Munich plays chess: 160 players fight for 20,000 euros in prize money!

Das Pfingst-Open 2025 im Gymnasium Moosach vereint 160 Spieler aus 40 Nationen zu einem spannenden Schachwettbewerb.
The Pentecost Open 2025 in the Moosach high school combines 160 players from 40 nations to an exciting chess competition. (Symbolbild/MM)

Munich plays chess: 160 players fight for 20,000 euros in prize money!

Gymnasium Moosach, München, Deutschland - The Pentecost Open, the sporting highlight of the third Munich chess festival, is in full swing! On June 8, 2025, the event started at the Moosach high school and lasts until June 14th. Over 160 players from 40 nations have gathered, including ten grandmasters, to fight for the prize money of 20,000 euros, which awards for title standards and world rankings. Munich bears the title of the German chess capital this year, such as Steffans Schacheniten Report.

The festival is organized by the Munich Schach Festival Munich e.V., under the direction of Richard Holzberger. The city of Munich supports this magnificent event, and the main sponsor Krulich real estate enables a first -class sky event. Overall, the 2025 festival comprises almost 40 days full of exciting shaft tournaments: from Pentecost Open to youth and senior openings as well as a standard tournament.

tournament details and participants

The Pentecost open is divided into two categories: the A-category is aimed at players with an ELO number of 2000 and higher, while the B category is open to all with a rating up to 2000. The seed list in the A tournament is led by Grand Master Kirill Alekseenko. A young star in the chess sky is Leonardo Costa, who, at the age of 17, starts the tournament as Germany's youngest grand master.

33 Indian players stand out among the participants, who all compete together in the A category. Aakanksha Hagawane and Moritz Stöttner have already reached standards for the title "International Master", while Ashot Parvanyan from Norderstedt is on the way to obtaining the large championship title. chess results also indicates the average evaluation of the players with 2213 and highlights the average age of 24 years.

history and meaning of the chess

A look at the history of chess shows how much this game has grown over the years. The first known international master tournament took place in Madrid in 1575, whereas the first shaft tournament in Germany was held in Düsseldorf in 1862. Max Lange secured first place at the time and thus laid a foundation for the tradition, which is continued to this day, as is also reported on the platform wikipedia .

The Munich chess festival celebrated its premiere in 2023 and quickly developed into an important event in the chess scene. In Munich there are 35 chess clubs that together count around 2,250 members, which makes it clear that there is a living chess community.

The Pentecost Open promises not only to become an exciting tournament, but also to continue the tradition of chess in Munich and to inspire more people for this fascinating game.

Details
OrtGymnasium Moosach, München, Deutschland
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