Elham Amar Wins Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2026 in Dortmund

Norway's GM Elham Amar won the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2026 A-Open in Dortmund with 7.5/9, while India's Surya Shekhar Ganguly finished on 7 points.

Norwegian GM Elham Amar has won the A-Open of the Sparkassen Chess Trophy 2026 in Dortmund, Germany. Amar scored 7.5 points from 9 games and finished half a point ahead of a group of five players.

The Sparkassen Chess Trophy is a long-running chess festival in Dortmund, and its A-Open is a strong 9-round Swiss at a classical time control.

Amar's decisive moment came in round 8, when he won with the black pieces against IM Felix Xie. Going into the last round he led the tournament, and he drew with India's GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly in 37 moves of the Caro-Kann Defense to make sure of first place.

Ganguly had a strong tournament. In round 8 he won an 82-move game against IM Poh Yu Tian of Malaysia. He finished on 7 points, sharing second place with IM Amilal Munkhdalai of Mongolia, GM Kacper Piorun of Poland, GM Dmitrij Kollars of Germany and GM Peter Acs of Hungary.

The top seed, GM Matthias Bluebaum, had a difficult finish. In round 8 he lost to IM Sumiya Chinguun of Mongolia in the Nimzo-Indian Defense, a big upset. Bluebaum finished on 6.5 points.

Mongolian players made a strong impression. Amilal Munkhdalai shared second place after beating his compatriot Chinguun in the final round, and Chinguun's win over the top seed was one of the results of the tournament.

Chinguun's win over Bluebaum carries a lesson for every player. In an open tournament, a lower-rated player who prepares well and plays without fear can beat anyone. And for strong players, it is a reminder that every game needs full attention, because no result is ever guaranteed.

Congratulations to Elham Amar on his victory in Dortmund.