Sure, it might not be quite as prestigious as winning the actual World Chess Championship, but Chess960 is a game growing in popularity, so the Chess960 Rapid World Championship at the Mainz Chess Classic always draws a bit of attention. This year's format featured four strong grandmasters battling for the title: Levon Aronian, Victor Bologan, Sergei Movsesian and Hikaru Nakamura.
The four played a double round-robin over two days at rapid time controls. Day One was dominated by Aronian, who posted a 3/3 score; Nakamura posted a perfect Day Two to catch Aronian at 4/6, sending the pair into the final championship match.
The final "mini-match" of four games to decide the champion was played earlier today, and Nakamura was dominant throughout. After winning the first two games, Nakamura continued his run by winning the third, which gave him an insurmountable advantage. The two still contested a fourth game -- drawn -- to bring the final match result to 3.5-0.5. Complete coverage of the games can be found on the official site.
In the grand scheme of things, winning this match might not mean too much to most chess fans. Still, it's just another achievement in what has been a breakout year for Nakamura -- and beating Aronian soundly in any match is impressive. Each of these wins increases the anticipation for Nakamura's upcoming battles against the world's elite players: the London tournament later this year, and the 2010 Corus event. Based on his current form, I think many people may be surprised by how competitive he is in those events.
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