This weekend, chess superstar Magnus Carlsen celebrates his debut for FC St. Pauli. With the Norwegian on board one, the newcomer wants to collect important points against Solingen and Düsseldorf to stay in the Bundesliga. But it won’t be easy against the previously unbeaten teams.
The FC St. Pauli chess department has experienced in recent months how quickly dimensions can shift. And that only has a very small part to do with Hamburg’s promotion to the Bundesliga.
When the Hamburg team secured promotion to Germany’s top division last year on the last second division matchday in the self-titled “Showdown of Rüdersdorf”, 80 members of our group were excited about it in the “live ticker in Signal Messenger”. Oliver von Wersch, second chairman of the Brown-White chess department, reported on the Chess Bundesliga website last fall.
Important games against Solingen and Düsseldorf
Now, on the third double match day of the 2024/2025 Bundesliga season, the promoted team “could have sold 600 tickets,” as von Wersch said at the beginning of the week. But only 60 were possible in the Brahms-Kontor, where the game is played at the weekend: 30 on Saturday against SG Solingen (2 p.m.), 30 on Sunday against Düsseldorfer SK (10 a.m.).
The higher division is one thing, chess superstar Carlsen is another. Because it is above all the Norwegian’s first appearance on the board for FC St. Pauli, which draws. Wersch also knows this.
But despite all the hype about Carlsen’s debut: For St. Pauli’s chess players, this weekend is about important points to stay in the league. After two double game days, i.e. four games, the brown-whites have one point in their account. This resulted from a 4:4 against SC Heimbach-Weis-Neuwied. Von Wersch, who acts as a team manager for the Bundesliga team, assumes “that we need seven to eight points to stay in the league.”
It is still unclear how often Carlsen will be on the board for St. Pauli
He calls the start of the season “mixed.” Especially on the first double match day with games against Bad Mergentheim (3.5:4.5) and Dresden (3:5), more was expected, but “none of our reinforcements were able to meet the deadline”.
It is the fate of the clubs that chess players are allowed to play in several clubs in different countries. And like Carlsen, they have lots of other dates and tournaments. For the Norwegian, for example, it is not yet clear how often he will be on the board for the brown and white this season. “Two to four times” are planned, says von Wersch.
More chances against Solingen than against Düsseldorf?
And definitely for the important duels against Solingen (4th) and Düsseldorf (3rd), who have won all of their games so far. Against the DSK, St. Pauli is “underdogs. We normally have no chance,” explains von Wersch, who “thinks it is possible” that the Düsseldorf team will compete with the Indian world chess champion Dommaraju Gukesh. Against Solingen, however, he expects a little more “with the line-up we are planning”.
Exactly what the lineups will look like remains “top secret” until they are published two hours before the respective encounter. The players then retreat and prepare for their respective opponents in a “crash course.”
And it is also clear: Carlsen alone will not be able to get the points for St. Pauli.
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Hamburg Journal | 01/11/2025 | 7:30 p.m
