Chess Classic Mainz 2006
On site report by John Henderson - Day 5
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The Mainz Chess Classic went into overdrive on day five with the Hilton
Rhinegoldhalle being packed to the gunnels with a record breaking field of 632
players for the 13th Ordix Open.
As I previously reported, all the usual suspects had transferred over from
the FiNet Open, with the only serious GM addition being lapsed Latvian Alexei
Shirov, who opted to save his energy for the Ordix Open and a possible shot at
playing next year in the Rapid World Championship match against the winner of
Anand-Radjabov. (Kasimdzhanov took the Ordix Open title on tiebreak - he now
goes forward to play the winner of the Anand-Radjabov match in next year's Rapid
World Championship).
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 Alas
it wasn’t to be for Alexei, because he suffered a major setback on the opening
day as he slumped to 3.5/5 and was forced off the top boards on the stage and
could be found – looking distinctly uncomfortable -- plying his trade among
the masses in the main body of the hall.
The first few rounds of such a large Swiss Open usually features a number of
massacres as the top half of the draw plays the bottom half, and while purists
often put these down as bad games, it can be a bit like watching a car crash -
it excites our darker urges. And yet any top grandmaster who under-estimates his
theoretically weaker opponent is liable for a big fall – take for example
Russia’s Evgeny Bareev, who joined Shirov among the masses as he went down
in flames in round two to FM Christoph Pfrommer (ELO 2262) from the German club
Karlsruher SF 1853.
By the end of the day’s play though, only one player had the overall
lead:
Azerbaijani GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who leads on 6/6. But things aren’t
going to be easy for Mamedyarov on the final day, because there’s a formidable
11-player GM chasing pack just a half point behind and waiting to pounce.
As day one of the Ordix Open came to an end, the large field proved to be a
ready-made capacity audience for the main events of the Grenkeleasing Rapid World
Championship and the Clerical Medical Chess960 World Championship.
The difference between these two matches is like the difference between day
and night. While Anand and Radjabov speedily flick out the opening moves to get
to the mid-20s of a highly-charged Sicilian Sveshnikov within a couple of minutes,
Svidler and Aronian are cautiously trying to avoid a complete disaster by move
three and take their time – and they have every reason to, as Peter Svidler
explained afterwards at the press conference that one experienced master in the
Finet Open had to resign by move 3 as he had fallen into a Chess960 version of
Scholar’s mate!
The key moment in game three of the Anand-Radjabov match was 34 Kf1? which
was heavily criticized by Anand during the post-game press conference, admitting
that he simply missed the strength of Radjabov’s 38 …Bd2!
Both matches are ideally poised for an exciting final day of play, being tied
at 3-3.
Anand
vs Radjabov rapids (3,0-3,0) after round 6.
Aronian
vs Svidler Chess960 (3,0-3,0) after round 6.
| ORDIX
TOP-5 Pairings Round 6 |
| B |
Rk |
White |
Pt |
Res. |
Rk |
Black |
Pt |
| 1 |
10. |
GM Kasimdzhanov,Rustam |
(5) |
- |
1. |
GM Morozevich,Alexander |
(5) |
| 2 |
2. |
GM Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar |
(5) |
- |
13. |
GM Aleksandrov,Alexcey |
(5) |
| 3 |
38. |
GM Dizdar,Goran |
(5) |
- |
7. |
GM Harikrishna,Pentela |
(5) |
| 4 |
8. |
GM Sargissian,Gabriel |
(5) |
- |
15. |
GM Gyimesi,Zoltan |
(5) |
| 5 |
3. |
GM Grischuk,Alexander |
(4½) |
- |
31. |
GM Fridman,Daniel |
(5) |
Photo Gallery - day 5
Record breaking field of 632 players for the 13th Ordix Open
High audience for the main events
Anand missed the strength of Radjabov’s 38 …Bd2! in game 3
The key moment in game 3 of the Anand-Radjabov match was 34 Kf1?
 
In Chess960, Svidler and Aronian are cautiously trying to avoid a complete
disaster by move three and take their time
An exciting final day of play, being tied at 3-3
Alexei Shirov looking distinctly uncomfortable with 3,5/5 in ORDIX Open
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