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The 7th London Chess Classic, England's premier tournament, takes place at its traditional venue of Kensington Olympia from Friday December 4th to Sunday December 13th. The main event, the strongest ever held in the UK, is a nine-round ten-player super tournament played at a rate of 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by the rest of the game in one hour with a 30-second increment from move 41. The overall prize fund is $300,000, with the winner getting $75,000.
When the games are running, clicking on the above link will take you to our live broadcast. It is free and open to all – as a Premium Account member you have access to the Live Book, Chat, chess engine analysis – all in your browser, on a notebook, tablet or even your smartphone. And the Let's Check function will show you what the most powerful computers in the world think of the current position, as each move is being played. Below are the four most-watched boards.
Things are heating up at the London Chess Classic, which is also the last leg of the Grand Chess Tour. Apart from the first prize of US $75,000 at the London tournament, there is also the Grand Chess Tour money of $150,000 (75k, 50k and 25k) at stake.
The entrance of the Olympia Centre which hosts
the London Chess Classic. The weather
in London is pretty grim – even at 2 p.m. in the afternoon it is quite
dark and overcast.
Anish and Fabi: the biggest threats to Magnus Carlsen captured in one frame
One of the great qualities of these top GMs is that they always play their next game independent of the result in the previous one. Nakamura and Anand had both lost their seventh round games, but are seen in great spirits before the eighth round
You know what I got? I got the World Champion’s autograph before the game!!!
Ever wondered what keeps these elite players
going for seven hours of play?
We are now able to reveal: it's Mars, Twix, Snickers, cookies, juice, fruits
and ice cubes!
The only decisive game of the day was Anish Giri getting the better of Hikaru Nakamura
Anish’s strategy was pretty clear – he wanted an original game with less emphasis on opening theory. He chose the King’s Indian Attack beginning with 1.Nf3. Hikaru played the opening logically and soon had a perfectly acceptable position. But then he underestimated Giri’s play and before he knew it he was staring at a tough defensive task. The Dutch grandmaster took his chances to perfection and converted the game with consummate ease.
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.12"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. e4 Nc6 8. Re1 Qc7 (8... b5 {Going ahead with queenside counterplay is much more popular. The move Qc7 is the second most played move.}) 9. Qe2 {Nakamura's previous move seemed to come as a surprise for Giri, who was now out of home preparation.} ( 9. e5 Nd7 10. Qe2 b5 {is one of the main lines.}) 9... b5 10. a4 $5 b4 11. exd5 exd5 (11... Nxd5 {gives up the square on c4.} 12. Nc4 {[%csl Gc4]}) 12. Nb3 Re8 13. Bf4 Qb6 14. a5 Qb5 15. Qd2 Be6 {Black has developed all his pieces and has good control over the center. Nakamura has equalized out of the opening. But Giri was not looking for an opening edge when he started with the King's Indian Attack, just an original game of chess.} 16. a6 Bf8 (16... Rad8 $5) 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 Nd7 19. Bf4 Qb6 20. c3 $1 Rac8 (20... bxc3 21. bxc3 Qxb3 $2 22. Reb1 $18 {And the queen is caught.}) 21. Qc2 d4 22. Nd2 h6 23. h4 dxc3 24. bxc3 bxc3 $6 (24... b3 $5 25. Qb2 c4 26. Nxc4 Bxc4 27. dxc4 Nc5 28. Be3 Qg6 $11 {This could have been a very fine position for Black.}) 25. Qxc3 {Black has to remain slightly careful here as the white knight has a beautiful square on c4.} Nf6 26. Nc4 Qd8 27. Bb7 $1 {Before Black can block the diagonal with Nd5, White gets his bishop to b7. Things start to become uncomfortable for Black.} Nd5 28. Qd2 Nxf4 29. Qxf4 Qxd3 (29... Rc7 30. Rab1 $14 {You can feel Nakamura's cramped position over here and hence in the game he logically tries to break free.}) 30. Ne5 Qd6 31. Rad1 Qc7 32. Nc6 $1 {A beautiful move attacking the a7 pawn. Nakamura saw nothing better than to sacrifice his queen. In any case his position is quite precarious.} Qxc6 ({Exchanging the queens doesn't ease the defensive task.} 32... Qxf4 33. gxf4 Rxc6 (33... Rc7 34. f5 $1 Bd7 35. Rxe8 Bxe8 36. Nxa7 $18) 34. Bxc6 Rb8 35. Bd5 $16) 33. Bxc6 Rxc6 34. Qa4 Rec8 {Two bishops is not enough compensation for the queen.} 35. Rd8 $1 c4 36. Rxc8 Rxc8 37. Rxe6 $1 {Anish finds the quickest way to end the game.} fxe6 38. Qd7 Rc5 39. Qxe6+ Kh7 40. Qf7 Bd6 41. h5 Rg5 (41... c3 42. Qg6+ Kh8 43. Qxd6 $18) 42. Kg2 c3 43. f4 (43. f4 c2 44. fxg5 c1=Q 45. g6+ Kh8 46. Qe8+ {would have been the nice finish.}) 1-0
Hikaru sported a new hairstyle and complimented
his RedBull with a cup of coffee,
a maneuver that did little to improve his final result in this game!
What is he thinking? We refrain from proposing
one of the many ideas that occurred to us and
leave it to our readers to come up with a suitable caption in the feedback
section below.
In any case Anish now joins MVL as the leader with 5.0/8.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave could do very little to inflict harm on Michael Adam’s Breyer
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.12"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bd2 Bg7 17. a4 c5 18. d5 c4 19. b4 cxb3 20. Bxb3 Nc5 21. c4 Qd7 22. cxb5 axb5 23. a5 Reb8 {The first new move of the game. The position is quite rich and has a number of features to be considered. That knight on c5 is extremely well placed, however the bishop on b7 and g7 and not particularly active. Also White has greater space. The knight on g3 is passive and relocating it to a better square can be a good idea. All in all I would consider this position to be slightly better for White. But Black has his share of chances.} 24. Bc2 Bc8 25. Rb1 Qd8 26. Qc1 Kh7 27. Qa3 Ne8 28. Ne2 { The knight makes his way to the b4 square.} Nc7 29. Nc3 Bd7 30. Na2 N7a6 31. Nb4 Be8 32. Ra1 Nxb4 33. Qxb4 (33. Bxb4 Na6 34. Bd3 (34. Bxd6 b4 $1 $19) 34... Nxb4 35. Qxb4 $14 {Surely only White can be better here.}) 33... Na6 34. Qb3 Nc5 35. Qb4 Na6 36. Qb3 (36. Qa3 b4 $1 $11) 36... Nc5 (36... b4 37. Be3 Nc5 38. Bxc5 dxc5 39. a6 Bb5 40. Bd3 Qb6 $11) 37. Qb4 {Quite a uneventful game, but a pretty useful one to study in order to understand the intricacies of the Breyer.} 1/2-1/2
World’s leading expert on the Breyer kibitzes the game
Michael Adams with an astonishing eight draws out of eight games takes on Fabiano Caruana who has also achieved the same feat (eight draws) in the last round! One thing is for sure both of them will end with similar number of draws at the end of the event!
Caruana came to the game armed with a new and dangerous idea in the Catalan which caused…
…Vishy Anand a considerable amount of anxiety with regards to how to equalize the game
But Anand defended tenaciously, entering a pawn down rook ending, and making use of all his resources he managed to obtain the draw. It is a game worth going over from the point of view of not only opening theory but also learning a theoretical rook endgame. Also a very important facet of Caruana’s opening preparation is revealed: he does not always go for the top most line of the engine but rather works with ideas. The engine might not agree with him (most often they do only after a considerable amount of time) but Fabiano’s moves pose practical problems to human players, which sometimes they can solve and sometimes they cannot. That is why he is so successful.
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.12"] [Round "8.5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2787"] [BlackElo "2803"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. d4 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qa4 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bd6 11. Ng5 $5 {The main idea of this move is to get in e4.} (11. Re1 {is the main move here.}) 11... Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Nbd7 13. e4 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. f4 Nc4 {Until this point we have been following some top level games, most notably Eljanov-Carlsen and Ponomariov-Karjakin. Both games continued with 16.b3, but Caruana had a new idea up his sleeve.} 16. Bc1 $1 $146 (16. e5 $6 h6 $1 17. Nf3 Ng4 $1 18. Re1 Bc5 $15) (16. b3 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 h6 18. Ngf3 Bb4 {Black has a perfectly fine position.}) 16... h6 17. Nf3 Ng4 { [%cal Rg4e3,Ge3g2,Ge3f1,Ge3c2,Rc4e3] A huge fork is threatened on e3.} 18. Re1 Bc5 19. Nc3 {Caruana was still very much in his preparation. Now Anand could have won an exchange with Ne3+ but decided against it.} Qd6 (19... Nge3+ 20. Bxe3 Nxe3+ 21. Rxe3 Bxe3 22. Nd5 Bb6 23. Ne5 $44 {[%cal Ge5c6] The knights in the centre should not be underestimated. White has sufficient compensation for the exchange. What is very useful to learn from this example is that Caruana does not always follow the best moves of the computer when preparing specific lines. He goes for his own ideas, and the computer more often than not changes its evaluation.}) 20. Nd1 Rad8 21. h3 Qxd1 22. Qxd1 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Nge3+ 24. Bxe3 Nxe3+ 25. Kh2 Nxd1 26. Rxd1 {White has the slightly more pleasant endgame, but nothing disastrous has occurred for Black. With accurate play he can still hold.} Re8 27. e5 f6 28. Rd5 Bf8 29. Kg2 c5 30. Kf2 fxe5 31. Nxe5 {White's forces are centralised and the king is coming into the game. Black has to be quick to get his counterplay rolling with the queenside majority.} c4 32. Ke3 Bb4 33. Ke4 (33. Kd4 Be1 34. g4 Bg3 35. Ke4 g5 $1 $15) 33... Be1 34. g4 c3 35. bxc3 Bxc3 36. h4 {By systematic play Caruana is increasing the pressure on Vishy.} b4 37. h5 a5 $1 {Anand knows that he cannot just sit around doing nothing. He tries his best to create a passer, even at the cost of giving up a pawn.} 38. Rxa5 b3 39. Ra7 b2 40. Rb7 Ra8 41. Kd3 Bxe5 42. fxe5 Rxa2 43. Ke4 Ra1 {It is unclear what commentary symbol this move should be given. It can be a dubious mark as Black could have drawn even without giving up that pawn. But it could also be an exclamation mark because Anand assessed the pawn down endgame accurately.} (43... Kf8 44. Kf5 Ke8 45. Kg6 (45. e6 Ra5+ 46. Kg6 Rg5+ 47. Kh7 Rxg4 48. Rxb2 $11) 45... Ra6+ $1 46. Kxg7 $2 (46. Kh7 Ra4 47. Rxb2 Rxg4 $11) 46... Ra7 $1 $17) 44. Rxb2 Kf7 45. Rb7+ Ke6 46. Rb6+ Kf7 47. Rb7+ Ke6 48. Rxg7 Ra4+ $1 49. Kf3 Kxe5 50. Re7+ (50. Rg6 Ra3+ 51. Kf2 Kf4 $11) 50... Kf6 51. Rh7 Kg5 52. Rg7+ Kh4 53. Rg6 Rb4 54. Rxh6 Rb3+ 55. Kf4 Rb4+ 56. Ke5 Kxg4 57. Rh8 Rb5+ 58. Ke4 Rxh5 59. Rxh5 Kxh5 {A high class game in all respects.} 1/2-1/2
Where do you find all those wonderful moves?
After a seven hour grind against Hikaru it seemed as if Magnus would try to finish his game a little quicker than yesterday. However the careful way in which he was adjusting his pieces before the game convinced us that we could be in for another long game
Topalov was on the receiving end of some Carlsenesque technique, but guess what saved him?
The 50-move rule! Yes, the rule which says the game would end in a draw if there are no exchanges or pawn moves for 50 moves. Carlsen got a slightly pleasant position in a rook + knight + three pawns endgame and mercilessly kept shuffling his pieces. It seemed as if he was doing nothing, but as Carlsen said in the post-game conference, “I was improving my position little by little. That’s the way I win my games.” The last pawn move took place on the 49th and Carlsen was making steady progress when he had reached move 85. He had only four more moves before Topalov could claim a draw. Hence, he took the pawn on e5. But after that the pawn down rook endgame posed no problems for Topalov to hold.
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.12"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "2803"] [BlackElo "2850"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "193"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 Nd7 12. O-O b6 13. a4 Bb7 14. Rfe1 Nf6 15. Bd3 h6 16. a5 a6 17. axb6 Qxb6 18. Rab1 Qc7 19. Rbc1 Qe7 20. Qa5 Rfc8 21. Rxc8+ Rxc8 22. Nd2 Qd7 23. Qb6 Rc3 24. Bxa6 Bxa6 25. Qxa6 Qxd4 26. Nf3 Qc5 27. e5 Nd5 28. Qa8+ Kh7 29. Qb7 Rc1 30. Qb2 Rc2 31. Qd4 g5 32. g3 Kg7 33. Qxc5 Rxc5 34. Re4 Kg6 35. h3 Ne7 36. h4 Kf5 37. Ra4 Nc6 38. hxg5 hxg5 39. g4+ Kg6 { This is the position we are talking about. The main advantage that Black has in this position is that he can weave a mating net on White's king by bringing his knight to the f4 square. He can make use of his rook on the h-file and keep shuffling from one end to the other to create some serious discomfort. Topalov, who has been having a horrid event, faces a thankless and endless defensive task ahead of him.} 40. Re4 Ne7 41. Kg2 Nd5 42. Kg3 Rc3 43. Re1 Ra3 44. Re4 Ra8 45. Rc4 Rh8 46. Re4 Nc3 (46... Nf4 $2 47. Nxg5 $1 $11) 47. Re3 Rc8 48. Re1 Rc4 49. Re3 Ne4+ 50. Kg2 Ra4 51. Re1 Nc5 52. Kg3 Rf4 53. Nd2 Nd3 54. Re2 Ra4 55. Nf3 Ra8 56. Re3 Rd8 57. Re4 Rh8 58. Rc4 Ra8 59. Rc3 Nf4 60. Rc4 Ne2+ 61. Kg2 Rh8 62. Re4 Nf4+ 63. Kg1 Ra8 64. Nh4+ Kh6 65. Ng2 Nd3 66. Ne1 Ra1 67. Kf1 Kg6 68. Re3 Nf4 69. Re4 Kg7 70. Kg1 Nd3 71. Kf1 Kf8 72. Re3 Nf4 73. Kg1 Ra4 74. Kh2 Nd5 75. Rg3 Kg7 76. Nd3 Rd4 77. Kg1 Nb6 78. Kf1 Re4 79. Kg2 Nc4 { [#]It has taken Carlsen 40 moves but finally he has ruined White's co-ordination. The rook on g3 is doing nothing and the e5 pawn can be won anytime. But here comes the problem - he has only ten moves to either capture something or make a pawn move. Both of these things will reduce his advantage considerably.} 80. Kh3 Rd4 81. Kg2 Kf8 82. Kf1 Ke7 83. Ke2 Re4+ 84. Kd1 Nxe5 85. Nxe5 Rxe5 {Now Topalov easily makes a draw.} 86. Kd2 Kf6 87. Ra3 Kg6 88. Ra6 f5 89. gxf5+ Kxf5 90. Ra3 Kf4 91. Rb3 g4 92. Ra3 Re4 93. Rb3 e5 94. Ra3 Rb4 95. Ke2 Rb1 96. Ra4+ e4 97. Ra3 1/2-1/2
Caruana-Anand ended at the same moment as Topalov-Carlsen.
Anand comes by to check out why Carlsen took the pawn on e5.
Omygod, the 50 move rule! Would you believe it?!
He tried his best, but rules are rules in chess!
More interested in other battles? Grischuk-Aronian was an exciting game that ended in a draw.
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.12"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2781"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. b3 b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. d4 Nd7 10. Re1 N5f6 11. Nc3 c5 12. e4 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Bc5 14. Re2 Qb8 15. Rd2 {What Aronian does next is hypermodern, even for players like Nimzowitsch and Reti.} a6 $5 {You might think this is to control the b5 square right? Well, Aronian has a deeper idea.} 16. Qe2 (16. Nxe6 $2 fxe6 17. Rxd7 Nxd7 18. Qxd7 Rxf2 $19) 16... Ra7 $5 17. Re1 Ne5 18. Kh1 Qa8 {[%csl Ga7,Ga8,Gb7] This rook and queen moves in the corner seem as if Aronian is solving some sort of a jigsaw puzzle.} 19. f4 Ng6 20. Nc2 Rd8 21. Red1 Rxd2 22. Rxd2 h5 23. Qd1 (23. b4 Be7 24. a3 h4 25. Nd4 $14 {is a risk free edge for White.}) 23... Ng4 24. Qe1 Bc6 25. h3 Nf6 26. b4 Bf8 27. Qe3 Rd7 28. Rxd7 Nxd7 29. a3 h4 30. Nd4 Bb7 ( 30... hxg3 $5 31. Nxc6 (31. Qxg3 e5 $5 $15) 31... Qxc6 32. Qxg3 Qc4 $17) 31. f5 exf5 32. Nxf5 Nde5 {At this point Grischuk had very little time and he needed to make seven more moves. In addition his position is not so great.} 33. Nd5 Nc4 34. Qd4 Nxb2 35. Qxb2 hxg3 $6 (35... Bxd5 36. exd5 hxg3 $17 {would have made Grischuk's task of maintaining a decent position and reaching the time control very tough.}) 36. Nh6+ $1 {Alert Alexander!} gxh6 (36... Kh7 37. Nxf7 { would be little bit too risky.}) 37. Nf6+ Kh8 38. Nh5+ Kg8 39. Nf6+ Kh8 40. Nh5+ Kg8 {Quite an exciting game.} 1/2-1/2
Let me think! Jennifer Shahade usually has
some interesting
questions prepared for the top players after the game
Always lively and filled with humour: chief arbiter Albert Vasse
Albert has been the chief arbiter of the London Chess Classic since its inception seven years ago. He is also the founder of the DGT technology which builds the sensor boards that provide live transmission to your computer screens the moment the moves are made!
Behind the scenes: the reason why you can enjoy the live games and video transmission
Saturday ensured a huge turnout of chess lovers at the tournament venue
One of the best parts about the London Chess Classic is that after the players have finished their games they go from the tournament to the commentary room through the foyer. The public can meet the stars, take autographs and click selfies with them!
And you could also challenge a GM to a blitz
game for a donation of £5 which goes to charity.
In the above picture you can see John Nunn battling out against a young
kid.
Romain Edouard’s book signing also took
place in the foyer. The name of the book is
“The
Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes" and it is by Thinkers
Publishing.
After eight rounds this is how the London Classics standings look like:
Giri and Vachier-Lagrave are leading the tournament two wins and six draws each
Sunday, the 13th of December, is the last day of the event. With as many as five players having a chance to win the title as well as the Grand Chess Tour, and also the chances of a rapid play-off taking place, we can expect a record turnout of people at the playing venue as well as online.
The Grand Chess Tour standings without the London event
Currently Anish has the best chance to win the Grand Chess Tour because he is on 13 points and an outright win will give him an additional 13 points, when he would be untouchable. However, if Magnus and Aronian were to join the leaders then the Armenian has the best chance to win the tour, as he currently has more points than anyone else. It is all pretty confusing. Suffice it to say that the last round at the London Chess Classic is going to be filled with action and drama. And if there is a tie between two or more players for the first place there would be a play-off thirty minutes after the end of the final round. Here is full information about the tiebreak rules.
Photos by Amruta Mokal of ChessBase India
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| Day and round | English | German |
| 13.12 Sunday Round 9 | Yannick Pelletier | Oliver Reeh/Martin Breutigam |
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