GM Boris Chatalbashev emerged as the winner of the 2023 Danish Championship, earning his maiden national title.

The Danish Championships 2023 takes place April 1-10, 2023, in Svendborg, a small town that hosted the last five editions. The event was held in eight different groups, but the national title was at stake only in the National Team Class, a 10-player round-robin with classical time control that brought together the best local players. 

The Danish Chess Championship has always been a highly competitive tournament, and this year’s edition did not disappoint. Suffice it to say that neither participant completed the event unbeaten.

The competition turned into an exciting race between the rating favourite Jonas Buhl Bjerre and Boris Chatalbashev, who took turns on the top of the standings throughout the tournament. It culminated in the final round game in which Jonas, who trailed Boris by a half-point, needed a victory to clinch the title, whereas his opponent was OK with a draw.

Jonas Buhl Bjerre, playing with the white pieces, got a comfortable position in the Maroczy but had a hard time making any serious progress. Trying to win at any cost, Jonas pushed too hard and handed the advantage to Boris Chatalbashev, which he sure-handedly converted into a win to secure the title. 

Meanwhile, the last year runner-up GM Jesper Søndergaard Thybo (pictured below), who had a poor start, came from behind and took second place finishing on 6.5/9. He became the only participant to beat the champion, his clubmate Boris Chatalbashev. 

GM Allan Stig Rasmussen won his final round game to catch up with Jonas Buhl Bjerre and tie for third place.

Final standings:

Official website: skak-dm.dk/2023/

Photos: Thomas Vestergård and Ellen Fredericia Nilssen

IM Martin Haubro is a new champion of Denmark. The 28-year-old IM netted 7/9 (no draws!), won his maiden national title and picked up impressive 61 rating points. With this result, Martin completed his first GM norm.

The Danish Championship (Masters), a 10-player round-robin tournament with classical time control, took place from April 9-17 in Svendborg, a small town that has hosted this event for the last three years. The town Mayor Bo Hansen opened the tournament by making a symbolic first move  Lars Schandorff’s – Bjørn Møller Ochsner.

Danish championships are known for competitive spirit and close fights, and the 2022 edition was no exception. The future champion suffered a setback in the first-round game against GM Jesper Sondergaard Thybo (pictured below) but stormed back by scoring six straight victories and grabbed the lead. His main competitor Thybo who also had an excellent tournament, kept the pace with Haubro until the decisive final round.

With both leaders sitting on 6/8, Haubro was in better a position coming into the final round as he faced Martin Percivaldi with white, whereas Thybo took on Bjorn Moller Ochsner with black pieces. Haubro made a quick work of his namesake Percivaldi and had to wait for the outcome of Ochner – Thybo.

Had Jesper Sondergaard won this game, he would have become champion thanks to his first-round victory over Haubro (the first tiebreaker criteria). Thybo obtained a slight edge on the black side of the Berlin System of Ruy Lopez but did not manage to make progress, drew the longest game of the round and fell just a half-point short of the title. The runner-up completed the event unbeaten and became the only player to defeat the champion.

The rating-favourite of the event and the only 2600+ player GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (pictured below) turned in a decent performance but lost two games and had to settle for bronze.

Final standings:

Offical website: skak-dm.dk/2022

Photo: Thomas Vestergård

GM Allan Stig Rasmussen came out on top of the 2021 Danish Championship, earning his fifth national title.

The 2021 Danish Chess Championship, a 10-player round-robin with classical time control, was held in Svendborg from October 16-24.

As the tournament fate would have it, the winner of the event was determined in the final round in the game between the leader Rasmussen and GM Sune Berg Hansen, who was a half-point behind. Trying to complicate matters, Hansen opted for a risky line of Alekhine Defence with Black only to find himself in a precarious position by move 18. Apparently, Rasmussen was not in the mood to take any chances as he forced a draw by threefold repetition to secure the title.

Hansen and Rasmussen engaged in a post mortem

GM Jesper Sondergaard Thybo, the only participant to beat the champion, was in the run for the top position in the standings for most of the event, but the penultimate round defeat at the hands of IM Nikolaj Borge left him out in the cold. To his credit, Jesper pulled himself together and clinched silver after crushing IM Jens Ove  Fries-Nielsen in the final round.

Jesper Sondergaard Thybo won silver

Sune Berg Hansen scored an equal amount of points with Thybo but had to settle for bronze due to inferior tiebreaks.

Final standings:

Official website: skak-dm.dk/
Photo: Mads Boe

Grandmaster Mads Andersen from Skanderborg Skakklub became Danish champion for the 3rd time on Saturday. The winner repeated his success of 2016 and 2017.

The Danish Chess Championship took place in Svendborg from October 09 to October 17. The event should have been held in the spring but due to the epidemiological situation was postponed to the fall. The tournament became one of the strongest in the history of Denmark’s chess with six GMs and the highest rated IM of the country Bjørn Møller participating.

Before the final round, Mads Andersen was a full point ahead of the two closest competitors Bjørn Møller Ochsner and Allan Stig Rasmussen but faced his young clubmate Jonas Bjerre with Black. Bjerre put some pressure on the leader but Andersen was defending with precision and eventually reached a draw and clinched the title.  

Bjørn Møller Ochsner (pictured above) came second with 6 points out of 9. In order to complete his second GM norm, he had to win his last round game against Jesper Søndergård Thybo and was up to the task.  

Final standings:

1. GM Mads Andersen (2589) – 6½
2. IM Bjørn Møller Ochsner (2484) – 6
3-4. GM Allan Stig Rasmussen (2560) – 5½
3-4. GM Boris Chatalbashev (2517) – 5½
5-7. GM Jesper Søndergård Thybo (2570) – 4½
5-7. GM Jonas Buhl Bjerre (2537) – 4½
5-7. IM Martin Haubro (2407) – 4½
8. GM Sune Berg Hansen (2565) – 3½
9. FM Nicolai Kvist Brondt (2214) – 3
10. IM Jens Ove Fries Nielsen (2395) – 1½

Photo: Thomas Vestergård

Official site: https://skak.dk/