The host of next year’s Chess Olympiad, Hungary, decided to hold its national individual championship in a format never seen in the country before. Instead of having a men’s and women’s tournament separately, the Hungarian Chess Federation has put together a prize fund of EUR 35,000 and set up a common pool of men, women, and some invited youngsters aspiring for a place in the Hungarian U25 national team in the 2024 Olympiad in Budapest. All in all, 30 players battle it out in a 9-round Swiss tournament from December 12-20, 2023.  

 “For top seeds, there is an appealing prize money, for the ladies – a good field and a separate prize fund, while the youngsters have a new opportunity, as they could not participate in the national championship in any of the classical formats used before,” said Dr Zoltan Polyanszky, President of the Hungarian Chess Federation.

The President added that the special format was inspired partly by the FIDE Grand Prix 2017, when FIDE held Swiss tournaments with 18 players, and partly by the Battle of the Sexes tournament in Gibraltar in 2022, where also one of the present participants of the Hungarian Championship, IM Balazs Csonka took part, and had great fun. 

The new format immediately led to upsets in Round 1, where out of the 15 boards, the higher-rated players could win only on 7, despite the rating spread between 2588 and 2120, setting up expectations of a higher winning ratio. 

“This is why we are doing this”, says Polyanszky. “Our male grandmasters, female players, and youngsters under 2400 rarely play in the same field; they can cause surprises to each other, and everybody has more motivation to show their strengths, as this format also touches the identity of the players.”

The ten ladies, with a rating average of 2213, taking the last ten places in the starting list, collected 4 points in Round 1 against opponents with a rating average of 2397. The Terbe sisters scored two impressive victories, while Barbara Mihok-Juhasz also had a promising position in a very complex, tactical game, fitting her style. 

WIMs Julianna and Zsuzsanna Terbe

Still, the top seed grandmasters, the defending champion Peter Prohaszka, Adam Kozak, and Gergely Antal, all scored victories. Gleb Dudin, who had gotten under the Hungarian flag in August 2023, debuted in the national championship. 

We follow up with the results and some interesting facts upon tournament completion.

Official website: chess.hu/