Sämisch won the master tournament in a convincing manner. He defeated his main rival Réti with an opening that would be called the Sämisch Variation. His play under time pressure was praised! Bogoljubow only shared the fourth prize, because he played too optimistic against two lesser players. He would win the super tournament Bad Kissingen during the second half of August. Colle won the brilliancy prize for his game against Spielmann. The tournament was played in the early days of hyper modern chess. Indian openings were at an experimental stage: the Nimzo-Indian, Queen’s Indian and King’s Indian Defences were applied. Draws were rare: only 28%! The difference with later tournaments did not lie in lesser perception, but insufficient technics to draw an even position: more blunders were made.

Dortmund 1928

Another master tournament was played in 1951. O’Kelly won. Taimanov was victorious in Dortmund 1961. When the match Spassky - Fischer was planned, Dortmund competed for the organisation, but it became Reykjavik 1972. Enthusiasm remained and the second Open German was played in the Westfalenpark from 17 May - 2 June 1973. Hecht, Andersson and Spassky shared the first place. 

Immediately after this event, the 1. Internationale Dortmunder Schachtage took place on the Tanzinsel of the Westfalenpark from 3 - 9 June. Westerinen won. The Schachtage became an annual event. An open tournament was added in1975. It became usual to organise several tournaments in one event, like in Dortmund 1928. The number of participants grew to hundreds. A tradition of Rheinland-Westfalen continued, because Dortmund is situated near Düsseldorf where the first Schachbund was founded in 1861.  

The 20. Internationale Dortmunder Schachtage occurred in the Westfalenhalle from 16-26 April 1992. 550 chess players participated in four groups. Nineteen times, the main group had been a grandmaster tournament. This time it was full of top talent. 

The organisation of a super tournament had become easier, because the Eastern European players could participate anywhere after the downfall of the Iron Curtain. World champion Kasparov and his rivals Ivanchuk, Bareev, Anand and Salov competed with the new talents Kamsky, Adams, Shirov and Piket, and senior Hübner. The promising youngsters Kramnik and Lékó took part in the Open tournament. Many debutants would become regulars in Dortmund. 

Losses of Kasparov against Kamsky and local hero Hübner were astonishing. Nevertheless, the tournament became a race between Kasparov, Ivanchuk, Bareev and Salov. The last mentioned was eliminated in round eight. Three potential winners played with White in the last round. All got an advantage, but only Kasparov won. He catched up with Ivanchuk and became number one on SB-score. 10,500 chess enthusiasts visited the tournament. 

21.Dortmunder Schachtage were played from 9 until 17 iv 1993. Karpov ruled. Kramnik made his debut in the main group. Kasparov did not partake. He would no longer be welcome after 1995. Karpov won the event with 5½/7. Kramnik followed at 1½ points. 

Jeroen Piket was a tactical player, who played solid positional chess. He won the super tournament of Dortmund (15-24 July 1994) with 6½/9, and ended one point before Adams. Karpov had a poor result. 

The 23. Dortmunder Schachtage in 1995 costed DM 400,000, including DM 150,000 for starting fees and prices. An important sponsor was the Dortmunder Sparkasse. Piket defended his title. Karpov, Ivanchuk and Kramnik, the numbers two, three and five of the world, were the main rivals. 
The tournament was a great success for 20-years-old Kramnik. He won with 7/9 and played wonderful chess in all phases of the game and hardly made an error. His era had begun in Dortmund. Karpov did not play his best chess, but he let his opponents blunder in the endgame during time pressure. 

The 24.Dortmunder Schachtage were played from 3 until 14 vii 1996. It became a race between Anand and Kramnik. They ended the tournament with 7/9. Vladimir won the event due to a better SB score. 

Kramnik won the tournament in 1997 with 6½/9, one point before Anand. 

The 26. Dortmunder Schachtage in 1998 e

nded with a score of 6/9 for Kramnik, Adams and Svidler. Vladimir became the winner due to a better Sonneborn - Berger score. 

27. Dortmunder Schachtage were played from 9 until 18 vii 1999. The tournament became a competition between Lékó and Kramnik. Lékó won the tournament with 5/7. Kramnik followed by half-a-point. Their five wins have been analysed. 

Kramnik and Anand scored 6/9 in 2000. Vladimir became the official winner. 

The 29. Dortmunder Schachtage were played in the Opernhaus from 12-22 July 2001. Kramnik won for the sixth time! Again he played wonderful chess, won three games and met few problems in the other encounters. As the Braingames world champion, he defeated the FIDE world champion Anand once. 

30. Dortmunder Schachtage were played from 6 until 21 vii 2002. The winner got the right to challenge Kramnik for classical world championship match. We follow the thirteen games by Péter Lékó and one additional encounter. The event started with double rounds in two groups of four. Two semifinals and a final followed. Lékó won the final against Topalov by 2½–1½. in the Goldsaal of the Westfalenhalle. The challenger of Kramnik gained 100,000 Euro and the runner-up 70,000 Euro. Organisers were satisfied with the result, because Lékó was the player with good results against Kramnik. 

Dortmund 2003 lasted from 31 vii until 10 viii. Six grandmasters played double rounds. Viktor Bologan had qualified as winner of Aeroflot. He prevailed before Kramnik, Anand, Radjabov, Lékó and Naiditsch, because he applied his cutthroat methods from open tournaments successfully. 

32.Dortmunder Schachtage were played from 22 vii until 1 viii 2004. The program was similar to the installment of 2002. Eight grandmasters started in two groups. Anand and Svidler qualified before Rublevsky and Naiditsch in the first group. All games in the second group were drawn! Kramnik and Lékó qualified before Bologan and Karjakin after six rounds of blitz. Two classical and two rapid games were drawn in both semifinals. Blitz led to Anand-Lékó 4-2 and Kramnik-Svidler 5-3. Anand won the final by 2½-1½. Vishy became winner in Dortmund for the first time. 

Ten players participated in the main group of the 33.Dortmunder Schachtage from 8 - 17 vii 2005. Many games were battles. 

The competition for the first prize between Naiditsch and Van Wely was a surprising phenomenon. The 19-years-old Naiditsch won. Topalov achieved the shared second place by two wins in the last rounds. Toppy showed a boundless energy. Kramnik failed again at the end of a tournament. Later we learned about his arthritis. Vlasty cannot make it anymore in the survival of the fittest. 

Eight men played in the 34.Dortmunder Schachtage from 29 vii - 6 viii 2006. Only seven decisive games occurred. Kramnik and Svidler scored 4½/7, half-a-point before Adams and Lékó. Vladimir won on tie-break. So he triumphed for the seventh time in Dortmund. 

The 35.Schachtage were played from 23 vi until 1 vii 2007. Kramnik played very well and won for the eighth time.

36.Schachachtage occurred from 28 vi until 6 vii 2008. Kramnik performed less well. This time Leko won.

The 37.Schachtage were played from 2 until 12 vii 2009 in Dortmund. Six grandmasters played two cycles. Kramnik triumphed for the ninth time.

Page on German Chess Congresses and similar tournaments (1861-1983)

The Dortmunder Schachtage show similarity to the Deutschen Schachkongresse. These historical events have been explored.