The Chess Classics were a series of chess tournaments held in Germany, from 1994 to 2010. They were organized by Hans-Walter Schmitt. Among other things, the world champions in rapid chess and Chess960 (also in rapid) and the computer Chess960 world champion were determined at this event.
Overview The Chess Classic took place a total of seventeen times, seven times in Frankfurt am Main (1994 to 2000) and ten times in Mainz.Siegerliste 1994 bis 2010 (PDF; 84 kB) auf Chess Tigers In Mainz, the event (abbreviated to CCM) was played in the . Hans-Walter Schmitt managed to find sponsorship from Jens Beutel, Lord Mayor of Mainz, and he became patron of the event.
There were different events such as the Chess Classic Championship, Quick Chess Open, Chess960 Rapid Chess World Championships, FiNet Open in Chess960 and Chess960 Computer World Championship. In addition, 13 duels against machine (rapid chess and Chess960) and 26 simultaneous sessions (including Chess960) were conducted.
Pocket Fritz (a chess computer) was created in 2001 in the Rheingoldhalle Mainz. In 2002, Beutel played against Viswanathan Anand on the stage in the Rheingoldhalle; they were both using Pocket Fritz as computer assistance.
Chess Classic Championship
Year Winner Second Third 1996 Alexei ShirovDie 12 Partien Chess Classic Frankfurt 1996 auf 365Chess (englisch) Vladimir KramnikDie 2 Partien des Chess Classic Finale Frankfurt 1996 auf 365Chess (englisch) Péter LékóDie Partie um den dritten Platz der Chess Classic Frankfurt 1996 auf 365Chess (englisch) 1997 Viswanathan Anand Anatoly Karpov Eric Lobron 1998 Viswanathan Anand Vladimir Kramnik Garry Kasparov 1999 Garry Kasparov Viswanathan Anand Vladimir Kramnik 2000 Viswanathan Anand Garry Kasparov Vladimir Kramnik 2001 Viswanathan Anand Vladimir Kramnik Duel 2002 Viswanathan Anand Ruslan Ponomariov Duel 2003 Viswanathan Anand Judit Polgár Duel 2004 Viswanathan Anand Alexei Schirov Duel 2005 Viswanathan Anand Alexander Grischuk duel 2006 Viswanathan Anand Teimour Radjabov duel 2007 Viswanathan Anand Levon Aronian Rustam Kasimdzhanov 2008 Viswanathan Anand Magnus Carlsen Alexander Morozevich 2009 Levon Aronian Ian Nepomniachtchi Viswanathan Anand 2010 Gata Kamsky Vugar Gashimov Levon Aronian
Rapid Chess Open
Year Winner Second Third 1994 Alexander Chernin Lev Gutman Igor Khenkin 1995 Bogdan Lalić Larry Christiansen Alexander Chernin 1996 Eric Lobron Christopher Lutz Stefan Djurić 1997 Waleri Beim Lajos Portisch Rafael Vaganian 1998 Fritz on Primergy Stefan Djurić Alberto David 1999 Loek van Wely Vadim Milov Michail Ulybin 2000 Sergei Rublevsky Mikhail Gurevich Peter Svidler 2001 Michael Adams Vadim Milov Oleg Eismont 2002 Victor Bologan Igor Glek Evgeny Agrest 2003 Alexander Grischuk Ivan Sokolov Eric Lobron 2004 Alexander Grischuk Rafael Vaganian Sergei Rublevsky 2005 Teimour Radjabov Levon Aronian Alexander Morozevich 2006 Rustam Kasimdzhanov Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Alexander Morozevich 2007 David Navara Mikhail Mchedlishvili Krishnan Sasikiran 2008 Ian Nepomniachtchi Pavel Eljanov Zoltán Almási 2009 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Arkadij Naiditsch Vladimir Akopian 2010 Gata Kamsky Vugar Gashimov Levon Aronian
Chess960 Rapid chess World Championship
YearCategoryWinnerSecondThird 2001 Open Péter Lékó Michael Adams Duel 2004 Open Peter Svidler Levon Aronian Duel 2005 Open Peter Svidler Zoltán Almási Duel 2006 Open Levon Aronian Peter Svidler Duel 2006 Women Alexandra Kosteniuk Elisabeth Pähtz Duel 2006 Seniors Vlastimil Hort Lajos Portisch Duel 2006 Juniors Pentala Harikrishna Arkadij Naiditsch Duel 2007 Open Levon Aronian Viswanathan Anand Étienne Bacrot 2008 Women Alexandra Kosteniuk Kateryna Lagno Viktorija Čmilytė 2009 Open Hikaru Nakamura Levon Aronian Sergei Movsesian
FiNet Open Chess960
Year Winner Second Third 2002 Peter Svidler Alexander Motylev Daniel Fridman 2003 Levon Aronian Vadim Zvjaginsev Konstantin Landa 2004 Zoltán Almási Étienne Bacrot Mikhail Kobalia 2005 Levon Aronian Ivan Sokolov Klaus Bischoff 2006 Étienne Bacrot Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Alexander Grischuk 2007 Victor Bologan Gata Kamsky Vassily Ivanchuk 2008 Hikaru Nakamura Sergei Movsesian Alexander Motylev 2009 Alexander Grischuk Gata Kamsky Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Mini-Ordix und Mini-FiNet Open
In the years 2007 to 2009 special talent tournaments took place for the children. These were three Mini Ordix Open and three Mini FiNet Open: 2009 seven rounds with separate scoring in 5 age groups (U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8), and in 2008 and 2007 six rounds each with separate scoring for 4 age groups ( U14, U12, U10 and U8).
1. Mini ORDIX Open U14 (2007) Final score after 6 rounds with 107 participants: Constantin Göbel, Ramil Babayev and Anna Endress. Best in the age groups were: Anna Endress (U14), Constantin Göbel (U12), Stephan Hansch (U10) and Björn-Benny Bauer (U8).
1. Mini FiNet Open U14 (2007) Final score after 6 rounds with 35 participants: Anna Endress, Alexander Jussupow and Constantin Göbel. Best in the age groups were: Anna Endress (U14), Constantin Göbel (U12), Stephan Hansch (U10) and Björn-Benny Bauer (U8).
2. Mini ORDIX Open U14 (2008) Final stage after 6 rounds with 104 participants: Dennis Wagner, Joshua Aarash Hager and Johannes Carow. Best in the age groups were: Joshua Aarash Hager (U14), Dennis Wagner (U12), Alexander Donchenko (U10) and Elias Müller (U8).
2. Mini FiNet Open U14 (2008) Final score after 6 rounds with 26 participants: Sebastian Kaphle, Carlo Pauly and Frederik Eigemann. Best in the age groups were: Sebastian Kaphle (U14), Frederik Eigemann (U12), Alexej Paulsen (U10) and Pascal Karsay (U8).
3. Mini ORDIX Open U16 (2009) Final score after 7 rounds with 72 participants: Alexander Donchenko, Dominik Will and Frederik Eigemann. Best in the age groups were: Matthias Eimer (U16), Dominik Will (U14), Alexander Donchenko (U12), Robert Baskin (U10) and Samuel Weber (U8).
3. Mini FiNet Open U16 (2009) Final score after 6 rounds with 32 participants: Johannes Carow, Carlo Pauly and Frederik Eigemann. Best in the age groups were: Achim Bluhm (U16), Johannes Carow (U14), Sonja Maria Bluhm (U12), Robert Baskin (U10) and Elias Müller (U8).
Chess960 Computer World Championship
As the highlight of the different show battles between humans and computers and humans versus computers, the Chess960 Computer World Championships in Mainz were held from 2005 to 2009. Eric van Reem: Bits und Bytes in allen Modi. KARL: Das Kulturelle Schachmagazin, Heft 2/2011, S. 36–39, YearWinnerSecondThird 2005 Spike (Volker Böhm, Ralf Schäfer) Jonny (Johannes Zwanzger) Glaurung (Tord Romstad) 2006 Shredder (Stefan Mayer-Kahlen) Jonny (Johannes Zwanzger) Ikarus (Muntsinn & Munjong Kolss) 2007 Rybka (Vasik Rajlich) Shredder (Stefan Mayer-Kahlen) Spike (Volker Böhm, Ralf Schäfer) 2008 Rybka (Vasik Rajlich) Shredder (Stefan Mayer-Kahlen) Naum (Alexander Naumov) 2009 Rybka (Vasik Rajlich) Shredder (Stefan Mayer-Kahlen) Deep thought (Gian-Carlo Pascutto)
Further reading Jussupow, Fietz, Metz: Premiere der Top Ten. Edition FCC, KARL (Hrsg. Harry Schaack): Das Kulturelle Schachmagazin, Heft 2/2011, Schwerpunkt: Chess Classic auf den Seiten 3 bis 49, Frankfurter Chess Classic 1996 in der Stadthalle Ffm-Zeilsheim, 28.-30. Juni 1996. SCHACH 96/3, S. 36 Frankfurter Chess Classic 1998. SCHACH 1998, Heft 7, Seiten 4 bis 15 Frankfurter Chess Classic 1999. SCHACH 1999, Heft 8, Seiten 5 bis 28 Hans-Walter Schmitt: Chess Classic Mainz 2009. Rochade Europa, Nr. 5, S. 5/7 Oliver Brendel: Chess Classic Mainz. SCHACHWELT - Das Magazin für Schachspieler, September 2009, S. 16/18
References Footnotes
Sources Chess Classic 2010 (2001 bis 2010) auf Chess Tigers (inklusive Details) Historie der Chess Classic in Frankfurt und Mainz (2000 bis 2010) auf (Tabellen, Partien und Bilder)