The main series begins on the picturesque Baltic coast in Weissenhaus! A week full of freestyle action, paired with the breathtaking backdrop of the coast.
“Yeah, it’s really cool here”
German U16 team visits Weissenhaus
With the strong support of Magnus Carlsen, some people are already calling Chess960 the future of chess. During this inaugural edition of the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge, the WEISSENHAUS is also hosting the future of German chess.
On Monday and Tuesday, some of Germany’s biggest talents are enjoying both the tournament itself and a few training sessions given by the brothers Frederik (20) and Rasmus Svane (26). Originally born in Denmark, the two grandmasters are living in Lübeck, less than 50 kilometers away from the tournament venue. They just returned from Manchester after playing in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) for the first time, and here at WEISSENHAUS they switched to the role of trainer.
The players lucky enough to witness the top grandmasters from closeby, and learn a bit of chess from the Svane brothers, are the teenagers FM Leonardo Costa (2476), IM Marius Deuer (2421), Magnus Ermitsch (2368), and Bennet Hagner (2320).
The German U16 team looking at rook endgames with GM Frederik Svane. Photo: Peter Doggers.
Today, these promising youngsters looked at opposite-colored bishop endgames and rook endgames where White has an extra passed pawn on the queenside. “I just wanted to show some rook endgames because nowadays we are playing so much rapid and blitz, and I think that’s probably also the future,” said Frederik. “You need to know the ideas.”
The youngest of the students was Magnus Ermitsch, a 14-year-old FIDE Master from Berlin. Already rated 2368, he has played chess since he was seven.
“It inspired me when I was four or something and my father and mother were playing chess. I saw it for the first time and I was interested in it. Then, my father started teaching me and when I was seven I played my first tournament.”
Magnus’s biggest success is winning the silver medal at the 2023 World Youth Championship under 14 year in Montesilvano, Italy. He might be on his way to become the second-strongest chess player named Magnus in the world, as he is close behind the German FM Magnus Arndt (2381), who visited the tournament on Sunday. A certain Norwegian player with the same first name is a bit further away.
The 14-year-old said he is loving it here at WEISSENHAUS: “It’s really cool to be here. The players are great and very famous, it’s nice to watch them. And you can also learn when they analyse before the game.”
He said he is not sure if his namesake will win the tournament: “I think Carlsen is the best player, but then in Chess960, Abdusattorov is also a very strong player.”
GM Frederik Svane. Photo: Peter Doggers.
Before starting with endgames, Frederik also looked at some of the Chess960 games from the tournament together with his students. “They’re playing very impressively, I have to say, although it’s so difficult,” he said. “Of course, it’s not perfect, but yeah, it’s just so difficult to play Chess960 because you have no idea how to place your pieces in the first, like, 10 to 15 moves. It’s a completely new game, so you have to get some experience and know how to place your pieces. But I think it’s very interesting for chess in general, like, for the future.”
Brother Rasmus agreed: “It would be nice to have more tournaments like this. I mean, it doesn’t have to replace normal chess, but it would be nice to have some Chess960 events from time to time, also for not only the top players.“
