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National News:
Nelson Lopez II Captures First in the 2006 GM Arnold Denker Tournament of High School Chess Champions

Abby Marshall Crowned Queen of Chess in 2006 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls

GM Yury Shulman Secures Title of 2006 U.S. Open Chess Champion To Win $8,000

Ursula Foster Memorial Chess Gifts Awarded at 2006 Denker Tournament of High School Champions & 2006 Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls

World News:
Challengers Making Their Mark at Mainz Chess Classic

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Chess Around the World

Challengers Making Their Mark at Mainz Chess Classic

Mainz, Germany, is the host to one of the world's largest chess festivals - the Mainz Chess Classic. It features a variety of events - open tournaments, computer chess, and matches in both traditional and "Chess960", also known as Random or Fischerandom chess.

Among all of the chess action, two matches stand out - the Grenke Leasing Rapid World Championship, and the Clerical Medical Chess960 Rapid World Championship. Both matches are eight games long, taking place over four days.

In the traditional rapid event, defending champion Viswanathan Anand took on Teimour Radjabov. In recent years, Anand has been virtually untouchable in rapid chess, and came into the match as a heavy favorite. However, after a draw in the first game, Radjabov broke through to take an early 1.5-0.5 lead. With six games left to play, Anand still has plenty of time to recover, but an early lead should be a large psychological boost for Radjabov.

In the Chess960 event, Peter Svidler had a rough start defending his crown, losing both games to Levon Aronian. In both games, it appeared Svidler had an edge, but Aronian was able to take advantage of tactical mistakes and gain a commanding lead.

We will provide continuing coverage of both matches in our next edition.

Earlier in the festival, three other Chess960 world champions were crowned - Junior Champion Pentala Harikrishna, Women's Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Senior Champion Vlastimil Hort.

Harikrishna's victory was especially noteworthy. On the first day of play, Jarikrishna only managed to score a single draw in four games again German GM Arkadij Naiditsch. Trailing 3.5-0.5, Harikrisha staged an incredible comeback on the second day of play, winning all four games to take the title 4.5-3.5.

One other match of note was a Man vs. Machine clash in Chess960. The rapid event pitted Svidler and Radjabov against computer programs Shredder and Spike. Svidler lost his first game when he tried to press for a win instead of taking a forced draw, then drew the second game. Radjabov lost both games against Shredder.