Chess - Open Chess Tournament in winter term 25/26

The Fulda University of Applied Sciences' University Sports department hosted the Open Chess Tournament for the fifth time on Friday, 23 January. In seven rounds, 20 players competed against each other to determine the strongest participant. The game was played with a thinking time of 10 minutes plus 2 seconds per move. The Swiss system ensured pairings between players with similar scores.

The tournament was characterised by an extremely evenly matched field in which details were often the deciding factor. Marc Dimmerling proved to be the most confident, winning all seven games. His tournament victory was already clear after the sixth round. Behind him, it remained exciting right to the end: three players had five points each, meaning that the second ranking had to decide the podium places. Kushagra Arora came out on top just ahead of Yevhenii Misechko, while Pascal Grosch had to settle for a thankless fourth place.

^{Image: Podium of the chess tournament in the winter semester 2025 / 2026}

The tournament made it clear that training pays off: all of the podium places went to participants in the advanced chess course. In addition, the record number of female players was a positive sign.
Anyone interested in chess who wants to improve or simply play in a relaxed atmosphere can once again take part in the University Sports chess courses for beginners and advanced players in the summer semester.

^{Image: Field of participants in the chess tournament in the winter semester 2025 / 2026}

To the results | Open Chess Tournament winter semester 2025 / 2026

(C) Image and text: Cedric Kollenberg