At the conclusion of the ninth and final round of the GRENKE Chess Open, it was crowded at the top. As many as seven players had made it to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 7½/9. After the application of the tiebreaks it was once again, a German Grandmaster, GM Daniel Fridman, who was declared the title winner. He will be seen playing in the Grenke Chess Classic next year.
GM Daniel Fridman took the title in an eight way tie for first due to a better Buccholz score | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
The penultimate round of the GRENKE Chess Open concluded with tournament’s sole leader, GM Daniel Fridman, agreeing to a short draw against Aleksey Sarana of Russia in the premier encounter of the day. Benefitting from this, three out of the thirteen pursuers at 6/7 caught up with the German Grandmaster in the lead. As it stands, Fridman is leading alongside Anton Korobov, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and compatriot, Alexander Donchenko while just a half point behind is a crowd of 16 players, itching for their chance to catch up.
The GRENKE Chess Open is the biggest Open tournament in all of Europe. But how many players did it attract; how many of them were titled; where did these players come from; which countries sent the biggest contingents; and how big a team of arbiters is required for an event of such magnitude? Get to know it all in the following article.
The leaderboard of the Grenke Chess Open remained characteristically volatile at the conclusion of the third day. While most leaders in the seven-player pack signed peace in their games, German Grandmaster, Danil Fridman scored his second straight win of the day and to take sole lead in the tournament with just two rounds to go. On the third board, Fridman got the better of the Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest. With two rounds to go, thirteen players remain within striking distance at 6/7.
GM Daniel Fridman exploited a tactical oversight by Jorden van Foreest to clinch the full point and take sole lead | Photo: Georgios Souleidis
Chess Classic & Open
