— by Richard Palliser
After five rounds of highly competitive chess Sachsen-Anhalt from Germany emerged victorious in the 12th ChessMates International, which took place in the fine setting of York Guildhall. There were also chess activities in the adjacent St Helen’s Square, including a game on Friday on the giant chess set between York Central MP Rachael Maskell and British Champion Gawain Jones. With an average rating of 2054 England were top seeds in Group 1, and duly won all three matches, defeating Ireland and Iceland 7-3, and Estonia 7½-2½. The Estonian team also qualified for the Champions Group, carrying through their loss to England and pipping Ireland on tie-break by the narrowest of margins. Their line-up included three Ukrainian players, one of whom, Maksym Kryshtafor, is a pupil at Bootham School, York.
Group B saw some wild matches as Sachsen-Anhalt and Rotterdamse Schaakbond from the Netherlands qualified for the Champions Group. The Germans won their individual match 7½-2½, and also defeated Monaco 7½-2½ and Yorkshire 9-1. Yorkshire, led by 17 year old Aaron Rich from York, had the consolation of defeating Monaco 5½-4½, aided by a crisp attacking display from Aaron. Yorkshire then went on to defeat Iceland 5½-4½ in the Challengers Group, which was won by Ireland. When play got underway on Saturday afternoon in the Champions Group England were held to a 5-5 draw by Rotterdam, while Sachsen-Anhalt defeated Estonia 7-3. The final round this morning saw the team from Saxony edge out England in a very close match 5½-4½ to claim the gold medals. England came second and Rotterdam third.
There were some fine individual performances: Gustav Polzin (Sachsen-Anhalt), Luka Wink (Rotterdam) and Zach Norris (England) all scored 5/5, with Anton Belin and Christian Haubold (both Sachsen-Anhalt) finishing on 4½/5. The best game prize went to Monaco’s Clovis Kien for his win over Yorkshire’s Benedikt Pitel.
Organiser Ben Rich was delighted, and commented, ‘ChessMates brings together players who are able to make friends as well as play chess. The community aspect is what makes ChessMates such a special event, and we were delighted to host the tournament in York.’
It should be said too that the tournament would not have been possible but for the sterling work over four days from arbiters Douglas Vleeshhouwer and Matt Carr, as well as the generous help of its many supporters and partners. We must pay a huge thank you to: Bootham School, Chess in Schools and Communities, English Chess Federation, Fulprint York, Hull and East Riding Chess Association, Leeds Chess Club, New in Chess Group, Panda Mami, Rudy’s Pizza, Silicsoft, SIM Ventures, The John Robinson Youth Chess Trust, The Chess Trust, York Archaeology, York Chess Club and Yorkshire Chess Association.
The 13th ChessMates International is scheduled to take place in Monaco in spring next year. A full PGN file of all the games can be found here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ChessMatesYorkALL.pgn and a shortlist of some of the best games can be found here: https://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ShortlistChessMates.pgn
Please also see: https://chess-results.com/tnr1140120.aspx?lan=1 and chessmatesinternational.com
For further information on the tournament do please contact Ben Rich Email: ben@benrich.co.uk