LCC: Adams wins Elite Blitz tournament

by John Saunders
12/9/2014 – On Monday all six elite entrants to the London Classic proper took part in a double-cycle round-robin to decide the draw order for the main tournament. The Blitz, which was scored on the 3-1-0 basis, ended in a three-way tie for first between Mickey Adams, Hikaru Nakamura and Vladimir Kramnik on 17/30. The three got the starting numbers 1-3, which means they get an extra white.

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Super Rapid Play Open rounds six to ten

The London Classic Elite Blitz was held on the evening of 8 December 2014 in the auditorium of the Olympia Conference Centre, with all six elite entrants to the London Classic proper taking part in a double-cycle round-robin to decide the draw order for the main tournament.

The tournament (which was scored on the 3-1-0 basis) ended in a three-way tie for first between Mickey Adams (England, photo above), Hikaru Nakamura (USA) and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) on 17/30, Anish Giri (Netherlands) on 16, Vishy Anand (India) 10 and Fabiano Caruana (Italy) 9.

Number of wins or black wins couldn't separate the leaders but Mickey Adams was placed first based on a better head-to-head result against his rivals. He was invited to choose his preferred draw number. He chose number 3 (note that numbers 1-3 secure an extra white). Hikaru Nakamura (who was second on tie-break) chose 2 and Vladimir Kramnik 1. Then Anish Giri opted for 5, Vishy Anand for 6 and Fabiano Caruana was left with 4.

Vladimir Kramnik vs Michael Adams in round one: Adams won in 37 moves

Anish Giri vs Viswanathan Anand in round one: Geri won in 49 moves

Fabiano Caruana vs Hikaru Nakamura in round one: Nakamura won in 41 moves

Vladimir Kramnik vs Viswanathan Anand in round six: Kramnik won with black in 28 moves

Top US player Hikaru Nakamura, who finished joint first with 6.0/10, second on tiebreak

Also 6.0/10, third on tiebreak: Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik

Top Dutch GM Anish Giri, fourth place with 5.5/10

Sixth place for top seed Fabiano Caruana, with 3.0/6

All photos by John Saunders

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Elite Event Schedule

Date Event Time Notes
6-7 Dec. Super Rapidplay 12.00 10 rounds, featuring the Super Six and many other GMs. The Super Six will compete against Chess in Schools and Communities schoolchildren in the first round.
8 Dec. Pro-Am &
Pro-Business
TBC The Super Six will take part in Pro-Am and Pro-Business events to be held in the Auditorium. Times and names of guest celebrities to follow.
9 Dec. Super Six Blitz Tournament 18.15 The elite group of six players will take part in a blitz tournament. Start time 18.15.
10-14 Dec. Super Six Classic 16.00* * For rounds 1-3; rounds 4-5 start at 14.00.

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


In 1999 John Saunders gave up his job as an IT professional to become full-time editor/webmaster of 'British Chess Magazine'. During the 2000s he was also webmaster and magazine editor for the English Chess Federation, and regular webmaster and photo-reporter at Isle of Man and Gibraltar tournaments. In 2010 he became editor of the leading UK monthly 'CHESS' Magazine, retiring in 2012 but remaining its associate editor and regular contributor.

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