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Chess Classic Mainz 2009
The 2009 Chess Classic took place from July 27 to August 2 in the Rheingoldhalle
of the Congress Centre, Hilton Hotel in Mainz, Germany. The event included
tournaments and Opens in traditional and Random Chess, with stars like
the current World Champion Vishy Anand, Levon Aronian of Armenia, strong
Russian junior GM Ian Nepomniachtchi and top German GM Arkadij Naiditsch. |
Aronian wins final in smooth style
By Johannes Fischer
The final of the GrenkeLeasing Rapid World Championship in Mainz
The players are on a stage, with the audience seated in the vast Rheingoldhalle
A packed audience at a chess event – not something you see every day
World Champion Anand, however, made his fans wonder. Apparently he did not
manage to overcome the bad shape he had shown in the preliminaries and his play
in the match for place three against Germany number one Arkadi Naiditsch was
strangely uninspired and lacked punch. But maybe the explanation was much simpler.
“Well, as there is not that much at stake in the match for third place,
it is very difficult to motivate oneself”, he later explained at the press
conference.
The first game showed how difficult both Anand and Naiditsch – who had
also played in the Ordix Open where he finished second to Mamedyarov –
found it to motivate themselves. Anand had White and chose a quiet Italian game,
which ended in a listless 26-move draw.
In contrast Aronian lived up to his role of favorite in his first game against
Nepomniachtchi. On the white side of an English Opening he managed to convert
positional pressure into something tangible when winning two pawns. Yesterday,
the Russian managed to overcome a two-pawn-deficit against Anand, but against
Aronian Nepomniachtchi was not that lucky. In fact, his only hope was the clock.
Aronian had only seconds on the clock but the five second increment per move
proved to be enough for the Armenian.
Between the games: GM Vladimir Potkin with his sister, who is married to
GM Evgeniy Najer (right)
The second round proceeded in similar fashion. Naiditsch and Anand went into
a well-known line of the Ruy Lopez and did not mind a draw when all rooks were
swapped on the a-file.
Meanwhile, Nepomniachtchi did everything one tells beginners not to do. He
neglected his development, left his king in the centre and advanced both his
a- and his h-pawn in an effort to put pressure on Black. Unperturbed, Aronian
developed quietly and when all his pieces were ready and his king had castled,
he countered in the center. And suddenly things were critical for White. With
little time on the clock, Nepomniachtchi went astray and fell victim to an assault
on his king, which was still stuck in the centre.
Nepomniachtchi - Aronian
Grenkeleasing Rapid World Championship Chess Classic Mainz 2009 (8.1)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2 Bc5 5.d3 d6 6.c3 Bb6 7.h3 Bd7 8.Nbd2
Ne7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Nc4 Ng6 11.h4 h6 12.g3 Qe6 13.a4 c6 14.a5 Bc7 15.Ne3 Ne7
16.h5 d5 17.Ra4 0-0-0 18.Nh4 Qd7 19.Kf1 c5 20.b3 c4 21.dxc4 Nxe4 22.Qc2 Nc5
23.Ra2 d4 24.cxd4 exd4 25.Neg2 d3 26.Qd1 Ne4 27.a6 d2 28.axb7+ Kb8 29.Bb2 Nf5
30.Kg1
Black played 30...Nxf2 31.Kxf2 Bb6+ 32.Ne3 Nxe3 33.Be5+ Kxb7 34.Qf3+
Qc6 and White resigned. 0-1.
With two clear wins from the first two games Aronian was on the brink of winning
the match and becoming new Rapid Chess World Champion. Indeed, he had no problems
to clinch the title in the third game. With Black, Nepomniachtchi put his hopes
on the Grünfeld Defense, but Aronian always had things under control and
in an ending where Nepomniachtchi had no winning chances at all, the Russian
finally accepted the inevitable: he agreed to a draw and Aronian was new Rapid
Chess World Champion.
In the other match, however, Anand and Naiditsch continued to avoid all excitement.
Both sides did not seem to mind a draw and after 23 moves the game was over.
Score: 1.5:1.5.
Now, the fourth game between Naiditsch and Aronian was a mere formality. And
even though it was drawn after 25 moves the spectators saw some entertaining
chess. With 1.e4 e5 2.d4 Nepomniachtchi played an unusual opening, which inspired
Aronian to an unusual rook maneuver in the opening. And after this rook had
done his duty, Aronian decided to sacrifice it. Black had a serious material
disadvantage but the computer still liked Black’s chances better. However,
Aronian decided not to tempt fate and opted for a draw through perpetual check.
Final score: 3-1.
At the prize giving: Levon Aronian, in his genuine Barong
Tagalog
The runner up, Ian Nepomniachtchi
Anand and Naiditsch again did not do much harm to each other and played the
fourth draw of their match to share third and fourth place – traditionally
in Mainz no tie-break is played in the match for third place.
Arkadij Naiditsch, who held the World Champion to a 2-2 tie
Anand, not quite as cheerful as Arkadij over this result
So, Anand will have to wait for next year’s Chess Classic to get “his”
title back. Aronian certainly welcomed such a rematch. As he said during the
press conference: “It’s fun to play against someone who is tough.
And Anand is really tough.”
The players at the final press conference (with Ordix Open winner Mamedyarov
left)
It might well be that next year Aronian will indeed have a chance to see how
tough Anand is. At the prize-giving ceremony organizer Hans-Walter Schmitt promised
Anand a wild card – and the World Champion will not be the only one who
is happy to return to the Chess Classic. To say it with the words of the new
Rapid World Champion Levon Aronian: “This is such a wonderful tournament
– everybody likes to play here.”
Photos by Frederic Friedel in Mainz
