Hamburg – Sun, blue sky over Hamburg – the biggest chess tournament in the world, the legendary “Right Alsterufer vs. Left Alsterufer”, was taking place outdoors for the first time since 1958 and prominently in the middle of the Rathausmarkt.
2176 chess student players competed against each other – it won the “Rechte Alsterufer” with 584.5: 503.5.
“We are totally satisfied with the number of children. In Hamburg school sports, it’s currently not that easy to get players to play chess,” said Jan Pohl, one of the organizers of the traditional chess duel “Right Alsterufer versus Left Alsterufer”.
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Another premiere: It was the first thinking marathon on the left side of the Alster (otherwise in the CCH).
Mayor Peter Tschentscher (56, SPD), himself an enthusiastic chess player, also took part, starting with “e4” on “d5”, the “Scandinavian opening”.
In the end, the right bank of the Alster won the competition with a lead of 81 points. Pupils from the seventh grade of the Ida-Ehre-School, who belonged to the best teams, were allowed to take the trophy to Harvestehude on their behalf.
In 2017, the event had set a record as the largest chess tournament in the world with more than 4000 participants.
Around 800 fewer children and young people than expected came this time. “Corona caught us at that point too,” said Pohl. Nevertheless, 300 teams from the first class onwards competed against each other in the open air and in the blazing sun.