All quiet on the Olympia front
Round three report from London by John Saunders

Two Berlins and an Evans – start of round three in the London Chess Classic
Michael Adams
|
½-½
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Fabiano Caruana
|
½-½
|
Anish Giri |
Hikaru Nakamura
|
½-½
|
Viswanathan Anand |
In round three of the London Chess Classic all six players scored the full point. Everyone’s a winner! No, I’m kidding as usual, and taking a chance on some of you forgetting that the tournament uses three points for a win and one for a draw. All three games were drawn, hence one point apiece. The scores are now Kramnik and Giri 5, Adams 4, Anand 3, Caruana and Nakamura 2.


The third match game between Gawain Jones and Romain Edouard
was also a draw, so Gawain still leads, by 2-1.
All three tournament games began 1.e4, one heading for the wrong but romantic Evans Gambit and the other two for the right but repulsive Berlin Defence. Incidentally I was tickled by tournament director Malcolm Pein’s jocular threat to punish any latecomers amongst the super-GMs by forcing them to stand by the choice of first move by the children who come up on the stage to make the ceremonial first move. (Not sure how that would work with latecomers who had the black pieces but never mind.) He hasn’t had to carry through with this threat yet, though yesterday the players arrived en masse a smidgin late, having been detained in the VIP room by a particularly delicious birthday cake brought in by Sue Maroroa Jones to celebrate her hubby Gawain’s birthday. Maybe Malcolm could exploit the elite players’ sweet tooth to cure them of their Berlin fixation: “no more Berlins – or no more cake!”.

Hikaru Nakamura (above) is a young man with a sense of occasion. “The Evans Gambit is a British opening,” he told us in the commentary room. This is reminiscent of David Bronstein and Magnus Carlsen, both of whom began with the English Opening, 1.c4, on playing their first white games in prestigious English tournaments (Carlsen’s was here at the Classic, of course). And, as someone with Welsh blood coursing through his veins, I am pleased that Hikaru correctly said ‘British’ and not ‘English’ in reference to the gambit’s progenitor, Captain Wilfred Davies Evans (1790-1872), who was a Welshman, from Pembrokeshire.
There was a discussion of the merits of the Evans Gambit in the commentary room, with Peter Svidler joining the resident GMs via a skype link. The best Peter could say of the opening was that it was “better than the King’s Gambit”. It has surprise value at lower levels of the game, even against less exalted GMs, but when the custodian of the black pieces is someone as booked up as Vishy Anand, the element of surprise barely registers. Vishy chose a solid line (actually called the Conservative defence) where Black gives back the pawn to catch up with development. Hikaru unfurled a new move on move nine, but it didn’t set the pulse racing.

Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 d6 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.dxe5 Bb6 8...dxe5 9.a4!? 9.Nbd2 9...Na5 10.Qa2 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 Ne7 12.exd6 cxd6 13.0-0 0-0 14.Qd3 Ng6 15.a5 Bc5 16.Be3 Re8 17.Nbd2 Bxe3 18.Qxe3 d5 19.Rfe1 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Qe7 21.Nd6 Qxe3 22.fxe3 Rd8 23.Red1 Rb8 24.Rd4 Be6 25.c4 b6 26.axb6 axb6 27.Ra7 h6 28.h3 Ra8 29.Rb7 Rdb8 30.Rc7 Ra5 31.Kh2 Rc5 32.Ra7 Kf8 33.g4 Ra5 34.Rc7 Rc5 35.Ra7 Ra5 36.Rc7 ½–½
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Nakamura,H | 2775 | Anand,V | 2793 | ½–½ | 2014 | C52 | London Chess Classic | 3 |
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Now for the first of our two Berlins (East Berlin?)... not the most exciting of games. (For overseas readers, that is British understatement for ‘mind-numbingly tedious’, by the way.) The hour or so I spent going through it is time I will never get back, which is particularly sad as my sands of time are running quite low as it is. I would recommend just browsing the comments but otherwise just skipping it altogether, unless you are using it as an excuse to avoid doing your fair share of household chores.

Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.Ne2 b6 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.b3 Rc8 13.Bb2 Be7 14.Ned4 14.g4 c5! 14...Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Rg8 16.Nf5 c5 17.c4 Be4 18.Ng3 18.Nd6+!? cxd6 19.exd6 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 Rd8 18...Bg6 19.f4 h5 20.f5 h4 21.fxg6 hxg3 22.gxf7+ Kxf7 23.hxg3 Ke6 24.Kf2 Rcd8 25.Ke2 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Rh8 27.Bc3 c6 28.Bd2 Re8 29.Rh1 Kxe5 30.Bc3+ Kf5 31.Kf3 Kg6 32.Rd1 Rd8 33.Rxd8 Bxd8 34.Be5 Kf7 35.Kf4 a6 36.Bb8 Ke6 37.g4 b5 38.Be5 g6 39.Ke4 Be7 40.Bf4 Bf8 41.Be3 Bd6 42.Bf4 Bf8 43.Be3 Bd6 44.Bf4 Bf8 ½–½
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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Caruana,F | 2829 | Giri,A | 2768 | ½–½ | 2014 | C67 | London Chess Classic | 3 |
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And now for something completely the same. Well, to be fair, it isn’t. This Berlin defence game has a bit more going for it, and one glorious, fleeting, patriotic moment when it looked like Mickey might beat Vlad in the London Borough of Hammersmith for the first time. Not that that record is anything to be ashamed of. Vlad has only lost two classical games in this part of London and this is now his sixth Classic. This was only their fifth classical game here. Bear in mind that Garry Kasparov played Vlad 15 times in Hammersmith and scored +0, =13, -2.

It's just a Berlin! Anish Giri (right) and Romain Edouard curious Kramnik-Adams
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.g3 Bc4!? 14...Bxg5 15.Bxg5 Rg6 16.h4 f6 17.exf6 gxf6 15.Rfe1 Rg6 16.Nce4 Rd8 17.Rxd8+ Bxd8 18.b3 Bd5 19.c4 Bxg5 20.Nxg5 Be6 21.Kg2 c5 22.Nxe6 Rxe6 23.Rd1 Nd4 24.g4 hxg4 25.hxg4 Ra6 26.Rd2 Ra3 27.Be3 a5 27...Ne6 28.f4 28.Bxd4 cxd4 29.Kf3 a4 30.Rb2 axb3 31.axb3 Ra1 32.Ke4 Rd1 33.b4 Ke7 34.Rb3 b6 35.b5! Rg1 36.Rg3 Rf1?! 36...Rxg3? 37.fxg3 36...Rc1!? 37.Kxd4 37.Kd5!? Rd1 38.f4 d3 37...Rf1 37.f4 g5 38.f5 Rf4+ 39.Kd5 Kd7 40.c5? 40.f6! Rf1 40...d3 41.Rxd3 Rxg4 42.e6+! fxe6+ 43.Ke5+ Ke8 44.Kxe6 Re4+ 45.Kf5 41.Rh3 Rc1 42.Rh7 Ke8 43.Rh8+ Kd7 44.Rf8 d3 45.Rxf7+ Ke8 46.Rxc7 d2 47.Ke6! 40...bxc5 41.Kxc5 Re4 42.Kd5 Re3 43.Rg2 d3 44.Rd2 Rg3 45.Rd1 45.e6+ fxe6+ 46.fxe6+ Ke7 47.Rf2 Rxg4 48.Rf7+ 45...Rxg4 46.Rxd3 Rf4 47.f6 Rf1 48.e6+ Ke8 48...fxe6+? 49.Ke5+ Ke8 50.Kxe6 49.exf7+ Kxf7 50.Rc3 Rf5+ 51.Kc6 g4 52.Rg3 Rg5 53.Kxc7 Rxb5 54.Rxg4 ½–½
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Adams,M | 2745 | Kramnik,V | 2769 | ½–½ | 2014 | C67 | London Chess Classic | 3 |
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Tradition scoring cross table

If music be the food of chess
One last anecdote before I stagger off to bed. Music and chess have always gone together, all the way back to Philidor, and music has often played a part at the Classic. We’ve had concert performers Alf Wilhelm Lundberg and Jason Kouchak play for us on guitar and piano at opening ceremonies, and members of the team, such as Daniel King and Nigel Short play the guitar. Daniel also plays the double bass in gigs around SW London and has been part of the backing band for chess-loving jazz singer Nette Robinson, whose chess-related art is displayed along the way to the auditorium.
Now the children are getting in on the act. I understand that, during the ‘Chris and Dan Show’ (as Chris Ward and Daniel King’s sessions with schools are known), the Melcombe Primary School choir, trained by Jason Kouchak, sang three songs: Every Move You Make (by keen chessplayer Sting), Silent Night and the CSC anthem Moving Forward. Well done, Melcombe, keep up the music and the chess.
Maybe we could round off the tournament with a rendition of White Christmas? That would be nice. Although I’ve just remembered who composed it... Irving Berlin. Oh dear, I’m starting to have second thoughts...
Important reminder: the Saturday and Sunday rounds start
two hours earlier than the previous three, at 2 p.m. UK time.
Photos by Ray Morris-Hill, John Saunders