Mitropacup: Germany wins the double

Host nation Germany dominates the 2024 Mitropacup in Apolda, winning the men’s and women’s competitions. In the open class, Germany is flawless and wins all nine matches. The five grandmasters Matthias Bluebaum, Rasmus Svane, Alexander Donchenko, Dmitri Kollars and Frederik Svane are the five players with the highest rating in the field and live up to their role as favourites. Germany scored 18 points and won with a four-point lead over Switzerland and a six-point lead over the Czech Republic. By comparison, only three points separate the fourth-placed Italians from Austria in 9th place, while Croatia finishes last with two points and four points behind Hungary and Austria. The best individual performance was achieved by the Swiss Sebastian Bogner with a performance of 2722, ahead of the German Dmitrij Kollars (2709).

In the women’s Mitropacup, Germany playing with Josefine Heinemann, Jana Schneider, Hanna Marie Klek, Lara Schulze and Kateryna Dolzhykova only conceded two points against Switzerland and Slovakia and won the tournament with 16 points. France took silver two points behind and Switzerland bronze four points behind. It is the first medal for the Swiss women in the history of the Mitropacup. The best individual result was achieved by Slovakia’s Zuzana Hagarova with four points from five games and a performance of 2492. Elo ratings above 2400 were also achieved by Italy’s Marina Brunello (2468), France’s Yosha Iglesias (2440), Switzerland’s Sofia Hryzlova (2418) and Germany’s Hanna Marie Klek (2402).

The organisation team around tournament director Bernd Vökler and chief arbiter Klaus Deventer ensured the best conditions in the wonderful Apolda town hall and the tournament hotel. Marco Biagioli attended the award ceremony as President of the Mitropa Chess Association. (wk, photo: tournament page).

The MCA Board wishes to thank the Arbiters for their job in ensuring a smooth tournament and especially the Chief Arbiter Mr Klaus Deventer.

Website Tournament, Chess-Results

Photos provided from the German Chess federation (Frank Hoppe)