Mainz Chess Classic

From the Chess Tigers website and TWIC's coverage:

After the first day, 12 are perfect in the Grenke Open (701 players) with 5.0 scores (rapid chess) - vying for the title World Rapid Chess Champion.  Chess Classic


My interest lies in the chess femmes, and among the top are:

(20) WGM Natalia Zhukova (UKR 2516) with 4.0
(24) GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (RUS 2522) with 4.0
(48) IM Anna Zatonskih (USA 2470) with 4.0 (go, Anna go!)
(50) WGM Elvira Berend-Sakhatova (LUX 2311) with 4.0
(66) WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan (IRI 2308) with 4.0
(87) WIM Cristina Foisor (ROU 2381) with 4.0
 So, these ladies are still in the mix for a shot at the title - if they play nearly perfectly tomorrow!

Kosteniuk, who holds the title Women's 960 World Champion, gave a 20 game simul that required she use 20 different openings.  She won 16 and drew 4.

Top German top player GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2684) stumbled against WGM Elvira Berend in R3 and again, in R5, to drop to 3.0 and according to Chess Tigers, is out of contention as they're saying the winner will need at least 9.5!  Look at the crowd watching the denouement - it's quite fascinating studying their faces!

As part of the Chess Festival, there is a separate contest for the Women's title - here are the standings after R5:

Rang Teilnehmer TWZ Attr. Land S R V Punkte PktSum MiBuch


1. WGM Zhukova,Natalia 2516 W UKR 4 1 0 4,5 13,5 9,5
2. WGM Kosteniuk,Alexandra 2522 W RUS 4 0 1 4,0 14,0 11,0
3. IM Zatonskih,Anna 2470 W USA 4 0 1 4,0 13,0 9,0
3. WGM Berend-Sakhatova,Elvira 2311 W LUX 4 0 1 4,0 13,0 9,0
5. WGM Pourkashiyan,Atousa 2308 W IRI 4 0 1 4,0 12,0 8,5
6. WIM Foisor,Cristina 2381 W ROU 4 0 1 4,0 11,0 7,0
7. WFM Van Münster,Kirsten 2170 W 2 3 0 3,5 12,0 11,0
8. WGM Paridar,Shadi 2264 W IRI 3 1 1 3,5 11,0 7,5
9. WGM Jaracz,Barbara 2280 W POL 2 3 0 3,5 10,5 8,5
10. WIM Ghader Pour Taleghani,Shayesteh 2218 W IRI 3 1 1 3,5 10,0 8,0
11. WIM Skripchenko,Almira 2458 W FRA 3 1 1 3,5 8,5 6,0
12. WGM Foisor,Sabina 2317 W USA 3 0 2 3,0 11,0 10,0
13. WGM Fischdick,Gisela 2245 W 2 2 1 3,0 11,0 9,0
14. WIM Delorme,Laurie 2237 W FRA 3 0 2 3,0 11,0 7,5
15. WGM Kochetkova,Julia 2306 W SVK 3 0 2 3,0 10,0 8,0
16. Stoeri,Laura 1924 W SUI 3 0 2 3,0 9,0 9,5
17. WFM Novkovic,Julia 2157 W 3 0 2 3,0 9,0 8,0
17. Skibbe,Diana 2121 W 3 0 2 3,0 9,0 8,0
19. Endress,Anna 2179 W 3 0 2 3,0 9,0 7,5
20. WIM Dolgova,Olga 2262 W RUS 2 2 1 3,0 9,0 7,0
21. WFM Stangl,Anita,Dr. 2126 W 3 0 2 3,0 8,0 6,0
22. WFM Foisor,Veronica 2144 W ROU 2 1 2 2,5 9,0 8,0
23. Carow,Annelen 1938 W 2 1 2 2,5 6,5 7,0
24. WIM Lauterbach,Ingrid 2169 W 2 0 3 2,0 8,0 8,5
25. Großmann,Susan 2017 W 1 2 2 2,0 7,5 9,0
26. WFM Brendel,Bergit 2065 W 2 0 3 2,0 7,0 9,0
27. Remy,Janina 1996 W 2 0 3 2,0 6,0 8,5
28. Lerch,Cornelia 1908 W 2 0 3 2,0 6,0 8,0
29. Froehlich-Dill ,Astrid 1934 W 2 0 3 2,0 6,0 7,0
30. Krasnopeyeva,Julia 1948 W 1 2 2 2,0 5,5 7,0
31. Hausrath,Michaela 1747 W 2 0 3 2,0 4,0 6,0
32. WFM Kierzek,Mira 2053 W 1 1 3 1,5 5,0 7,5
33. Folkhard,Waltraud 1818 W 1 1 3 1,5 3,5 6,5
34. Lübbers,Doris,Dr. 1607 W 1 0 4 1,0 5,0 8,0
35. Milivojevic ,Jelena 1873 W SRB 1 0 4 1,0 3,0 7,5
35. Huppertz,Andrea 1859 W 1 0 4 1,0 3,0 7,5
37. Becker,Silke 855 W 1 0 4 1,0 3,0 5,5
38. Kohler,Ekaterina 1661 W 1 0 4 1,0 2,0 6,5
39. Hock,Anna-Maria 1217 W 1 0 4 1,0 2,0 5,5
40. Arbore,Federica 1671 W ITA 1 0 4 1,0 1,0 5,5
41. Titgemeyer,Eva Maria 1242 W 1 0 4 1,0 1,0 5,0
42. Perovic-Ottstadt,Sanja 1460 W 1 0 4 1,0 1,0 3,5