
London Chess Classic 2011
Pictorial report by Frederic Friedel and John Saunders

A welcome dinner given by the sponsor, with Kris Littlejohn (Nakamura's
second), Hikaru Nakamura,
Andrew Finan (organiser), Luke McShane, Levon Aronian, Peter Davis, Henrik Carlsen,
Magnus Carlsen

On the opposite side: Malcolm Pein (organiser), Kyvelli Short, daughter, Nigel
Short,
Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand, Tara Adams, IM Ali Mortasavi, Michael Adams
Incidentally Vladimir Kramnik has a very dry sense of humour, and is one of
the very few Russian players with a repertoire of genuinely good jokes –
good as opposed to jokes that leave you staring at the teller in bafflement.
At the dinner he treated us to the following example which had everyone cracking
up – and at least one 2800+ player close to hysterics. It goes like this:
A kid is asked how he would like his life to end. "I would like to die
like my grandfather," he said, "peacefully in his sleep – and
not like all those people in the bus he was driving, yelling and screaming in
terror." It took a some of us a couple of tellings before we all caught
it. But typical Vlady.

On Friday the press conference at the Olympia Centre: David Howell, Luke
McShane, Michael Adams,
Levon Aronian, Vishy Anand, Malcolm Pein, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik,
Hikaru Nakamura, Nigel Short
The players were asked questions, both from the people assembled in the room
and spectators on the Internet who had sent their questions earlier. Elite GMs
can often be reticent about saying too much before the tournament and this was
no exception, but they responded well to a few of the light-hearted questions.
One of this year’s innovations is to have an odd number of players. OK,
not totally unprecedented in itself but the novelty is to require the ‘bye’
player to join the commentary team for the day. It so happens that Nigel Short
will have the bye in the very first round, so he will be the elite commentator
to start the tournament. He is also scheduled to play a fun game with star guest,
former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker.. Boris has ‘form’ as a chessplayer,
having played Garry Kasparov, opening 1.e4 e5 2.Qh5!?. “Ah, he hits the
ball over the net,” the former world chess champion is alleged to have
said. Today a questioner suggested that, since Boris has a broken foot, Nigel
ought to take the opportunity to play him at tennis as well.
Mindful of what was coming next in proceedings, a questioner asked the panel
about their attitude to Twitter, Facebook and other social websites, with Magnus
Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian being the only players in the line-up
to tweet so far. Mickey Adams took the microphone to answer: “You haven’t
done your research properly,” he replied. “I joined Twitter this
morning!” He acknowledged the technical support of his wife in so doing.
So, as well as the website, followers of the tournament might like to make a
note of the players’ Twitter sites, to see if they make any comments as
the London Classic unfolds - @magnuscarlsen, @GMHikaru, @LevAronian and @MickeyAdamsGM.

Chief organiser Malcolm Pein between the Big Four 2800+ players

Three of the four "Brits": David Howell, Luke McShane and Michael
Adams

Two players who need no introduction – their name cards are perfectly
aligned
Video recording of the press conference

So how do you fell about Moscow? Anand answering questions

Top seed Magnus Carlsen, who turned 21 two days ago

Levon Aronian, who is battling Anand over place two in the world

Vladimir Kramnik, a former World Champion and fourth seed

Vladmir Kramnik and his wife Marie Laure, with their daughter Daria

Daria speaks French and is reluctantly learning a little Russian
Twitter game
After the press conference came a new departure - a chess game on Twitter.
Billed as London Chess Classic versus the World - the strongest chess game ever
held on the medium (and it would be to argue with all those 2800 ratings), it
was really just a bit of funny. Nobody quite knew how it would work out but
in fact it was great fun. At least, it was good fun for the grandmasters, who
entered into the spirit of the thing and bantered happily together as they plotted
world destruction. A very good ice-breaker: perhaps all tournaments should start
with this pleasant diversion, allowing the players to warm up a bit with the
crowd. Maybe they should do this at tennis too – invite people from the
crowd to knock up with the players for a few minutes. We can ask Boris Becker
what he thinks tomorrow.

The Twitter game is under way, after Boris Becker had made the first move
(1.e4)

The super-strong team of GMs ponder the next move

[Event "LCC 2011"] [Site "Kilkenny"] [Date "2011.12.02"] [Round "?"] [White
"The World, A."] [Black "London Chess Classic, A."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"]
[Annotator "Pein,Malcolm"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2011.11.??"] [EventCountry
"IRL"] [SourceDate "2011.12.02"] 1. e4 {First serve, Boris Becker. He wasn/^t
there in the room but is alleged to have started the game. It is unclear to
the extent that the great German tennis star participated thereafter.} g6 {The
GMs were taking it in turns to make moves, but there were some discussions between
them about plans. It was all very informal and the strict laws of the game were
not being adhered to. At one point I was shocked to hear what sounded like an
arbiter giving advice to a player. Well, to be honest, I was not so much shocked
that an arbiter should break the rules in this flagrant manner as incredulous
that he should imagine that someone rated about 700 points above him would take
his advice in a million years.} 2. d4 Nf6 {A whim of Nigel Short's, designed
to tease Magnus Carlsen. It elicited a large guffaw from the knowledgeable super-GMs
when Nigel suggested it. Magnus was game for a laugh and agreed to Nigel's whim.}
3. e5 Nh5 {Why did the GMs laugh? This is a line once played by Tony Miles that
Magnus took up but with which he lost to Michael Adams at the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk
Olympiad. First psychological blow to the English GMs - but they may pay for
it later.} 4. Be2 d6 5. Bxh5 gxh5 6. Qxh5 dxe5 7. Qxe5 Rg8 { The GMs have good
play for a pawn here. Whatever White does, Black will soon gain a tempo - and
with four 2800s leading the debate, one tempo is going to hurt a lot.} 8. Nf3
Nc6 9. Qh5 Nxd4 {Vishy Anand asked Luke McShane why he hadn't snaffled a pawn
with 9...Rxg2 around here. But of course the enquiry was made in the mildest
tone. There were no recriminations amongst the GMs. In fact, the game acted
as a pleasant ice-breaker after the press conference. By now they were fully
absorbed in the chess game, discussing its nuances in the most affable, relaxed
terms - and, of course, utterly confident of a successful outcome. Levon Aronian
showed himself to a natural chairman, summarising the various ideas and plans.}
10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. O-O Qe4 12. g3 Bg7 {Kramnik's idea. Black has the edge with
development and weak white squares to aim at.} 13. Nc3 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Bd7 15.
Ba3 $6 Bc6 16. f3 Qe3+ 17. Kg2 O-O-O { Black is now piling the pressure on White's
king. Unless a few thousand of them had Rybka switched on, they were in big
trouble.} 18. Rae1 $2 Qxc3 {The massed ranks of GMs can't see what your analysis
engine sees instantly:} (18... Rxg3+ $3 19. hxg3 Rd2+ 20. Kh1 Bxf3+ 21. Qxf3
Qh6+ $1) (18... Rd2+ 19. Kh1 Bxf3+ 20. Qxf3) (18... Rxg3+ 19. Kxg3 Rg8+ 20.
Kh3 Bd7+ 21. Kh4 Qf4+) 19. Bxe7 Rd2+ 20. Kh1 Rf2 $1 21. Qf5+ Kb8 22. Rxf2 Qxe1+
23. Kg2 Qxe7 {At this point Nigel Short suggested to Malcolm Pein that the GMs
offered the World "resigns" since White is a bishop down with no hope of salvation.
"And if that doesn't work, we offer them a draw," suggested a smiling Vladimir
Kramnik, who was prepared to trade a half point in favour of an early return
to the hotel with his wife and daughter. He is unlikely to be so generous from
tomorrow onwards. But Malcolm took the hint and brought the curtain down on
the Twitter crowd's game.} 0-1
The end of the Twitter game captured in the final moves:

The timetable of the 2011 London Chess Classic

Friday December 2nd
Press Day
Saturday December 3rd
Classic round 1
1st Weekender
Open round 1
Sunday December 4th
Classic round 2
1st Weekender
Open round 2 |
Monday December 5th
Classic round 3
CSC Schools 1
Open round 3
Tuesday December 6th
Classic round 4
CSC Schools 2
Open round 4
Wednesday December 7th
Classic free day
Chess Cultural Festival
Open round 5
Thursday December 8th
Classic round 5
CSC Schools 3
Open round 6 |
Friday December 9th
Classic round 6
CSC Schools 4
Open round 7
Saturday December 10th
Classic round 7
2nd Weekender
Open round 8
Sunday December 11th
Classic round 8
2nd Weekender
Open round 9
Monday December 12th
Classic round 9
CSC Schools 5
Charity Fundraising Dinner |
Pairings of the London Chess Classic 2011
Round
1: Saturday, December 3, 2011 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
Levon Aronian |
|
Luke McShane |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
David Howell |
Michael Adams |
|
Vishy Anand |
Nigel Short (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Round
2: Sunday, December 4, 2011 |
David Howell |
|
Michael Adams |
Luke McShane |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
Levon Aronian |
Nigel Short |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Vishy Anand (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Round
3: Monsay, December 5, 2011 |
Levon Aronian |
|
Nigel Short |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
Michael Adams |
|
Luke McShane |
Vishy Anand |
|
David Howell |
Vladimir Kramnik (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
4: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Michael Adams |
|
Nigel Short |
Vishy Anand |
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
David Howell |
|
Luke McShane |
Levon Aronian (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Wednesday,
December 7, 2011 Rest day |
|
Round
5: Thursday, December 8, 2011 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
David Howell |
Nigel Short |
|
Vishy Anand |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Michael Adams |
Levon Aronian |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Luke McShane (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Round
6: Friday, December 9, 2011 |
Michael Adams |
|
Levon Aronian |
Vishy Anand |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
David Howell |
|
Nigel Short |
Luke McShane |
|
Hikaru Nakamura |
Magnus Carlsen (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
7: Saturday, December 10, 2011 |
Nigel Short |
|
Luke McShane |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
David Howell |
Levon Aronian |
|
Vishy Anand |
Magnus Carlsen |
|
Michael Adams |
Hikaru Nakamura (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
8: Sunday, December 11, 2011 |
Vishy Anand |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
David Howell |
|
Levon Aronian |
Luke McShane |
|
Vladimir Kramnik |
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
Nigel Short |
Michael Adams (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
9: Monday, December 12, 2011 |
Luke McShane |
|
Vishy Anand |
Hikaru Nakamura |
|
Michael Adams |
Nigel Short |
|
Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik |
|
Levon Aronian |
David Howell (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
For clarification: As the lowest rated player has pairing number 7, according
to the tournament regulations, the round this player has the “bye”
has been moved to be played as round 9.
All games start at 2 p.m. or 14:00h British time = 15:00h CET, 17:00h Moscow,
7:30 p.m. Chennai, 22:00h Beijing, 01:00 a.m. Melbourne, 03:00 a.m. Auckland
(sorry Murray!), 6 a.m. San José, 9 a.m. New York. You can check your
location here.
Naturally the games will be covered live on the official web site (below) and
on Playchess. Stand by for further details on Saturday. The games of the final
round start two hours earlier.
Malcolm Pein (IM)
Tournament Director |
Chess Promotions Ltd
44 Baker Street, London, W1U 7RT
Email: chesspromotions@gmail.com |
Links