Kosteniuk Chess960 Simul

Hi everybody!

Tonight I gave a 20-board Chess960 simul at the 2010 Mainz Chess Classic, while Vishy Anand gave a 40-board Classical Chess Simul. What was special about my simul is that I played chess with different starting positions on the board, none of the 20 boards had a classical chess setup!

Playing Chess960 makes the games very interesting, and one must start thinking from the first move on. The great advantage in simuls is that you don’t have situations where players play out 20 theoretical moves and then get in trouble the move after they don’t remember the continuation. In Chess960 it’s a challenge to find the right plan right from the beginning of the game, that makes it more enjoyable also.

One of the key supporters of the Mainz Chess Classic is Mayor Jens Beutel. Here you see him playing me in the Chess960 Simul.

The room where the simul is played is very beautiful, it’s located in the Hilton Mainz, right on the bank of the river Rhine.

I obtained 18 points out of 20, with 4 draws and no losses.

Here I am analyzing my game against Mayor Beutel. Actually the position was quite equal, and on one of my turns I offered him a draw, but he was so deep in thought that he did not hear it. He continued to play and I eventually won the game…

Posted by Alexandra Kosteniuk
Women’s World Chess Champion
www.chessqueen.com

Tags: chess simul, chess960, kosteniuk simul
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