Editing Chess960 (section)

===Mainz Championships===
''Note: None of the [[Mainz]] championships were recognized by [[FIDE]]. Furthermore, they were all played with rapid time controls.''
* 2001 – [[Peter Leko]] defeated [[Michael Adams (chess player)|Michael Adams]] 4½ to 3½ in an eight-game Fischer Random Chess match at the [[Mainz Chess Classic]], in what was regarded as one of the earliest serious tests of the chess variant.<ref>{{cite news |title=Chess |last=Speelman |first=Jon |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |via=Newspapers.com |date=2001-07-08 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-observer-chess/160547965/ |access-date=2024-12-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chess |newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |last=Peters |first=Jack |via=Newspapers.com |date=2001-07-06 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-chess/160548167/ |access-date=2024-12-08}}</ref>
* 2002 – In 2002 at Mainz, an open tournament was held which was attended by 131 players, with Peter Svidler taking first place. Fischer Random Chess was selected as the April 2002 "Recognized Variant of the Month" by ''[[The Chess Variant Pages]]'' (ChessVariants.org). The book ''Shall We Play Fischerandom Chess?'' was published in 2002, authored by Yugoslavian grandmaster [[Svetozar Gligorić]].
* 2003 – At the 2003 Mainz Chess Classic, Svidler beat Lékó in an eight-game match for the World Championship title by a score of 4½–3½. The Chess960 open tournament drew 179 players, including 50 grandmasters.  It was won by [[Levon Aronian]], the 2002 World Junior Champion. Svidler is the official first World New Chess Association (WNCA) world champion inaugurated on August 14, 2003, with Jens Beutel, Mayor of Mainz as the President and Hans-Walter Schmitt, Chess Classic organizer as Secretary.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tssonnet.com/tss2636/stories/20030906005106900.htm |title=Another new world body |last=Aaron |first=Arvind |work=tssonnet.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210234930/http://www.tssonnet.com/tss2636/stories/20030906005106900.htm |archive-date=2005-02-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1130 |title=Anand pulls off hat-trick win at Mainz Chess Classic |work=Chess News|date=August 18, 2003}}</ref> The WNCA maintains an own dedicated Chess960 rating list.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ratings.schach-chroniken.net/ips/wnca/topranking.html |title=W-NC-A – Rating Library |author=Hans D. Post |date=January 25, 2009 |work=schach-chroniken.net}}</ref>
* 2004 – Aronian played Svidler for the title at the 2004 Mainz Chess Classic, losing 4½–3½. At the same tournament in 2004, Aronian played two Chess960 games against the Dutch computer chess program The Baron, developed by Richard Pijl. Both games ended in a draw. It was the first ever man against machine match in Chess960. [[Zoltán Almási]] won the Chess960 open tournament in 2004.

[[File:Computer-WM 2009-07-29.jpg|thumb|300px|The four programs [[Sjeng (chess)|Deep Sjeng]], [[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]], [[Rybka]], and [[Ikarus (chess)|Ikarus]] (with the programmers) at the 5th Livingston Chess960 Computer World Championship, Mainz 2009]]
* 2005 – Almási and Svidler played an eight-game match at the 2005 Mainz Chess Classic. Once again, Svidler defended his title, winning 5–3. Levon Aronian won the Chess960 open tournament in 2005. During the Chess Classic 2005 in Mainz, initiated by Mark Vogelgesang and Eric van Reem, the first-ever Chess960 computer chess world championship was played.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesstigers.de/ccm5_index.php?lang=1 |title=Chess Tigers Homepage |author=Thilo Gubler |work=chesstigers.de |access-date=October 6, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218225131/http://www.chesstigers.de/ccm5_index.php?lang=1 |archive-date=February 18, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Nineteen programs, including the powerful [[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]], played in this tournament. As a result of this tournament, [[Spike (chess)|Spike]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chessprogramming.org/Spike | title=Spike – Chessprogramming wiki }}</ref> became the first Chess960 computer world champion.
* 2006 – The 2006 Mainz Chess Classic saw Svidler defending his championship in a rematch against Levon Aronian. This time, Aronian won the match 5–3 to become the third ever Fischer Random Chess world champion. [[Étienne Bacrot]] won the Chess960 open tournament, earning him a title match against Aronian in 2007. Three new Chess960 world championship matches were held, in the women, junior and senior categories. In the women category, [[Alexandra Kosteniuk]] became the first Chess960 Women World Champion by beating [[Elisabeth Pähtz]] 5½ to 2½. The 2006 Senior Chess960 World Champion was [[Vlastimil Hort]], and the 2006 Junior Chess960 World Champion was [[Pentala Harikrishna]]. Shredder won the computer championship, making it [https://www.chessprogramming.org/Chess960CWC_2006 Chess960 computer world champion 2006].
* 2007 – In 2007 Mainz Chess Classic Aronian successfully defended his title of Chess960 World Champion over [[Viswanathan Anand]], while [[Victor Bologan]] won the Chess960 open tournament. [[Rybka]] won the 2007 computer championship.
* 2008 – [[Hikaru Nakamura]] won the 2008 Finet Chess960 Open (Mainz).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/crosswords/chess/10chess.html |title=New Twists From the Start in a Variation on the Game |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 9, 2008 |last1=McClain |first1=Dylan Loeb }}</ref> 
* 2009 – The last Mainz tournament was held in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesstigers.de/ccm10_index_news.php?id=2288&rubrik=6&lang=1&kat=0&PHPSESSID=63648af9cf84c035fca281d309c168eb |title=Chess Classic Mainz 2010 (CCM10) 2010-08-06 - 2010-08-08 |work=chesstigers.de |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506182158/http://www.chesstigers.de/ccm10_index_news.php?id=2288&rubrik=6&lang=1&kat=0&PHPSESSID=63648af9cf84c035fca281d309c168eb |archive-date=May 6, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Hikaru Nakamura won the Chess960 World Championship against Aronian,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/crosswords/chess/09chess.html |title=A Game With 960 Possible Openings, but an American Champ Is Unfazed |last=McClain |first=Dylan Loeb |date=2009-08-08 |work=The New York Times }}</ref> while [[Alexander Grischuk]] won the Chess960 open tournament.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Summary of Mainz Winners<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chesstigers.de/bilder/rosa/ChessClassicWinners-EN.pdf |title=winners PDF |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813095438/http://www.chesstigers.de/bilder/rosa/ChessClassicWinners-EN.pdf |archive-date=August 13, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|-
! Year
! Championship
! Open
! Women's Championship
! Computer Championship
|-
| 2001 || [[Péter Lékó]] (4½–3½ vs. [[Michael Adams (chess player)|Michael Adams]])||  ||  ||
|-
| 2002 ||  || [[Peter Svidler]] ||  ||
|-
| 2003 || [[Peter Svidler]] (4½–3½ vs. Péter Lékó) || [[Levon Aronian]] ||  ||
|-
| 2004 || [[Peter Svidler]] (4½–3½ vs. Levon Aronian) || [[Zoltán Almási]] ||  ||
|-
| 2005 || [[Peter Svidler]] (5–3 vs. Zoltán Almási) || [[Levon Aronian]] ||  || [[Spike (chess)|Spike]]
|-
| 2006 || [[Levon Aronian]] (5–3 vs. Peter Svidler) || [[Étienne Bacrot]] || [[Alexandra Kosteniuk]] (5½–2½ vs. [[Elisabeth Pähtz]]) || [[Shredder (chess)|Shredder]]
|-
| 2007 || [[Levon Aronian]] (2–2, 1½–½ vs. [[Viswanathan Anand]]) || [[Victor Bologan]] ||  || [[Rybka]]
|-
| 2008 ||  || [[Hikaru Nakamura]] || [[Alexandra Kosteniuk]] (2½–1½ vs. [[Kateryna Lahno]]) || [[Rybka]]
|-
| 2009 || [[Hikaru Nakamura]] (3½–½ vs. Levon Aronian) || [[Alexander Grischuk]] ||  || [[Rybka]]
|}