Wine instead of Prize Money at the 2nd Reblaus Open in Gamlitz, Austria

Over the Easter break, alongside the numerous opens worldwide, a small but excellent A and B Open took place at the Austrian Bundesliga club Gamlitz in Southern Styria (about 40 minutes from Graz and just 30 minutes from Maribor in Slovenia).

Gamlitz is a market town with just over 3,000 residents and is situated on the South Styrian Wine Route, which stretches over 25 km and offers idyllic hiking trails.

One can experience a unique panoramic view over the southern Styrian wine country from the platform of the 27 meters tall water tower Weinleiten im Galitz

In the Open A, FM Philipp Wendl initially pulled away from the pack with a perfect 4/4. In the final round, the tournament winner defended his lead in a difficult position against your reporter and was rewarded with wine as the tournament winner. According to the announcement, there were to be at least 66 bottles; tournament winner Wendl ultimately took home over 90 bottles of wine.

Unique view of the multi-purpose hall Gamlitz

Almost 70 bottles remained for your reporter as the runner up. Thanks to the kind assistance of an opponent, the bottles could also be transported further, which would otherwise have been difficult by public transportation :-)

As the rounds were scheduled at 6:00 PM daily, there was a little bit of time left for excursions before the round, such as taking a train quickly to Maribor and back.

Impressions of the city center of the second biggest city of Slovenia, Maribor

Gamlitz is also home of the biggest European motor skills park with more than 40 outdoor fitness exercises

Top 10 Results of the Open A

The Open B (15 participants) was won by Anton Kappaun with 4/5, ahead of Michael Kiefer and Gunter Wirthumer, each with 3.5/5.

The Open concluded the following day with a highly competitive Blitz Open (46 participants) featuring numerous title holders, with three players from Fürstenfeld taking the podium: FM David Schernthaner won after 11 rounds with 9.5 points, ahead of FM Nico Marakovits and FM Julian Leitgeb (8 points).

Top 10 Results of the Blitz Open