London Classic - McShane shoots ahead, Carlsen strikes back

London Chess Classic 2010

The tournament is an eight-player round-robin for seven rounds played at 40/2h + 20/1h + g/15'+30" using the Sofia Rules. Prizes: 1st 50,000 Euros, 2nd 25,000 Euros, 3rd 15,000 Euros, 4th 10,000 Euros, 5th 10,000 Euros, 6th 8,000 Euros plus seven daily Best Game prizes of 1,000 Euros voted on by the public. Tie Breaks: In order of priority. 1. Number of games with Black. 2. Number of games won with Black. 3. Number of games won. 4. Ranking based on the games between the tied players only.

Round two

There seems to be no slowing down, after such an exciting first round, which had many pundits knocking on wood. The feeling was that the pace could not possibly be maintained, yet not only was the audience gifted with three more decisive games, but the results were certainly as unexpected as could be.

Birthday boy Hikaru Nakamura – he turned 23 today – made himself a nice present
with a remarkable black-piece victory over Vladimir Kramnik

After steamrolling Nigel Short yesterday with his signature elite play, Kramnik had looked like a solid candidate to play for top honors, especially as the short event makes it that much harder to catch up to front runners. Nevertheless, the Russian played a shocking string of mistakes in the opening that transformed a much better position into a lost one, one that Nakamura was able to convert to his advantage.

Kramnik,V (2791) - Nakamura,Hi (2741) [A17]
2nd London Chess Classic London ENG (2), 09.12.2010
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.d4 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Qe7 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Ne5 Qc7 11.Bf4 Nh5 12.Qd2 g5 13.Bxg5 Qxe5 14.Rad1 f6 15.Bh6 Ng7 16.Bf4 Qh5 17.Bd6 Re8 18.Qf4 Nd7 19.g4 Qf7 20.Rd3 e5 21.Qh6 Qg6 22.Qxg6 hxg6 23.Be4 Kf7 24.f4 exf4 25.Bd5+ Ne6 26.Bxf4 Nb6 27.Be5 Nxd5 28.cxd5 Nf8 29.Rxf6+ Kg8 30.Bd6 Kg7 31.Rf4 g5 32.Rf2 b6 33.Rdf3 Ng6 34.Rf7+ Kh6 35.h3 Ba6 36.R2f6 Bxe2 37.Be7 Bc4 38.Rd6 Bxd5 39.Bxg5+ Kxg5 40.Rxd5+ Kh4 41.Rf3 Re5 42.Rxe5 Nxe5 43.Rf5 Nd3 44.Kh2 Rh8 45.a4 Rh6 46.Kg2 a5 47.Kf3 Nb2 48.Kf4 Nxa4 49.c4 Nc3 50.Ke3 a4 51.Kd3 Nd1 52.Rf8 Kxh3 53.g5 Rd6+ 54.Ke4 Kg4 0-1. [Click to replay]

Anand, who had failed to win his game yesterday, was certainly the huge favorite against the tournament's lowest rated player, with a roughly 200 Elo edge, but somehow was unable to make anything happen in their game, and despite a slight initiative in the end, it proved insufficient once more.

Howell,D (2611) - Anand,V (2804) [B52]
2nd London Chess Classic London ENG (2), 09.12.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Be3 Nf6 10.h3 0-0 11.0-0 Rfc8 12.b3 a6 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.Qxd4 b5 17.Rfe1 bxc4 18.bxc4 Rc7 19.Qh4 Rac8 20.Re4 Qf5 21.Rae1 Qf6 22.Qg4 h5 23.Qe2 Qc3 24.Rxe7 Rxc4 25.Re3 Qf6 26.Qf3 Rf4 27.Qe2 Kg7 28.g3 Rf5 29.h4 Rc5 30.Rd3 Re5 31.Qd2 Rxe1+ 32.Qxe1 Rc2 33.a3 Qf5 34.Rd4 Qf3 35.a4 Re2 36.Qf1 Ra2 37.Qe1 a5 38.Rf4 Qxd5 39.Qc3+ Kg8 40.Rd4 Qe5 41.Kg2 Kg7 42.Qc4 Ra1 43.Rf4 d5 44.Qa6 Rd1 45.Qa7 Qe6 46.Kh2 d4 47.Rxd4 Rf1 48.Kg2 Ra1 49.Qxa5 Qc6+ 50.Qd5 Qxd5+ 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

Carlsen's form seemed to be treading on thin ice after his shock defeat yesterday to McShane, and doubts came to everyone's mind as to whether the poor phase he had undergone was truly behind him. His game against the top English GM, Michael Adams, was a hard fought and unclear affair, with minor swings in both directions. However, in the end, Magnus had the last word, and he avenged his loss in the Olympiad to quickly put himself back into contention.

Carlsen,M (2802) - Adams,Mi (2723) [A29]
2nd London Chess Classic London ENG (2), 09.12.2010
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.d3 a6 8.a3 Ba7 9.b4 Be6 10.Nd2 Rb8 11.Rb1 Ne7 12.a4 Qd7 13.b5 Bh3 14.Ba3 h6 15.e3 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Bc5 17.Bxc5 dxc5 18.Nf3 Qe6 19.e4 c6 20.Qb3 Rbd8 21.bxa6 bxa6 22.Qc2 Ng6 23.Ng1 Rb8 24.a5 Nd7 25.Na4 Qd6 26.Ne2 Qc7 27.Qc3 Rfd8 28.Rxb8 Rxb8 29.f4 exf4 30.gxf4 Qd6 31.Kh1 Rb4 32.Qc2 Nh4 33.Nac3 Qg6 34.Ng3 Nf6 35.e5 Nh5 36.Nxh5 Qxh5 37.Ne4 Kh8 38.Qf2 Nf5 39.Nxc5 Qh3 40.Re1 Nh4 41.Qg3 Qxg3 42.hxg3 Nf3 43.Rf1 Nd4 44.Kg2 Ne6 45.Nxa6 Ra4 46.f5 Ng5 47.Nc7 Kg8 48.a6 Kf8 49.Kf2 1-0. [Click to replay]

McShane's win yesterday was as big a surprise as could be, by defeating the Norwegian genius, and a giant question mark was placed next to his chances. Initially, anything beyond a token result were next to nil considering the names and ratings of the rest of the field, yet the second round has forced a complete reassessment with his 2.0/2 start and victory over Nigel Short. McShane grabbed the bull by the horns, playing a full-scale Sicilian Dragon, and Short has never shirked an opening challenge. Things might have gone wrong for the young Brit, but then again, that is the nature of such a double-edged variation, and in the end, he was rewarded for his gutsy choice.

Short,N (2680) - McShane,L (2645) [B76]
2nd London Chess Classic London ENG (2), 09.12.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.g4 Be6 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.0-0-0 Rc8 12.Bc4 Qd7 13.Bb3 Na5 14.h4 Nc4 15.Qd3 Qc6 16.Ne2 Nd7 17.Nd4 Qa6 18.f4 e5 19.fxe5 Ndxe5 20.Qe2 Kh8 21.h5 gxh5 22.g5 Ng4 23.Bg1 Nce3 24.Qxa6 bxa6 25.Bxe3 Nxe3 26.Rd3 Bxd4 27.Rxd4 Rc5 28.Rd3 Ng2 29.Rg3 Nf4 30.Kd2 Re5 31.Re1 Kg7 32.Ke3 Kg6 33.c3 Rxg5 34.Rxg5+ Kxg5 35.Rg1+ Kh6 36.e5 dxe5 37.Ke4 Ng6 38.Bc4 a5 39.Kd5 Rf2 40.b4 axb4 41.cxb4 h4 42.a4 h3 43.a5 h2 44.Rh1 Kg5 45.b5 Kg4 46.b6 axb6 47.a6 Kg3 48.a7 Rf8 49.Kc6 Nf4 50.Ra1 e4 51.Ba6 Nh3 52.Bb7 Ng1 0-1. [Click to replay]

Kibitzer: Anand watching the explosive game between McShane and Short

Isn't Nigel simply winning? Magnus Carlsen joins Anand in kibitzing the game...

... then checks out Anand's position against David Howell...

... before returning to his own effort against Michael Adams

It's back to work for Anand as well – who once again finds himself trying to win a
probably unwinnable position

Standings after round two

Traditional cross table

Pairings of the London Chess Classic

Remaining tournament schedule

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