The 30th International Chess Open in Graz ended with a record participation of 500 participants from 49 nations around the world.

From February 16th to 23rd, 2024, the Graz Chamber of Commerce and Campus 02 provided the venue for the largest chess tournament in Austria. The participants came from all regions of the world and were between 6 and 90 years old. The tournament was held in 4 groups according to skill levels. At the start there was a rapid chess tournament.

In the strongest tournament, the A group, the Polish grandmaster Socko Bartosz was able to prevail with 7.5 points from 9 rounds. Grandmaster Pechac Jergus from Slovakia secured the hard-fought second place with 7 points. The young German international champion Deuer Marius ended up in 3rd place with the same number of points and a poorer fine rating.

Fourth place in the A tournament went to the international master Georg Fröwis, who also secured the prize for the best Austrian.

The victory in the B group went to a woman. Alba De Lomas Busquets, who traveled from Spain, had the better final score and was able to leave behind the second and third places with the same points, the Croatian Max Poljan and the Canadian Aaron Both.

An Austrian won Group C. Ruslan Donets from Upper Austria won ahead of the Spaniards Daniel Sanchez Murcia and Rudolf Ring.

Overall, the event was a success. More than 10 referees, many helpers and tournament director Andrea Schmidbauer enjoyed the good feedback. The participants particularly enjoyed the specially organized city tour and the players night.

A particular plus point: Despite the diverse national affiliations and the fact that participants from warring countries also took part, the atmosphere was positive and not characterized by hostility. “Gens una sumus” is the motto of the International Chess Federation and means “We are a family”.

Best regards!

Andrea Schmidbauer

Tournament organization