London Classic Rd1: Adams fells Caruana

6TH LONDON CHESS CLASSIC (6-14 DECEMBER 2014)

CLASSIC ROUND 1: 10 DECEMBER 2014

RULE BRITANNIA

The host nation flew the flag on the first day of the Classic proper, with the only wins being achieved by three people from England: Mickey Adams, who won a real ‘up and downer’ of a game with world number two Fabiano Caruana; Gawain Jones, who won the first game of his six-game match against Romain Edouard; and Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, who won the hearts and minds of his audience at the opening ceremony.

London Mayor Boris Johnson opens the event

It was a great boost for the prestige of the event, and for British chess in general, to have someone with the national profile of Boris Johnson pay us a visit. For those overseas readers who’ve never heard of him, he is a very famous politician here in Britain, and not just in London, with an approval rating in opinion polls which is the envy of all other British party leaders. He is often spoken of in the press as a future prime minister. Part of his charm is his ability to deliver an impromptu speech, full of imaginative allusions and classical references, not to mention occasional gaffes which don’t seem to bother him at all and from which he recovers effortlessly.

At the book-signing of the much awaited third and final volume of his autobiographical series
"Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part III 1993-2005" the former champion finally met his
match in a staredown

Boris treated us to just such an oration at Olympia, admitting to a lack of proficiency at the game, but describing the chessboard and its one ‘castle’ per four pieces in terms of a housing crisis. His imagery delivered at machine-gun rate might have been a bit hard to follow, but the whole thing was delivered with such ebullience that it couldn’t fail to amuse and energise. Thankfully Boris didn’t claim that chess was invented in Britain (as he did with table tennis in China at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when he memorably reminded the world of its original wacky British name ‘wiff waff’). Maybe he has now rechristened a rook as a ‘castle’ (and he must have said so a dozen times in his speech), and given his Olympian authority in the city that hosts our tournament, I guess we are all going to have to fall into line with him for the duration.

I scanned the faces of our elite players and they were clearly entertained by London’s famous mayor. Afterwards I asked Hikaru what he thought of him. “He’s certainly interesting. He can talk about anything,” was Hikaru’s bemused reply. I’ve news for Hikaru and any other US citizens reading this who may be unaware – Boris Johnson was born in New York City, so I guess that also makes Boris a long shot for future US president.

After Boris played a quick exhibition game with Dave Chan of Barclaycard, with two CSC children assisting them, we moved on to the real action. Hikaru Nakamura versus Anish Giri was the first game to finish, drawn after 33 moves.

Hikaru Nakamura - Anish Giri: Draw

Though a solid game, Nakamura-Giri was not very eventful

Vladimir Kramnik-Vishy Anand: Draw

Next to finish was the battle between the two former world champions, Vladimir Kramnik and Vishy Anand. This started life as a Semi-Slav, Botvinnik System, which to the uninitiated looks like the hairiest sort of opening variation imaginable. But it has been analysed, almost to destruction, over several decades, and now grandmasters are prone to playing through whopping slabs of theory from memory.

Two great champions shake hands (photo by John Saunders)

Nigel Short was scathing about this sort of opening play, in the commentary room, particularly when Dan King said something about this sort of variation being primarily for correspondence players (apologies if I’ve misquoted you, Dan). “Correspondence players,” opined Nigel, “should be executed.” Which, later in the VIP room, led into a thoroughly unwholesome debate (in which I confess I took part, a tad too enthusiastically) as to the most suitable form of execution for those who use the medium of the Royal Mail (or their own country’s postal service) to play chess. Rising to Nigel’s challenge, I thought something slow was most appropriate, while another GM, not normally known for sadism, thought they ought to be immured. But the latter seems somehow more appropriate for people who play the Berlin Wall, OTB as well as via the post.

Incidentally, before anyone emails me, I don’t really subscribe to any of the above. I have my excuse ready (one which I seem to remember deploying before, back in the mists of time): bigger boys made me do it. Anyway, here’s the game.

Michael Adams - Fabiano Caruana: 1-0

So to the one really entertaining game of the round. There were a few mistakes but without them the game of chess would be a dull affair.

Who would have believed that Michael Adams would beat Fabiano Caruana in round one?

IM Sagar Shah annoitates Adams-Caruana:

Gawain Jones - Romain Edouard match; Game one: 1-0

In a parallel event, also on the stage, British player Gawain Jones faces Romain Edouard
in a match over six games

The other British success was scored by Gawain Jones. A couple of times Romain Edouard was tempted by warm pawns and Gawain managed to get the sort of attacking game he excels at.

Photos by Ray Morris-Hill

Current standings

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being 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.