 |
701 participants in Grenke Open
The tenth edition of the Chess Classic Mainz is taking place from 6th
- 8th August 2010. The event has been cut down to three days, but the
Chess Classic is still the main rapid chess event in the world, with many
top grandmasters in the entry list.
The winner of the Open Grenke Rapid World Championship will receive € 6000
in prize money, and will also receive the prestigious title “Rapid
Chess World Champion”.
The main sponsor of the event is Wolfgang Grenke, chairman of the GrenkeLeasing
AG. He has sponsored the Chess Classic since 2005.
|
Twelve players with a 100% score after the first day
By Eric van Reem
This year, the symbolic “700” barrier was cracked: despite the
fantastic summer weather, 701 chess players came to Mainz to play the Grenke
Open. We counted no less than 165 players with an international title in this
strong field, in which the top ten has an average Elo of 2727!
The playing hall before the start of the first day of the Open...
... and what things look like after a round has started
As we heard from many chess fans today, playing chess is not the only reason
to come to one of the oldest cities in Germany. Being part of the chess community
and having the unique chance to play a world championship with top players in
one single tournament is the main reason for their pilgrimage to Mainz.
The top boards play on the stage at the head of the hall
After five rounds in the Grenke Open, twelve players still have a perfect 5/5
score: Aronian, Gashimov, Karjakin, Grishuk, Bologan, Kamsky, Kasimdhzanov,
Inarkiev, Bareev and Gustafsson, Kempinski and Markowski.
In the Grenke Open you do not only meet top players, you also have to chance
to play against legends like Vlastimil Hort, Ulf Andersson or senior world champion
Miso Cebalo, who are happy to sign books or give autographs. In the first few
rounds, the top players have a relatively easy job, but it is always dangerous
to play against highly motivated lower rated players. In the second round, GM
Andrey Sumets lost a spectacular game against the editor of the chess magazine
“KARL”, FM Harry Schaack, and in the third round, German top player
Arkadij Naiditsch stumbled against WGM Elvira Berend. The German number one
lost another game in the fifth round, where he was ground down by FM Ulrich
Schwekendiek in a spectacular King’s Gambit. With only three points Naiditsch
is out of business, because the winner of the Grenke Open will at least need
9.5 points.
US Americans: IM Anna Zatonskih vs GM Gata Kamsky
GM Viktor Bologan from Moldova
Iranian WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan
WGM Paridar Shadi, also from Iran
Best friends: IM Almira Skripchenko, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk
It is fun to stroll through the playing hall, searching for nice combinations,
piece sacrifices and blunders. Even world champion Vishy Anand stopped by and
watched some of the games. Do not forget: the top ten boards of the Grenke Open
are being broadcast live. Just click on www.chesstigers.de,
and go to the CCM10-Live portal to follow the games. The games are also being
shown on Playchess.com.
Six more rounds will be played on Sunday, starting from the chess-player friendly
time or 11.00 a.m. Loads of pictures and reports can be found in German and
English on the official website (see below).
Press conference: Short, intense, passionate
No less than three world champions attended the press conference of the tenth
Chess Classic Mainz on Friday: reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand, women's
world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk and rapid chess world champion Levon Aronian.
Organizer Hans-Walter Schmitt stated in his opening speech that the length of
the event is not really important: “The Chess Classic Mainz 2010 will
be shorter than in previous years, but it will be an intense event, on the highest
possible level”.
World Champion Vishy Anand and organiser Hans-Walter Schmitt in the press
conference
Vishy Anand said that he was glad to be in Mainz again. He won the Chess Classic
no less than eleven times. On his (real) Twitter account “Vishy64theking”
he wrote: “no play, just chill”. When asked for his favorites for
the Open, Anand answered: “It will be difficult to say who is going to
win the Grenke Open, there are many strong players competing. Obviously Levon
(Aronian) and Sascha (Grishuk) are hot candidates for first place, but I would
not put my money on them.”
GM Levon Aronian of Armenia in the press conference
Aronian agreed: “It will be a tough tournament and I think there is no
clear favorite. I would not be surprised, if some of the top players will not
even be in the top 20 after 11 rounds. Myself included!” He smirked: “Hans-Walter
Schmitt is always trying to find challenges for the players: sometimes I have
to play a match, now I have to play the Open, and he even convinced me to play
a Chess960 simul!”
Chess960 world champion 2008 Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women chess world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk was upset when she found out
that no Chess960 events would be played in Mainz this year. “I have to
say that I love Chess960! I like to be creative and I really enjoy the Chess960
events in Mainz. For me, Mainz has always been a good starting point: in 2008
I won the Chess960 world championship and after Mainz I won the chess world
championship and scored other good results. I hope that the 2010 edition will
become a new starting point for a successful chess year again. There are some
important events coming up, like the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk and the
women’s world championship in December in Turkey. But Mainz is not important
only to me: I know that a lot of professionals just love to come here to meet
other players in a relaxed atmosphere. That is what makes “Mainz”
special.”
Simultanious exhibitions – the results
World Champion Anand played a simul on 40 boards. As a rule, the player who
gives the simul plays with the white pieces, but one exception was made today:
the oldest member of the Chess Tigers, Hans Mokry, celebrated his 76th birthday
and was allowed to play with white. Anand agreed with a smile, but won the game
anyway. After 4 hours and 23 minutes, Anand finished his simul and his final
score was 36:4 (+34, =4, –2). He lost two games: one against Henrik Karlzen
from Sweden and one against Bernd Grill from Germany.
Alexandra Kosteniuk played a Chess960 simul on 20 boards. Just 20? Yes, but
with 20 different starting positions! Her final score was 18:2 (+16 =4 –0).
She needed 3 hours and 13 minutes to complete her simul.
Photos: Organisation, Carsten Straub
|
Links
ChessBase reports
|
