Second seed GM Hikaru Nakamura (Smallville) of the USA reasserted his authority as one of the top dogs on ICC on Sunday by winning the Mainz Chess Classic online Chess960 title. After winning the first qualifier, Nakamura beat with ease Cassano (3-0), VerdeNotte (2.5-0.5) and Yarosavich (3-0) en route to the six-game final.
And in a more closely contested final, Nakamura beat the young Russian top seed Dmitry Andreikin, 4-2, to claim the $1090 (700 Euro) first prize, invitation to the FiNet and Ordix opens, hotel room and breakfast at the Hilton Mainz Hotel by the banks of the Rhine, just 1 block from the picturesque Old Town.
All of last week, qualifiers were held here on ICC for the coveted spots in the 16-player KO Mainz Chess Classic online Chess960 finals.
The full list of finalists and results can be found at our dedicated Mainz Chess960 page.
Report by JOHN B. HENDERSON
Did Hikaru break 2700?
2700 broke him 🙂