Aronian strong starter in Mainz

The big spectacle in Mainz is now fully going on and the four top players, Anand, Aronian, Bacrot and Kasimdzhanov, played their first three rounds of Chess960 yesterday. Aronian started very well with victories over Bacrot and Kasimdzhanov. Anand and Kasim are on 1,5 out of 3 and Bacrot has 0,5 point. As from tonight ChessVibes will be making on-the-spot videos!

Because of the different rule for castling, the games are difficult to show in a gameviewer (whoever has tips for that, please in the comments). Hereby in static form:

Aronian-Bacrot Mainz, FiNet Chess960 World Championship (01) 2007 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bf6 6. Bb2 b6 7. Nf3 Bxb2 8. Qxb2 Nf6 9. Nc3 d5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. e3 Rd8 12. Nb5 Bg4 13. Nbd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Bxd1 15. Rxd1 O-O 16. O-O Qb7 17. Rd3 Rc8 18. Rfd1 Rc5 19. Nf5 Kh8 20. b4 Rc7 21. Rxd5 Qc8 22. h3 Rc2 23. Qa1 Rg8 24. Nh6 Qe6 25. Rd6 1-0


Kasimdzhanov-Anand Mainz, FiNet Chess960 World Championship (01) 2007 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b4 b6 3. Bb2 c5 4. bxc5 bxc5 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. c4 Bb7 7. e3 Ba5 8. Nc3 Na6 9. Be2 Nc7 10. Rc1 Rb8 11. O-O O-O 12. Nh4 Rfe8 13. Bf3 Bxf3 14. Nxf3 Qc6 15. d4 Rb7 16. Rfd1 d6 17. Nd5 Qa6 18. Nxc7 Bxc7 19. Nd2 Rb4 20. Qc3 Ra4 21. Rc2 Bb6 22. h3 h6 23. Nf1 Rc8 24. d5 Ba5 25. Qb3 Rb4 26. Qd3 Bd8 27. Ng3 Rcb8 28. Nf5 Kf8 29. e4 h5 30. Qg3 g6 31. Qxd6+ Qxd6 32. Nxd6 a6 33. f4 Bc7 34. e5 f5 35. Kf2 h4 36. Rd3 Rb2 37. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 38. Kf3 Bxd6 39. exd6 Ke8 40. Re3+ Kd7 41. Re7+ Kxd6 42. Rxf7 Rxa2 43. Rf6+ Kd7 44. Rc6 Ra3+ 45. Kf2 Ra2+ 46. Kg1 a5 47. Rxc5 a4 48. Rc6 Rc2 49. c5 a3 50. Ra6 Rxc5 1/2-1/2


Aronian-Kasimdzhanov Mainz, FiNet Chess960 World Championship (02) 2007 1. f4 Nb6 2. f5 f6 3. Nb3 e5 4. fxe6 dxe6 5. g3 Nd6 6. Nd3 Qe7 7. Ndc5 Bf7 8. Na5 O-O 9. Ncxb7 Be8 10. Nc5 f5 11. Qf3 Nbc4 12. Nc6 Bxc6 13. Qxc6 g6 14. c3 Ne5 15. Qa4 c6 16. Nd3 Rb7 17. Bc5 Rc8 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. d4 Bg7 20. O-O Qd7 21. Bxd6 Qxd6 22. e4 fxe4 23. Bxe4 e5 24. Qc4+ Kh8 25. d5 c5 26. b4 Rbc7 27. b5 Rd8 28. a4 Qb6 29. Kg2 Rd6 30. a5 Qxa5 31. Ra1 1-0


Bacrot-Anand Mainz, FiNet Chess960 World Championship (02) 2007 1. Nb3 f5 2. f4 Nb6 3. g3 d6 4. d3 g6 5. c4 c6 6. Nf3 Nc7 7. Qe1 Ra8 8. Na5 e5 9. Qb4 e4 10. dxe4 fxe4 11. Ng5 Na6 12. Qa3 Nxc4 13. Nxc4 Bxc4 14. Nxe4 Kc7 15. Rd2 d5 16. Qxf8 Rxf8 17. b3 Bxe2 18. Rxe2 dxe4 19. Rxe4 Rfe8 20. O-O-O Rxe4 21. Bxe4 Re8 22. Bf3 Nb4 23. a3 Nd5 24. Bxd5 cxd5 25. Kd2 Kd6 26. Rc1 b6 27. a4 Bf6 28. Kd3 h5 1/2-1/2


Anand-Aronian Mainz, FiNet Chess960 World Championship (03) 2007 1. c4 f5 2. b3 e5 3. d4 Bf6 4. dxe5 Bxe5 5. Nc3 Nd6 6. f3 b5 7. Nd3 Bf6 8. Qc1 bxc4 9. Nc5 Bf7 10. Bf2 O-O 11. O-O Nb7 12. Nb5 Nxc5 13. Bxc5 d6 14. Bf2 Qc6 15. bxc4 Bxc4 16. Qxc4+ Qxc4 17. Bb3 Qxb3 18. axb3 Na6 19. Nxa7 Rb8 20. Rc1 Nc5 21. Nc6 Nxb3 22. Rb1 Rb7 23. Rfd1 Ra8 24. e4 fxe4 25. fxe4 Na5 26. Rxb7 Nxb7 27. Bg3 Re8 28. e5 dxe5 29. Rd7 Nc5 30. Rxc7 Ne4 31. Kf1 h5 32. Rb7 h4 33. Be1 Kh7 34. Rb4 1/2-1/2


Kasimdzhanov-Bacrot Mainz, FiNet Chess960 World Championship (03) 2007 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nb3 f6 4. Bh5 g6 5. Bg4 Be6 6. Bxe6 dxe6 7. f3 b6 8. Be3 h5 9. Qd1 Be7 10. Qe2 Nd6 11. O-O-O O-O-O 12. d4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Rxd4 Qc6 15. Rhd1 Kb8 16. Qa6 Nc8 17. Nb5 Qb7 18. Qa4 c5 19. Rxd8 Rxd8 20. Rxd8 Bxd8 21. Nc3 Qe7 22. Qc6 Bc7 23. f4 Nd6 24. b3 Qe8 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. Kd2 Kb7 27. Kd3 Kc6 28. Ne2 f5 29. e5 Bd8 30. Ng1 Nc7 31. c4 a5 32. Nf3 Na6 33. a3 Kd7 34. Bf2 Ke8 35. Kc3 Nb8 36. b4 cxb4+ 37. axb4 Nc6 38. b5 Nb8 39. Nd4 Kf7 40. c5 bxc5 41. Nc6 Nxc6 42. bxc6 Ke8 43. Bxc5 Bc7 44. Kc4 Kd8 45. Kb5 Kc8 46. Be3 Bd8 47. Bd2 Bh4 48. g3 Be7 49. h4 Ba3 50. Bxa5 Bc1 51. Kc5 Be3+ 52. Kd6 Bf2 53. Kxe6 Bxg3 54. Kf7 Bxh4 55. Kxg6 Bg3 56. Kxf5 h4 57. Kg4 1-0


A large number of games can already be downloaded here. A nicely written round report can be found here.