Elberfelder Winter Schach 2026
34 players participated in this 5-round tournament, held from 02 Jan 2026 to 04 Jan 2026 in Wuppertal, Germany. 1 titled players from 2 federations. Top 10 Elo average was 1980, and top seed was Merlin Maenken (🇩🇪 GER, CM, 2162).
Merlin Maenken (🇩🇪 GER, CM, 2162) won with 5.0/5, ahead of Felix Liesendahl (4.0) and Muhammed Asadzade (4.0). Maenken broke clear in the final round.
The biggest upset came in round 1: Klaus Dieter Koch (1549) beat Steven Bertram (1766), a +217-point gap.
- 🥇
- 🥈
- 🥉
How it unfolded
Top 6 · 5 roundsCM Merlin Maenken led from R5; +1.0-point edge over the runner-up. Title race converged from 2 co-leaders at R4 to 1 by R5.
CM Merlin Maenken never relinquished the lead after R5; final gap +1.0 over the runner-up.
CM Merlin Maenken 5 wins (R1–R5)Muhammed Asadzade 3 wins (R3–R5)
Key matchups · top 4
Head-to-head between the four finishers| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1CMMerlin Maenken | * | — | 1 | 1 |
| 2Ewald Fichtner | — | * | — | — |
| 3Muhammed Asadzade | 0 | — | * | — |
| 4Felix Liesendahl | 0 | — | — | * |
Grille américaine
| # | Player | Elo | Fed | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts | Bu C1 | Bu | SB | Perf | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maenken, MerlinCM | 2162 | GER | +19N | +3B | +13N | +5B | +2N | 5.0 | 14.0 | 16.5 | 16.50 | 2735 | +46.4 |
| 2 | Liesendahl, Felix | 1959 | GER | +20N | +27B | +9N | +6B | −1B | 4.0 | 14.0 | 15.0 | 10.00 | 2086 | +15.8 |
| 3 | Asadzade, Muhammed | 1901 | GER | +17B | −1N | +21B | +14N | +9B | 4.0 | 13.0 | 15.0 | 10.00 | 1996 | +24.8 |
| 4 | Fichtner, Ewald | 2048 | GER | +26N | +30B | =6N | +10B | =5N | 4.0 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 9.00 | 2143 | +12.6 |
| 5 | Scharfenberg, Michael | 2143 | GER | +28B | +16N | +15B | −1N | =4B | 3.5 | 14.0 | 15.0 | 8.00 | 2072 | -4.8 |
| 6 | Peter, Laurenz | 1902 | GER | +29B | +14N | =4B | −2N | +17B | 3.5 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 8.00 | 1922 | +5.4 |
| 7 | Granz, Thomas | 1823 | GER | =12N | =11B | +25N | =8B | +13N | 3.5 | 12.0 | 13.5 | 8.75 | 1928 | +14.4 |
| 8 | Podder, Michael | 1916 | GER | +21B | −9N | +22B | =7N | +15B | 3.5 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 8.25 | 1890 | -2.8 |
| 9 | Ertelt, Pornchai | 1740 | GER | +31N | +8B | −2B | +16N | −3N | 3.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 6.50 | 1915 | +18.2 |
| 10 | Walczewski, Christopher | 1977 | GER | +22B | −15N | +19B | −4N | +21B | 3.0 | 11.0 | 13.0 | 6.50 | 1848 | -13.8 |
| 11 | Bertram, Steven | 1766 | GER | −14B | =7N | +32B | +18N | =16B | 3.0 | 11.0 | 11.5 | 6.00 | 1724 | -8.0 |
| 12 | Sigacheva, Varvara | 1650 | GER | =7B | F | =18N | +26B | +22N | 3.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 6.50 | 2004 | +52.8 |
| 13 | Balster, Semjon | 1911 | GER | +23N | +18B | −1B | =15N | −7B | 2.5 | 13.5 | 15.5 | 5.75 | 1769 | -16.0 |
| 14 | Koch, Klaus Dieter | 1549 | GER | +11N | −6B | +27N | −3B | =20N | 2.5 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 5.25 | 1798 | +59.2 |
| 15 | Hoelzer, Thomas | 1779 | GER | +33N | +10B | −5N | =13B | −8N | 2.5 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 4.25 | 1900 | +21.2 |
| 16 | Arnz, Tom Niklas | 1885 | GER | +25N | −5B | +23N | −9B | =11N | 2.5 | 11.5 | 13.0 | 5.00 | 1793 | -12.0 |
| 17 | Mertens, Dominik Alexander | 1652 | GER | −3N | +26B | +30N | =20B | −6N | 2.5 | 11.5 | 12.5 | 3.75 | 1794 | +36.0 |
| 18 | Hamad, Wasim | 0 | GER | +24B | −13N | =12B | −11B | +25N | 2.5 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 5.00 | 1758 | 0.0 |
| 19 | Irtes, Deniz | 1692 | TUR | −1B | +29N | −10N | =25B | +27N | 2.5 | 10.5 | 11.5 | 2.75 | 1826 | +29.6 |
| 20 | Yilmaz, Arda Efe | 1677 | TUR | −2B | =32N | +28B | =17N | =14B | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.5 | 3.75 | 1701 | +5.2 |
| 21 | Rades, Andreas | 1678 | GER | −8N | +31B | −3N | +27B | −10N | 2.0 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 1.50 | 1693 | +0.8 |
| 22 | Landwehr, Ingo | 1689 | GER | −10N | +33B | −8N | +31B | −12B | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.50 | 1048 | -18.4 |
| 23 | Mizich, Vadim | 1661 | GER | −13B | +34N | −16B | −24N | +28B | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.00 | 1634 | -6.0 |
| 24 | Hosnjak, Christian | 1807 | GER | −18N | F | F | +23B | +29N | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.00 | 2458 | +24.0 |
| 25 | Baziou, Rayane | 1655 | GER | −16B | +28N | −7B | =19N | −18B | 1.5 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 2.25 | 1689 | +5.2 |
| 26 | Albrecht, Linus Frederic | 1683 | GER | −4B | −17N | +34B | −12N | =31N | 1.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.25 | 984 | -47.2 |
| 27 | Lojack, Rouven | 1749 | GER | +34B | −2N | −14B | −21N | −19B | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 0.00 | 919 | -86.8 |
| 28 | Scheib, Jonas | 1704 | GER | −5N | −25B | −20N | +34B | −23N | 1.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 0.00 | 974 | -70.0 |
| 29 | Tiegs, Frank-Peter | 1657 | GER | −6N | −19B | +33N | F | −24B | 1.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.00 | 1000 | -37.6 |
| 30 | Klein, Andreas | 1810 | GER | +32B | −4N | −17B | F | F | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.50 | 1655 | -12.6 |
| 31 | Schroeder, Melanie | 0 | GER | −9B | −21N | F | −22N | =26B | 0.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.75 | 1375 | 0.0 |
| 32 | Kelch, Volker | 1641 | GER | −30N | =20B | −11N | F | F | 0.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.25 | 1477 | -22.4 |
| 33 | Koper, Anna Margarete | 0 | GER | −15B | −22N | −29B | F | F | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.00 | 907 | 0.0 |
| 34 | FIDE 533062544 | 0 | — | −27N | −23B | −26N | −28N | F | 0.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.00 | 899 | 0.0 |
Key insights
Biggest movers and upsets — the story behind the numbers.
- 1Koch, Klaus DieterGER+59.22.5 pts · #15
- 2Sigacheva, VarvaraGER+52.83.0 pts · #11
- 3Maenken, MerlinCMGER+46.45.0 pts · #1
- 1Lojack, RouvenGER-86.81.0 pts · #32
- 2Scheib, JonasGER-70.01.0 pts · #33
- 3Albrecht, Linus FredericGER-47.21.5 pts · #31
- R1+217 Elo gap
- R3+200 Elo gap
- R2+198 Elo gap