Last weekend, the 14th edition of the Gütersloh Sparkasse Cup took place in the forum of the Anne Frank Comprehensive School in Gütersloh. The game was played in three performance groups for a total of 5,000 euros in prize money. The continued high popularity of the tournament was evident even before it began. The total of 200 starting places in the A, B and C tournaments were already fully booked two weeks in advance, so a list of replacements had to be set up.
The favorite according to the Elo list was the international grandmaster Oleg Korneev from TSV Schönaich. Other title holders were at the start with the three international champions Jonathan Carlstedt, Dirk Schuh and Uwe Kersten. From the start there was a very exciting race in the A group, which lasted until the final round, as various players took the top places with equal points. In the end, the favorite prevailed. GM Korneev managed a win against Jakob Weidemann in the last round and achieved 4.5 points from the five rounds played. He secured the tournament victory ahead of defending champion Tristan Niermann, who finished second with four points. In addition to a bonus of 750 euros, Korneev also secured the title of Gütersloh city champion. The best Gütersloh resident in the field and therefore the winner of the Wilhelm Hunke Memorial Prize was Fabian Stotyn.
Peter Laurenz became the winner in the B tournament with 4.5 points after fine scoring, ahead of Erik Janiak with the same number of points. Dennis Janyska from the host Gütersloher SV takes third place with 4 points.
The C group found a worthy winner in Dieter Prause from SK Delbrück. He reached the 100% mark with five points. In the other places are Michael Peters and Arad Bajelani with 4.5 points each. The best Gütersloh resident was Dr. Axel Bergstraeßer in fourth place.
A children's tournament also took place parallel to the main tournament. This was also fully booked with 40 participants. Here Jonathan Winkens won with 6.5 points from seven rounds after fine scoring, ahead of Karlo Finn Hoffmann with the same number of points.
At the subsequent award ceremony, the first chairman of the Gütersloh Chess Club, Alexander Pfaffenrot, thanked the many volunteers, without whom another successful edition of the tournament would not have been possible. The family atmosphere and the once again excellent catering under the direction of Peter Fortenbacher make the Gütersloh tournament a popular event nationwide. After the Sparkassen Cup is before the Sparkassen Cup. And so everyone is looking forward to the 15th edition next year.