London Classic: Gukesh and Adams score, lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/4/2023 – Four decisive results in Sunday’s third round left Gukesh D. and Michael Adams with a full-point lead over four players at the London Chess Classic. Notably, round 3 saw underdog Shreyas Royal collecting a remarkable win over Amin Tabatabaei. The 14-year-old now has a fifty-percent score in the standings. | Photo: Tao Bhokanandh
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More wins for white

The London Classic started with three entertaining rounds of chess. Coincidentally, all nine decisive results seen on the first three days of action were won by the player marshalling the white pieces.

Three players remain undefeated in London: co-leaders Michael Adams and Gukesh D., and U.S. star Hans Niemann. While the first two grabbed wins in two out of three rounds, Niemann has signed three consecutive draws at the outset of the event. The American grandmaster is sharing third place with three other players — who all kicked off the event with a win, a draw and a loss: Andrei Volokitin, Jules Moussard and Shreyas Royal.

Notably, Royal defeated Amin Tabatabaei in round 3. With a 2438 rating, the 14-year-old is the clear underdog in the field. His handling of a positional advantage in a technical position with queens, rooks and pawns was nothing short of impressive.

Royal needed 20 moves to convert this materially balanced position into a win.

Shreyas Royal, Amin Tabatabaei

Shreyas Royal beat Amin Tabatabaei | Photo: Tao Bhokanandh

In another position with major pieces on the board, Adams found a nice way to break through in his game against Mateusz Bartel.

31.Rxb7 is a winning shot! The idea is that after 31...Qxb7 32.Qf6+ Kg4 White can regain the rook with 33.Qe6+ Kh5 34.Qxg8

The simple-yet-effective sequence allowed the experienced English grandmaster to convert his strategic advantage into a clear, straightforward winning position, as the black king is now fully exposed and the white e-pawn is ready to promote into a new queen.

Michael Adams, Mateusz Bartel

Michael Adams got the better of Mateusz Bartel | Photo: Tao Bhokanandh

Gukesh 1 - 0 Volokitin

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Game analysis by Robert Ris

Standings - Round 3

All games

Links

Topics: Gukesh, London Chess Classic 2023, Michael Adams
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.