Chess Classic Mainz – End of an Era

by ChessBase
2/16/2011 – A decade full of dedication and passion for international rapid chess has come to an end in Mainz. A splendid decade from 2001 to 2010 with ground-breaking innovations in tournament organization for world class players and amateurs alike and the “Mainz System” Chess960, based on the ideas of the American World Champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer. Press release + results.

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Press release

Chess Classic Mainz – End of an Era

Cost-benefit analysis requires clear statement for Mainz

Fischer made the distinction between the Chess Classic and other classical tournaments. Speed and entertainment, service and amenities for the spectators and participants were the ingredients of a unique merger that took place once a year between the 2000-year old royal game and the ancient city of Mainz. The main goal of the organizers back in 1994 was to connect the small world of chess with everyday society. Explaining the complex game of chess to a bigger audience, for chess amateurs and laymen with the use of modern technology was the next step, which was thoroughly and systematically implemented in the event.


The full 2010 Mainz Chess Classic team, with organisers, helpers and some participants (click picture to enlarge)

This yearly meeting place for chess players was highly appreciated by professionals and amateurs and the Chess Classic became a nationally and internationally renowned event, without a doubt one of the highlights on the international chess calendar. The clarity and reliability of the annual world championships in rapid chess and Chess960 and the clear qualification rules in the open tournaments was appreciated by everyone – over the years the organizers had created their own brand. The Chess Classic atmosphere with the spacious Rheingoldhalle, Congress Centre and Hilton Mainz, on the banks of the river Rhine, but still in the centre of the city Mainz was perfect and unparalleled for a top-class and mass sports event.


Over 700 participants in the Grenke Rapid Chess Open

If all the conditions in Mainz are perfect: why on earth will there be no next tournament, numerous friends of the Chess Classic are bound to ask? And it is a justified question. Maybe the answer of Vladimir Kramnik back in 2001, who was chess world champion at that time after his heroic win over Gary Kasparov, comes closest to the truth. During the Champions Dinner, one of the main sponsors of the event asked him: “How important is this first and unique match with the FIDE World Champion Viswanathan Anand from India, here in Mainz?” The answer was: “Not so important, this is just a rapid chess match”.


The first Chess Classic in Mainz 2001: Lord Mayor of Mainz Jens Beutel, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand, organizer of the Chess Tigers e.V. Hans-Walter Schmitt & Jürgen Wienecke

The city of Mainz, its Lord Mayor Jens Beutel and the Chess Tigers e.V. with its chairman Hans-Walter Schmitt would like to thank the long-time sponsors, players and spectators, the international journalists and many volunteers in this seventeen breathtakingly years that rushed past. We have shaped and organized the event seven years in Frankfurt, followed up by ten years in Mainz with inspiration and expertise. We have put our heart and passion into the Chess Classic. There is a quote by the Austrian dramatist and novelist Arthur Schnitzler, which says it all: “Am Ende gilt doch nur, was wir getan und gelebt – und nicht, was wir ersehnt haben.“ (“In the End, all that matters is what we have done and lived – not what we have longed for”).

We would like to apologize to our Chess960 world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess960 world champion Hikaru Nakamura and his challenger Alexander Grishuk, the current GrenkeLeasing world champion Gata Kamsky, the eleven-time winner Viswanathan Anand and the numerous friends of the Chess Classic, because there will be no title matches in 2011. However, should a “white knight” show up, who wants to grant the Chess Classic a secure financial future, the Chess Tigers are ready to go!

Chess Tigers e.V
Chairman Hans-Walter Schmitt


Chess Classic Mainz winners

Chess Classic Championship

Year

Winner

Players

Mode

Result

Cat.

EloØ

1996

Alexei Shirov

4

round robin/final

6½/8

18

2681

1997

Viswanathan Anand

4

round robin/final

7½/10

19

2705

1998

Viswanathan Anand

4

round robin/final

5½/10 s

22

2781

1999

Garry Kasparov

4

round robin

7½/12

21

2764

2000

Viswanathan Anand

6

round robin

7½/10

21

2767

2001

Viswanathan Anand

2

ten rounds/match

5/10

22

2796

2002

Viswanathan Anand

2

eight rounds/match

4½/8

20

2748

2003

Viswanathan Anand

2

eight rounds/match

5/8

20

2746

2004

Viswanathan Anand

2

eight rounds/match

5/8

21

2750

2005

Viswanathan Anand

2

eight rounds/match

5/8

21

2754

2006

Viswanathan Anand

2

eight rounds/match

5/8

21

2751

2007

Viswanathan Anand

4

round robin/final

6½/10

20

2730

2008

Viswanathan Anand

4

round robin/final

7/10

21

2768

2009

Levon Aronian

4

round robin/final

7½/10

19

2721

2010

Gata Kamsky

701

11 rounds open

10/11

19

2727

Rapid Chess Open           

Year Winner
Result
Players
Top 10 Ø

1994

Alexander Chernin

8½/11

183

2569

1995

Bogdan Lalic

9½/11

158

2580

1996

Eric Lobron

10/11

263

2618

1997

Waleri Beim

9/11

277

2608

1998

Fritz on Primergy

9½/11

319

2642

1999

Loek van Wely

9½/11

432

2663

2000

Sergei Rublevski

12½/15

292

2657

2001

Michael Adams

9½/11

484

2667

2002

Viktor Bologan

9/11

498

2654

2003

Alexander Grischuk

9½/11

500

2675

2004

Alexander Grischuk

9½/11

542

2686

2005

Teimour Radjabov

9½/11

546

2705

2006

Rustam Kasimdzhanov

9½/11

632

2699

2007

David Navara

9½/11

762

2714

2008

Ian Nepomniachtchi

9½/11

693

2686

2009

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

10/11

694

2717

2010

Gata Kamsky

10/11

701

2727

 Simuls (40 Players)                 

Date Player
Elo
Color
Result
Time

08.07.94

Viswanathan Anand

2725

W

+34/=5/-1

91.25%

(4:22h)

09.07.94

Viswanathan Anand

2725

W

+36/=4/-0

95.00%

(3:02h)

30.06.95

Vladimir Kramnik

2730

W

+32/=8/-0

90.00%

(4:58h)

17.11.95

Viswanathan Anand

2725

B

+33/=7/-0

91.25%

(3:19h)

29.06.96

Vladimir Kramnik

2775

B

+24/=14/-2

77.50%

(5:05h)

28.06.97

Veselin Topalov

2725

W

+31/=7/-2

86.25%

(4:27h)

20.06.98

Peter Leko

2670

W

+33/=6/-1

90.00%

(3:35h)

04.07.99

Judit Polgar

2677

W

+32/=6/-2

87.50%

(2:58h)

19.06.00

Garry Kasparov

2851

W

+35/=5/-0

93.75%

(4:20h)

20.06.00

Vassily Iwanchuk

2709

W/B

+31/=5/-4

83.75%

(4:46h)

21.06.01

Viswanathan Anand

2794

W

+36/=2/-2

92.50%

(3:19h)

22.06.01

Vladimir Kramnik

2797

W

+33/=7/-0

91.25%

(4:58h)

14.08.02

Ruslan Ponomariov

2743

W

+30/=8/-2

85.00%

(4:09h)

04.08.04

Alexei Shirov

2725

W/B

+25/=11/-4

76.25%

(5:05h)

10.08.05

Alexander Grischuk

2720

W

+29/=8/-3

82.50%

(2:45h)

15.08.06

Viswanathan Anand

2779

W

+31/=8/-1

87.50%

(4:02h)

13.08.07

Vassily Iwanchuk

2762

W

+35/=4/-1

92.50%

(4:52h)

28.07.08

Viswanathan Anand

2798

W

+38/=2/-0

97.50%

(4:31h)

27.07.09

Levon Aronian

2768

W

+34/=6/-0

92.50%

(3:52h)

06.08.10

Viswanathan Anand

2800

W/B

+34/=4/-2

90.00%

(4:23h)

14.08.02

Alexandra Kosteniuk (25 opp)

2459

W

+15 /=3/-6

70:00%

(5:29h)

Matches Man vs. Machine

Year Player Machine
Result

1998

Viswanathan Anand

Fritz on Primergy

:½

1999

Viswanathan Anand

Fritz on Primergy

:1½

2000

Vladimir Kramnik

Fritz on Primergy

1½:½

2000

Viswanathan Anand

Fritz on Primergy

½:1½

2000

Peter Leko

Fritz on Primergy

:½

2000

Alexander Morosevich

Fritz on Primergy

½:1½

2000

Alexei Shirov

Fritz on Primergy

1:1

Chess960 Rapid Chess World Championship

Year Winner
Players
Mode
Result
Cat
IPSØ

2001

Peter Leko

2

eight rounds/match

4½/8

20

2741

2003

Peter Svidler

2

eight rounds/match

4½/8

20

2745

2004

Peter Svidler

2

eight rounds/match

4½/8

19

2723

2005

Peter Svidler

2

eight rounds/match

5/8

19

2716

2006

Levon Aronian

2

eight rounds/match

5/8

21

2754

2007

Levon Aronian

4

round robin/final

6½/10

20

2747

2009

Hikaru Nakamura

4

round robin/final

7½/10

21

2763

Chess960 Rapid Chess World Championship Women

Year Winner
Plrs
Mode
Result
Cat
IPSØ

2006

Alexandra Kosteniuk

2

eight rounds/match

5½/8

8

2453

2008

Alexandra Kosteniuk

4

round robin/final

8/10

10

2504

Chess960 Senior + Junior Rapid Chess World Championship

Year Winner
Plrs
Mode
Result
Cat
IPSØ

2006

Vlastimil Hort (Sen)

2

eight rounds/match

4/8s

12

2539

2006

Pentala Harikrishna (Jun)

2

eight rounds/match

4½/8

15

2624

Open Chess960

Year Winner
Result
Players
Top 10 Ø

2002

Peter Svidler

9/11

131

2653

2003

Levon Aronian

9½/11

179

2675

2004

Zoltan Almasi

9½/11

207

2688

2005

Levon Aronian

9½/11

207

2696

2006

Etienne Bacrot

9½/11

248

2696

2007

Victor Bologan

9½/11

280

2717

2008

Hikaru Nakamura

9/11

236

2687

2009

Alexander Grischuk

9½/11

263

2727

Chess960 Simuls (20 Players)          

Date Player IPS Clr Result Time

13.08.03

Peter Leko

2746

W

+15 /=5/-0

87.50%

(3:18h)

13.08.03

Peter Svidler

2744

W

+15 /=5/-0

87.50%

(2:46h)

04.08.04

Peter Svidler

2755

W

+15 /=4/-1

85.00%

(2:46h)

16.08.06

Levon Aronian

2752

W

+16 /=3/-1

87.50%

(2:29h)

06.08.10

Alexandra Kosteniuk

2504

W

+16 /=4/-0

90.00%

(3:13h)

Chess960 Matches Man vs. Machine

Year Player Computer
Result

2000

Artur Jussupow

Fritz on Primergy

0:2

2004

Levon Aronian

The Baron

1:1

2005

Zoltan Almasi

Shredder

0:2

2005

Peter Svidler

The Baron

1½:½

2006

Peter Svidler

Spike

½:1½

2006

Teimour Radjabov

Shredder

0:2

Chess960 Computer World Championship

Year Player
Players
Mode
Result

2005

Spike / Böhm/Schäfer

19

Swiss System

5½/7

2006

Shredder / Mayer-Kahlen

20

Swiss System

7½/9

2007

Rybka / Rajlich

4

round robin/final

6½/9

2008

Rybka / Rajlich

4

round robin/final

11½/16

2009

Rybka / Rajlich

4

round robin/final

14½/16


The final Classic: last year's ChessBase reports

Chess Classic Mainz 2010 – Back to the roots
30.03.2010 – The world economic crisis is being felt in chess. In Bulgaria the the annual MTel tournament has been cancelled this year, and the very popular Mainz Chess Classic has been reduced to a three-day simul and open. Still, two world champions are part of the former, and a very large elite field of GMs is expected to play in the latter, which carries a prize fund of €30,000. Press release.

Chess Classic Mainz – counting the days
27.07.2010 – The tenth edition of the Chess Classic Mainz has become a three-day event – but one at which you can see and play against dozens of world-class stars and strong grandmasters. There is also a 40-board simul with World Champion Viswanathan Anand and a 20-board 960 simul with women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. It's just ten days away, but you can still join the fun.

Chess Classic Mainz – twelve players with a perfect score
08.08.2010 – 701 chess players are taking part in this rapid chess world championship – 165 have international titles, and the average rating of the top ten is 2727! After five rounds 12 players still have a perfect 5/5 score, amongst them Aronian, Gashimov, Karjakin, Grishuk, Bologan, Kamsky, Kasimdhzanov. There were simultaneous exhibitions with Anand, Aronian and Kosteniuk. Big illustrated report.

Chess Classic Mainz – Kamsky wins with 10.0/11 points
10.08.2010 – The final result of this rapid chess world championship was decided in the final rounds, partially on the basis of nerves. The reigning US Champion Gata Kamsky stormed through the field of 700 players with 9.0 in the first nine games, to clinch it with two final draws. Kamsky's secret: a New York cap worn backwards. Big illustrated final report.

ChessBase reports on previous Chess Classics


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