastian, he managed a draw. The biggest surprise was landed by Ardian, who won his game; he thought very thoroughly about his moves and even kept the master waiting at times. The simul was streamed by Luis in Madrid. The top board and a section of the room, captured by the laptop through which Pavel also played, were broadcast live and can be watched here: https://www.twitch.tv/madridchessacademy
From 21:00 the networking meeting then took place. Among those present was the sports journalist Dr. Stefan Löffler, the “Journeyman”, as he titled himself. By this is meant a master player who is on the road and is invited to tournaments where he plays against stronger players. He conducted an interview with Pavel.
On 04 October: Rapid tournament at Reinmarplatz 18 from 19:00 (since there were only nine of us and the Icelandic grandmaster Gudmundor agreed to play a simul, we were already practising for the following week with GM Pavel Eljanov!)
On 03 October: Youth rapid chess in Bamberg (this time without us, as several players, among them Sai Varun, took part in a tournament in Munich, where he beat a state-parliament candidate in the beginners’ group and also won that group)
On 03 October: Four-player team tournament in Moosburg (initially in the first four rounds the line-up of team Stattkinder was Ardian, Matvei, Samy and me, after which Arthur was there in my place. Smrithi and Madhushri played in other teams; the biggest surprise was how coolly Madhushri took apart an opponent with DWZ 1400!)