Familiarity, as they say, breeds contempt. In southern Germany, it is also breeding some excellent competition. Absent any regular international tournaments, Germany's Challenger Series has become a refuge for players seeking high-level competition. With eight-player round-robin tournaments every few days, the southern German town of Biberach has developed into something of a bubble. Lebanon's Dauud Cheaib (pictured) had grown accustomed to claiming the 1,200 euro first prize. At the beginning of February, the 36-year-old Cheaib, ranked #470 in the world, had won six of the previous eight tournaments. The two hiccups came at the hands of fellow veteran, 37-year-old Fedor Kuzmin of Russia. The young American champion Kanak Jha, 20, found the time to burst the Biberach bubble last week. Jha, the prohibitive favorite at world #28, bested Cheaib in the semifinals, 3-0. Jha then gave Simon Berglund of Sweden the same brusque treatment in the finals. After winning first place in his first try, Jha resumed his day job playing for the Liebherr Ochsenhausen club. This week, Jha's absence opened the door for the Biberach regulars. On Tuesday, Cheaib again fought his way to the finals, only to meet his old nemesis, Fedor Kuzmin. Cheaib, eager to restore his rightful place among the Biberach regulars, made quick work of Kuzmin, reclaiming the title in straight sets. While Cheaib is surely glad to be back on top of the Challenger Series, he must not get too comfortable. While Kanak Jha is currently occupied with getting Ochsenhausen into the German national league playoffs, his schedule will eventually open up again to allow for another side hustle. Given his initial success, he may invite the contempt of the Biberach regulars by making himself quite familiar indeed. After all, Ochsenhausen is only 15 minutes from Biberach.

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