As of: February 19, 2024, 5:03 p.m
By: Hans Kürzl
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The chessboards are lined up at beer tables: 20 participants take on the challenge of rapid chess.
© Weber
Young or old, amateur or grandmaster: At the tenth Brain Games in the Marthabräuhalle, 205 participants took on the challenge of rapid chess.
The anniversary edition featured two records.
Fürstenfeldbruck
– A good 200 people sit and stand in the Marthabräuhalle.
And yet you almost want to walk through the room on tiptoe.
At most you can hear a throat clearing, a chair being pushed away or the quiet clacking of chess pieces.
Nothing should disturb your peace and concentration.
205 participants sit in front of the chessboards in the Brain Games - this is not only a new tournament record for TuS Fürstenfeldbruck, but also a nationwide record for rapid chess tournaments.
(
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular
FFB newsletter.)
Brain Games Fürstenfeldbruck: Only 15 percent women at the chess tournament
Organizer Thomas Hirn is proud of the tournament's enduring appeal.
“So many regions are represented.” Hirn not only represents the sponsor, Immobilien Hirn, but is himself an enthusiastic chess player.
This time his wife Jana is in the field of participants.
Thomas Hirn regrets that only around 15 percent of them are women.
But he doesn't have an explanation as to why the proportion is so low.
“Chess is actually an ideal sport that can be played by women and men in the same competition,” says Hirn.
The TuS even tried to give the anniversary edition of the Brain Games a bit of a show character.
Similar to the red chair at the Ski World Cup, on which the leaders sit, a podium is set up in the Marthabräuhalle.
That's where they play their games that are at the top in the rankings - a little bit away from the turmoil in the entrance area.
Hans-Joachim Hecht from TuS always takes his place at the top of the podium - at 85 years old, he is the oldest participant.
He challenges the grandmaster Igor Khenkin in a duel.
An exciting game, but neither of them comes close to Ettlingen's Jonas Rosner in the final score.
He achieves a double feat: not only is he the first to defend last year's title in the ten years of the TuS tournament.
Rosner is now the first participant to win all nine games.
10. Brain Games: The Advantage of Youth
The TuS also provides the youngest participant: ten-year-old Luca Dejako is still some way away from winning a title.
But for him and many others, the experience of the tournament is valuable.
“The chance to compete with a grandmaster is very attractive,” emphasizes Thomas Hirn.
He uses a comparison: “When an amateur football club meets a Bundesliga team, it is also an event for the amateur club.”
And in rapid chess, where a game is designed to last a short 15 minutes in the chess world, Hirn sees the younger ones as having a bit of an advantage.
“Some of them prepare massively on the Internet.” “Game partners” are available there around the clock.
In addition, younger people are often bolder and braver.
Older people would have to counteract this with their routine.
“It’s always a very attractive starting point,” says Hirn.
And there will be duels like this again in a year.
The eleventh TuS Brain Games have already been announced on the Internet.
You can find even more current news from the Fürstenfeldbruck district at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.