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!
