THE 2021 DSB-Kader-Challenge ended Sunday, April 11, in Magdeburg, Germany, with a victory on tiebreak for GM Alexander Donchenko.
Donchenko emerged with the better quotient compared with those of GMs Dmitrij Kollars, Matthias Blübaum, and Daniel Fridman after all four finished the Category 14 (average Elo: 2590) event with identical 5½ points. Donchenko was the only undefeated player in the tournament, racking up two wins and seven draws. Kollars, Blübaum, and Fridman bucked solitary losses and clawed their way up to the leaderboard. Unlike Round 7, though, where torrid action turned decisive in all boards, the last two rounds were tame. In fact, the last round – Round 9 – saw all matches drawn.
GM Rasmus Svane came in solo 5th place, while younger sibling FM Frederick Svane tied for 6th-7th places with GM Andreas Heimann. GMs Dennis Wagner and Niclas Huschenbeth shared 8th-9th places, while the off-form GM Luis Engel wound up last.
The final standings: 1-4. Donchenko, Kollars, Blübaum, Fridman, 5½; 5. R. Svane, 5; 6-7. F. Svane, Heimann, 4; 8-9. Wagner, Huschenbeth, 3½; 10. Engel, 3.
Kollars, D (2598)-Engel, L (2553) [B69]
Magdeburg (6.4) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 Be7 10.Nf3 b5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Kb1 Qb6 13.Bd3 0-0-0 14.Rhe1 Kb7 15.f5 h5 16.Ne2 Qc5 17.Nf4 Bf8 18.Qe2 Rc8 19.c3 h4 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.Bc2 Bh6 22.Nd3 Qh5 23.e5 fxe5 24.Nc5+ dxc5 25.Rxd7+ Rc7 26.Be4 Rxd7 27.Bxc6+ Kc7 28.Bxd7 Qf5+ 29.Ka1 Rd8 30.Bxb5 axb5 31.Nxh4 Qf4 32.g3 Qd2 33.Qxe5+ Kb6 34.a3 b4 35.cxb4 cxb4 36.Nf3 Qd3 37.Qxe6+ Rd6 38.Ne5 Qd1+ 39.Rxd1 Rxe6 40.Ng4 Bg7 41.Rd3 bxa3 42.Rxa3 Re2 43.Rb3+ Kc5 44.Ka2 Bd4 45.h4 Re6 46.h5 Kc4 47.Rb8 Ra6+ 48.Kb1 Ra5 49.h6 Rg5 50.h7 Rh5 51.Rb7 Rh3 52.Rc7+ Kb3 53.Rb7+ Kc4 54.Ka2 Kc5 55.Rd7 Kc4 56.Re7 Rxg3 57.Ne3+ Kc5 58.Nf5 Rh3 59.Nxd4 Kxd4 60.Rc7 Kd5 61.Kb1 Kd6 62.Ra7 Kc5 63.Kc2 Kc4 64.Kd2 Kd4 65.Rd7+ Kc4 66.Ke2 Kb4 67.Kf2 Kb3 68.Kg2 Rh6 69.Kg3 1-0
Svane, F (2421)-Huschenbeth, N (2604) [C48]
Magdeburg (6.5) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 h6 7.Ne2 Re8 8.c3 a6 9.Ba4 Bf8 10.Ng3 d5 11.exd5 Qxd5 12.Re1 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Qxf3 15.gxf3 Rad8 16.Rd1 Nd5 17.Kf1 Re6 18.Bb3 Rf6 19.Bxd5 Rxd5 20.Ke2 g6 21.h4 h5 22.Rg1 Bg7 23.Bg5 Re6 24.Rad1 f6 25.Bc1 f5 26.Kd2 Kf7 27.Kc2 Bf6 28.Rh1 b5 29.f4 b4 30.Ne2 bxc3 31.bxc3 Rc5 32.fxe5 Rexe5 33.Be3 Ra5 34.Ra1 Ra3 35.d4 Re4 36.Nf4 Na5 37.Bd2 Nc4 38.Bc1 Be7 39.Kd3 Ra4 40.f3 Ne5+ 41.dxe5 Rxf4 42.Bxf4 Rxf4 43.Rh3 Bxh4 44.Rb1 a5 45.Rb5 Ra4 46.Rc5 Bd8 47.Rh2 h4 48.Rd5 Be7 49.Rd4 Ra3 50.Rd7 Ke6 51.Rxc7 g5 52.f4 g4 53.Rb2 Bb4 54.Kd4 h3 55.cxb4 g3 56.Rbc2 1-0
Fridman, D (2601)-Heimann, A (2606) [D02]
Magdeburg (8.1) 2021
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nbd2 Nh5 6.Be5 e6 7.c3 f6 8.Bg3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nxg3 10.hxg3 g6 11.Bd3 Bg7 12.Rxh7 Kf7 13.Qc2 f5 14.Rxh8 Bxh8 15.Nb3 Bd7 16.Nc5 Nb4 17.Qd2 b6 18.Qxb4 bxc5 19.Qxc5 Bf6 20.Ne5+ 1-0
Svane, F (2421)-Wagner, D (2581) [A13]
Magdeburg (8.4) 2021
1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Qc2 c5 8.0-0 b6 9.Rd1 Bb7 10.b3 Rc8 11.Bb2 Be7 12.d3 0-0 13.Nbd2 b5 14.Rac1 Qb6 15.Qb1 Rfd8 16.Qa1 h6 17.Nf1 Bc6 18.e4 Bb7 19.Ne3 Nb8 20.Ne5 Nc6 21.Nxc6 Bxc6 22.Be5 Ne8 23.Ng4 h5 24.Ne3 Rd7 25.Qb2 Bf6 26.Bxf6 Nxf6 27.Qe5 Bb7 28.Bf3 Qd8 29.Be2 Rdc7 30.Bxh5 Qd4 31.Qg5 c4 32.Be2 c3 33.Nc2 Qd6 34.b4 e5 35.Qe3 Qe6 36.Ra1 Nd7 37.Qg5 Qd6 38.Bg4 Re8 39.Bxd7 Rxd7 40.f3 Red8 41.Qe3 Qe6 42.g4 g6 43.Kf2 Kh7 44.Ke2 Rh8 45.h4 f5 46.Qg5 fxg4 47.fxg4 Rf8 48.h5 Qf6 49.hxg6+ Kg7 50.Qf5 Qd6 51.Qg5 Qxg6 52.Qxe5+ Kg8 53.Ne3 c2 54.Rh1 Rdf7 55.Qh8# 1-0
Huschenbeth, N (2604)-Engel, L (2553) [B90]
Magdeburg (8.5) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.h3 b5 9.a4 b4 10.Nd5 Nbd7 11.Nxb4 Bb7 12.Nd2 0-0 13.a5 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.Nd5 Nf6 16.Nb6 Rb8 17.Bxa6 Bxg2 18.Rg1 Bxh3 19.Bh6 g6 20.Bxf8 Bxf8 21.Bc4 e4 22.Rg3 Bf5 23.Rb3 Ng4 24.Qd5 Be6 25.Qxe4 Qf6 26.Qf3 Bf5 27.0-0-0 Ne5 28.Qc3 Qg5+ 29.Kb1 Nxc4 30.Qxc4 Be6 31.Nd5 Rc8 32.Qd4 Bg7 33.Qd2 Qd8 34.Rb5 Qe8 35.Qb4 Kh8 36.Rb6 h5 37.a6 Bg4 38.Re1 Qd7 39.Rb8 Bf3 40.Rxc8+ Qxc8 41.a7 Bxd5 42.Qb8 Qg8 43.Re8 1-0
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Re4!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…dxe4 2.Qd6#; 1…Kxe4 2.Qe3#; 1…Kc5 2.Qc7#; 1…Bxe4 2.Qc3#./PN
