Wednesday 8 April 2015

Things are bigger in Germany

While the Doeberl Cup is the biggest Australian event, it is still a little smaller than other Easter events around the World. For example, the 2015 Neckar Open attracted around 750 players, including 378 players in the top section. But apart from the size of the event, this tournament seemed to have a number of similarities with the Doeberl.
Both events were 9 round's although the Neckar schedule was slightly different. There was only 1 round on the 1st day (at 6:30pm), but after that it was 2 rounds a day (at 9am and 3pm!). The rating cutoffs were similar as well, with the A section 1800 and up, the B section Under 2000, and the C section Under 1400 (not 1600 like the Doeberl). I cannot see a prize list for the Neckar Open, but it was reported that 1st prize was 3000 Euros, which is around $4200 Aus, just a little more than Doeberl's $4000 top prize.
And the final thing they have in common, the winner of the event. Like the Doeberl the winner was a Chinese GM, in this case Li Chao, who also won the Doeberl in 2010.

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