The first innovation was introduced at the second U25 Open even before the start of the tournament. The day before, there was not only the chance to register, but also a blitz chess tournament. This was open to all age groups, not just for U25. Quite a few participants took the opportunity to warm up after registration on Sunday evening. However, some other players who do not take part in the U25 Open were also attracted by the prospect of meeting strong opponents. The opening of the age limit ensured that 20 over-25 players took part in the tournament. Not only in terms of playing strength, with participants ranging from over 2400 ELO to no ELO at all, but also in terms of age, from 9 to 65 years, the field of participants was very mixed. There were 80 players from 17 nations, including 16 title holders. There were also title holders known throughout Berlin, such as FM Dirk Paulsen and FM Fabian Jahnz.

GM Petar Genov entered the tournament as the top seed. He had to relinquish this position after a draw in the second round against Yunong Elias Lu. After more players lost their spotless record in the course of the tournament, there were only two players left in the sixth round with a 100% score of 5/5. In the top duel, IM Adar Tarhan prevailed against FM Christian Polster and maintained his sole lead at the top of the table. As he was only half a point behind GM Petar Genov, a draw against him in the last round was enough for him to win the tournament. The latter ended up in third place, as IM Jonathan Carlstedt was able to overtake him with 6 points on rating. Hongchi Peng finished in 4th place with the same number of points.

Other prize winners are CM Nikita Nechitaylo with 5.5 points, who defeated the best player of the organizing club, Daniel Rose, in the last round, as well as FM Christian Polster and Martin Yatskar with 5 points each. But there was also success outside the prize ranks, as the tournament was rated according to ELO Blitz.

You have registered and are already looking forward to THE tournament of the young chess scene in Germany? Very good!

Just don’t forget to register before the tournament: Come to the Beethoven-Gymnasium on Sunday between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and have a look at the rooms. We have already prepared the playing rooms today. And if you want, you can also play in the blitz tournament (if you have a FIDE ID). The blitz tournament will be FIDE-Elo rated and will start at 7:15 p.m. There are still a few places left and there is no U25 restriction: it is open to all chess players!

Alternatively, you can come on Monday: between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. we offer this second opportunity to register in person on site.

Either way: registration for the tournament is not enough to participate, you must also register in person on site.

See you tomorrow in Berlin!

On the website of the German Chess Federation (DSB) is a successful article about our tournament, the “2nd Berlin U25 Open”.

In addition to background information on the origins of the tournament, the high prize fund is also mentioned. 32,000 EUR for young people up to the age of 25. Where else can you find that?

We think the report is more than worth reading, so take a look: “Festival of young chess players” (in german)!

See you tomorrow in Berlin!

With the end of the registration deadline, according to the announcement on 14.10. at 23:59, and the overall situation of registrations at this time, the tournament organizers have decided to open another room for the B-Open and thus completely dissolve the waiting list.

All players who have registered so far can play in the A and B Open. Bank transfers within Germany can still be made – experience has shown that foreign transfers take a little longer and such players on the previous waiting list can pay the entry fee on site without a surcharge when registering.

See you in Berlin!

The capacity of 200 players for the A and B Open has been reached.

Some registrations have not yet been completed as payments have not yet been made or are still on their way. This still offers new registrations the opportunity to participate in the 2nd Berlin U25 Open, but we ask that new registrations do not make any payments at this time. If places become available, participants on the waiting list can pay without a surcharge on the first day of the tournament.

There also seem to be occasional withdrawals, so participation still seems to be possible now. It is still worth registering.

The list of players who can still get a place and the current waiting list can be found at the bottom of the “List of participants” page.

People on the waiting list will be informed when a place becomes available so that you can plan your participation.

See you in Berlin!

As in the first edition last year, GM norms are again possible this year in the A-Open. There are currently 40 title holders registered in the A-Open. With five grandmasters from five different federations, we have once again been able to bring top players from the young European chess scene to Berlin:

GM Paulius Pultinevicius: The Lithuanian grandmaster already took part last year. Like last year, when he unfortunately “only” managed ninth place, he is once again the number 1 seed in our tournament. The player, who was born in 2001, has an Elo rating of 2585, and his aim this year is certainly to improve on last year’s result.

GM Szymon Gumularz: The Polish grandmaster also took part in the first Berlin U25 Open last year. There he achieved a very good second place and only had to admit defeat to Vitaliy Garbuz in the first round (!). Is (even) more possible this year?

GM Luis Engel: The grandmaster and regular player in the 1st Bundesliga from HSK is the German representative in the GM ranks. After a few months’ break, the new season is now starting. What could be better than competing at the highest level against young title holders in Berlin?

GM Martin Petrov: The Bulgarian grandmaster is the third GM to take part in our tournament for the second time. Last year he finished in 6th place with a 4th ranking position. What will be possible this year? Once again he will start on board 4 of the tournament with a 4th place seeding.

GM Gergely Kantor: The second newcomer to the ranks of the grandmasters at the Berlin U25 Open. The Hungarian grandmaster, born in 1999, comes to Berlin from Budapest with fresh experience from the Chess Olympiad in his home country.

In addition to the grandmasters, we currently have eight international masters from various federations registered. The registration period has not yet ended. Last year, IM Ruben Gideon Köllner missed the GM norm by half a point. Will any of the players make it this time?

See you in Berlin in October!

In the meantime, more than 30 people have registered for the blitz tournament as an introduction to the 2nd Berlin U25 Open on Sunday evening, October 20. This guarantees the advertised prize fund.

It should be noted once again that this tournament is open to chess players of all ages. There is no restriction to “U25”! This should be a possibility of a blitz tournament especially for traveling parents and coaches but also for all Berlin chess players.

See you in Berlin in October!