The winners of the 1999 event, held in Essen from 22-23 October, were Stephen Kempen of Aachen, Germany and Mathias Burtscher of Gartenau in Austria.

The 1999 finals, with 64 competitors were the culmination of a long qualification process involving around 2,500 players. Two of the finalists pre-qualified as the top players in the 1998 event, but all the rest qualified from regional tournaments. Around 60 of these were held in Germany, and one in Salzburg, Austria. The 2000 tournament is expected to attract an even larger number of entries.