German Championships 2019

[Ingo_Zachos]

This year the German Championships were again played at Korbach on April 27th and 28th.

The favorite was of course record champion and defending champion Igor Martynov.
But in the last two years the local players Thomas Jürgens and last years second placed Jan Ziotkowski gave Igor some close calls, so a surprise was not impossible.

Already in the first round Martynov and Zioltkowski were paired against each other, and Igor showed his determination to win his title again by winning both games in fine style.

The other former champion, Ingo Zachos, showed a steady decline in playing strengths in the last three years and did not play or study anything for a year. He was lucky that 10x10 specialist Clemes Crucius allowed him to get two winning positions, and indeed he won the 1st game, but just as it was easy to win the 2nd game he blundered into a dead draw.

In round two Martynov was paired against Zachos, and in a renown Laird and Lady position, Martynov surprisingly ended up with a strategically lost position, and Zachos first won a piece and then played the endgame safe, avoided shots and to his own surprise defeated Martynov. But the old wolf came back stronger and when Zachos was too ambitious in a sideline of the Cross, Igor came back to equal the match one win each.

Meanwhile, the other local hero, Thomas Jürgens, won all of his four games and made his claim for his 1st national title.
In round tree he was now paired with Ingo Zachos.
Zachos defended with the 22-17 line of the Cross that Jim Morrison introduced, and remembering it well, Zachos managed to get a very strong endgame, eventually making a majority of kings , holding the opponent to the side and finishing him off, stopping his winning streak and forcing a win himself.
In game two, just when Zachos hoped he might win a 2nd game in the ending, Thomas announced to the amazement of the spectators that after the next move it will be drawn due to a combination, and Zachos, after the move was played, agreed. So the points were shared.

Igor Martynov in the meantime secured an easy first win against Clemens Crucius , but in game two, when Igor was hoping for a win, Clemens used one inaccuracy by Igor to force a nice drawn ending, and Igor had to concede another draw.

In round four, the last round played on saturday, Igor now faced Thomas Jürgens. Ingo Zachos in the meantime was back in good shape, and won both games.

The clash between Igor and Thomas was intense in both games, both lasting long and fought until the last bullet. However, both did not mange to lure the opponent into a mistake, both games ending in a draw.

So, after four rounds, to his own surprise, Ingo Zachos found himself in the lead with 12 out of 16 possible points after the first day, one point ahead of Igor Martynov and Thomas Jürgens.

The evening, as usual, was spent together in a restaurant. As the players could not decide between an Asian restaurant and an Italian restaurant, a coin was tossed and the latter won.

Igor Martynov had been in similar positions before, trailing by one point after day one in recent years, but always showing a very strong finish on day two, earning the reputation of being the come back kid...

This year was no exception, as Igor won all six games in the three sunday rounds.
Thomas Jürgens was undefeated on sunday as well, but had to concede three draws, which practically eliminated his title chances.

However, he was very close once again, and by increasing his opening knowledge may certainly come back stronger in the next years.

The leader after day one, Ingo Zachos, however managed to keep Igors pace by winning game after game this year.

And in the last round he crushed Igors hope of another title this year by winning against Jan Zioltkowski, who beat him in both games last year, and to his surprise securing the German Championship 2019.

Newcomer Thomas Hehn of Heidelberg showed a promising first day, but maybe he needs to ask Igor on how to win on a sunday.

German Junior Champion is Markus Rud, who showed great progress on day two, and who probably missed more chances to score then any other player this year.

Final result: http://fmjd.org/results/tournaments/201 ... ces&7.html
Report on Website of the German Federation: https://www.dame100-korbach.de/ergebnisse/

[Palomino]

Congratulations Ingo!

[George Hay]

Congratulations Ingo on winning the German Championship 2019 in intense competition!
Congratulations to the German Junior Champion, Markus Rud!

--George Hay

[sergio]

Congratulations Ingo!
Great Victory!

[S_McCosker]

Congrats Ingo

[Debra Louise McManus]

Congrats Ingo