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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.
Round one summary: Veselin Topalov always had the initiative against Anish Giri, but in time-pressure fell victim to a vicious counterattack. Alexander Grischuk almost fell victim to a similar counterattack after misplaying the Berlin with white, but Hikaru Nakamura failed to bring the point home. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave took no risk with White against Magnus Carlsen's Sveshnikov and opted for a quick draw while Michael Adams, who was playing with Black against Vishy Anand, had no problems to neutralize Anand's English Opening. The game between Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian offered more excitement, but it also ended in a draw after 51 moves.
| Round 1 Friday 4 Dec, 16.00-23.00 | ||
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Veselin Topalov
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0-1
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Anish Giri |
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Alexander Grischuk
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½-½
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Hikaru Nakamura |
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M Vachier-Lagrave
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½-½
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Magnus Carlsen |
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Fabiano Caruana
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½-½
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Levon Aronian |
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Viswanathan Anand
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½-½
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Michael Adams |
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
As we (me and my wife) jumped out of the public bus which stopped near the Olympia Center in Kensington, London we noticed Magnus Carlsen walking on the street towards the tournament hall. With father Henrik Carlsen at the front, Magnus walked swiftly as he discussed some of his opening ideas with Peter Heine Nielsen. The tournament hall is located on the third floor of the magnificent exhibition and conference center. As Magnus and his team entered the elevator, Nakamura and his girlfriend Mariagrazia de Rosa announced their presence in the lobby. The security guards wanted to check our bags, and we couldn’t join these elite players as the doors of the elevator closed behind us. We quickly took the stairs so as to save time and when we reached the third floor, where the entire chess festival of the seventh London Chess Classic is being held, it was a sight to behold. All of the ten elite players were present and they were surrounded from all the sides by their admirers, photographers and news reporters.
The ten players averaging a mammoth 2784.2 Elo are the participants of the
seventh London Chess Classic, which is also the last leg of the Grand Chess Tour
They were then made to stand in front of their respective posters
Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand have locked horns against each other in the last two World Championship matches. A game between them is always interesting to see. They will be playing each other in the third round in this event.
After the photo session the players proceeded towards the auditorium which was the playing hall. The tournament director Malcolm Pein announced the name of the players, along with a small introduction, to take up their positions on the board, one by one. We have captured the four minute video for you to enjoy:
The first game of the day to finish was Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
against Magnus Carlsen, which ended in an uneventful draw
Magnus employed the Sveshnikov Variation with black and made a draw without any difficulties
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.04"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2850"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 $5 {Carlsen chooses the Sveshnikov.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Rb8 13. a4 bxa4 14. Ncb4 Nxb4 15. cxb4 Bb7 {All this has been seen in innumerable games with good results for Black.} 16. Rxa4 Qc8 $5 (16... Bxd5 17. Qxd5 (17. exd5 e4 $1 $15) 17... Qd7 18. Rxa6 Rfc8 {would have given Black a strong initiative. Subsequently GM Ankit Rajpara points out that 19,Bc4! gives White the advantage with the neat point being 19...Rxb4 20.b3 Rcxc4 21.bxc4 Rb1+ 22.Kd2! (Ke2 would be incorrect due to the Qg4+ resource at the end of the variation.) Rxh1 23.Ra8+ Bd8 24. Qa5! +-}) 17. Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Bd3 Bc6 19. Rxa6 Rxb4 20. O-O Rd4 21. Qf3 Bxe4 {Carlsen decides to force a draw.} (21... Qb7 $11 {was a way to continue the game, but it was anyway equal.}) 22. Bxe4 Qxa6 23. Qg4+ Kh8 24. Qf5 Rxe4 25. Qxf6+ Kg8 26. Qg5+ Kh8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Qg5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2
Each and every elite player who came out of the auditorium, after finishing his game, was stormed
by fans, asking him to pose for pictures or sign an autograph. The players graciously obliged.
The most exciting game of the day was surely Veselin Topalov against Anish Giri. In the above picture you can see Anish trying to remember his analysis after Topalov plays 5.Qa4 in the solid Grunfeld Variation.
Topalov had a clear advantage in most part of the game, but in time pressure
he fell to a very nice tactical trick that Anish had prepared
Anish scored the only victory of the day and continues his unbeaten form in the Grand Chess Tour
Veselin Topalov - Anish Giri
In the above position White has just captured a pawn on a7 (instead of taking the knight on e4). That was a fatal mistake. Can you find the tactical shot Anish Giri executed, and can you work it out to the end?
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.04"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2803"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. Qa4 {Giri sank into thought after this move. Presumably he was trying to recollect his analysis.} Nfd7 (5... Bg7 {is the other main move here.}) 6. cxd5 Nb6 7. Qd1 cxd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. e3 Bg7 { Saduakassova-Lei reached this position in August 2015. One cannot be sure whether Topalov had seen this game before or not, but he was playing fast and seemed to have come well prepared.} 10. Nge2 O-O 11. O-O Re8 12. b3 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. h3 (14. Bb2 Bg4 15. h3 Bf3 {is something that Topalov wanted to avoid. }) 14... Bf5 15. Nd4 Bd3 16. Re1 Ba6 17. Qd2 {White has to make these slightly uncomfortable moves due to the threat of the knight coming to d3. But it's fine because the position is static in nature.} Nd3 18. Rd1 Bxd4 (18... Nxc1 19. Raxc1 $16 {is just a huge advantage.}) 19. exd4 Qf6 20. a4 $5 {Topalov sacrifices the d4 pawn in order to activate his rook in a very original fashion.} (20. Bb2 {looked normal as now the d4 pawn is taboo.} Qxd4 21. Bf1 $1 $18) 20... Qxd4 21. a5 Nd7 22. Ra4 $1 {This is surely very imaginative play by the Bulgarian.} Qe5 23. Nxd5 {White seems to have the initiative as all his pieces are in play now.} Nxc1 (23... N7c5 {was a natural move, but Giri had missed the brilliant resource of 25.Qg5!} 24. Rh4 $1 $44 {[%cal Gd2h6]} Nxc1 ( 24... Nxb3 $2 25. Qg5 $1 Nbxc1 (25... Qxg5 26. Bxg5 h5 27. Nc7 $18) 26. Nf6+ Kf8 27. Nd7+ $18) 25. Qxc1 {with unclear play.}) 24. Rxc1 $16 Nf6 25. Nc7 (25. Nxf6+ Qxf6 26. Rf4 $16 {is also a very solid edge for White mainly because the black king is weak and the bishop on a6 is shooting blanks.}) 25... Rad8 26. Qf4 g5 (26... Re7 27. Qxe5 Rxe5 28. Nxa6 bxa6 29. Rc6 Kg7 30. Rxa6 Re1+ 31. Kh2 Rd2 32. Rf4 $16 {And now we see why the pawn on g5 is important. It prevents Rf4.}) 27. Qb4 (27. Qxe5 Rxe5 28. Nxa6 bxa6 $14 {Only one person can be better here and you don't need to be a GM to know who!}) 27... Qb2 28. Raa1 Re2 29. Qc5 h6 30. Nxa6 bxa6 31. Rab1 Qd2 32. Bf3 Ne4 $5 {[#]} 33. Qxa7 $2 (33. Bxe4 Rxe4 34. Rd1 Qxd1+ 35. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 36. Kg2 {This will most probably end in a draw but White is definitely not under any pressure here.}) 33... Nxf2 $1 { White's position quickly disintegrates.} 34. Bxe2 Nxh3+ 35. Kf1 (35. Kg2 Qxe2+ 36. Kxh3 Rd2 $1 37. Rc8+ Kg7 $19 {There is just no way to prevent mate.}) 35... Qd5 $1 {Very accurate play. Black is a rook down but he is winning thanks to his excellent co-ordination.} 36. Bh5 (36. Ke1 Qh1+ 37. Bf1 Qf3 $3 {A very difficult move to find.} 38. Bxh3 Re8+ 39. Kd2 Re2+ 40. Kd1 Qd3#) 36... Qh1+ 37. Ke2 Qg2+ 38. Ke1 Re8+ 39. Kd1 Nf2+ 40. Kc2 Ne4+ {An unfortunate loss for Veselin and a good start for Giri, who must have not expected to win this game after the position he had after 20 moves.} (40... Ne4+ 41. Kd3 Qd2+ 42. Kc4 Rc8+ 43. Qc5 Rxc5#) 0-1
“I felt like going back in time when I had zero understanding and would set some tactical traps, which my higher rated opponents would fall into,” said Anish in his post-game conference with Daniel King and Jan Gustaffson.
Anish’s wife Sopiko Guramishvili is playing in the FIDE open section
and won her first round game quite convincingly
Hikaru Nakamura played some excellent chess with the black pieces
in the Berlin Defence and very nearly got the better of his opponent…
…but Alexander Grischuk defended tenaciously and with some luck managed to avoid defeat
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.04"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 Be6 11. g4 Ne7 12. Nd4 Bd7 {Many games have reached this position, the most notable being Caruana-Nakamura at the London Chess Classic 2014. Caruana went Re1 in that game, but Grischuk decides on another move.} 13. Kh2 c5 14. Ndb5 Kd8 15. Be3 a6 16. Na3 b6 17. Ne4 (17. Nc4 { It could have been a good idea to get the knight back in the game because later it just remains on a3.}) 17... h5 $1 {Believe it or not the white king is under some serious danger here.} 18. Kg3 (18. g5 {keeps the king safe, but is a positionally horrible move giving up the f5 square.} Bf5 $17) 18... hxg4 19. hxg4 Bc6 (19... Ng6 20. f4 Be7 $15 {[%cal Ge7h4,Gd8c8,Gc8b7]}) 20. Ng5 Ke8 {The king does a good job of defending the c7 and f7 squares!} 21. f4 f5 22. Rad1 g6 $1 {A very nice move, making way for the bishop to develop on h6.} 23. Ne6 $2 (23. Nc4 {was relatively better.} fxg4 24. Kxg4 Bh6 $36) 23... fxg4 $1 24. Nxc7+ Kf7 25. e6+ (25. Nxa8 {The rook on a8 is taboo due to} Nf5+ 26. Kf2 ( 26. Kxg4 Rh4+ 27. Kg5 Be7#) 26... Rh2+ 27. Ke1 (27. Kg1 Rg2+ 28. Kh1 Ng3#) 27... Nxe3 $19) 25... Kg8 $1 (25... Kf6 26. Kxg4 Nf5 27. Bf2 {is unclear.}) 26. Kxg4 Ra7 $1 {The knight on c7 is trapped.} 27. Rd7 $1 {The best practical chance.} Nf5 $1 (27... Bxd7 28. exd7 Nc6 29. Ne8 {is unclear.}) 28. Bf2 Nh6+ 29. Kg3 Nf5+ 30. Kg4 Be7 31. Rfd1 Nh6+ (31... Rh5 $1 {The idea is to get the rook out before giving the Nh6+} 32. Rxe7 (32. Nc4 $2 Nh6+ 33. Kg3 Bh4+ 34. Kh3 Bxf2# $19) 32... Nxe7 $17 {Black should win this.}) 32. Kg3 Nf5+ 33. Kg4 Nh6+ 34. Kg3 Rh7 $6 (34... Kf8 $1) 35. Nc4 Nf5+ 36. Kg4 Nh6+ 37. Kg3 Nf5+ 38. Kg4 Nh6+ {A narrow save for Grischuk. Nakamura must be quite upset about missing this golden opportunity.} 1/2-1/2
Nothing drastic happened in the 6.d3 Ruy Lopez game between these two –
the players agreed to a truce in 51 moves.
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.04"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2787"] [BlackElo "2781"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] {Nothing really drastic happens in this game. White seems to have a small edge but Black methodically fights against it and equalizes.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3 d6 9. a3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. d4 Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Nc6 13. d5 Nb8 14. Be3 Qc8 15. Qe2 Nbd7 16. Rd1 Qb7 17. Raa1 Rfc8 18. h3 Rab8 19. Nh2 h5 20. Nf3 Nb6 21. Bg5 g6 22. Na2 c6 23. dxc6 Rxc6 24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25. Nb4 Rc4 26. Nd5 Be7 (26... Nxd5 27. Rxd5 Be7 $11 { The knight is far away from the d5 square.}) 27. Nxb6 Qxb6 28. c3 a5 29. Rd5 Rc5 30. Rad1 b4 31. Rxc5 Qxc5 32. Rd5 Qa7 33. axb4 axb4 34. c4 Rc8 35. b3 Rc5 36. Rxc5 Qxc5 {It seems as if Black has the edge here because of the idea of Bd8-b6. But White methodically unravels himself.} 37. g3 $1 {First getting the king to a better square.} Bd8 38. Qd2 Bb6 39. Kg2 Kg7 40. Ne1 $1 {The knight comes from c2-e3 and the game will end in a draw, as Black will have to chop the knight. It cannot be allowed to get to d5.} Qc7 41. Nc2 Bc5 42. Ne3 Bxe3 43. Qxe3 $11 Qc6 44. g4 hxg4 45. hxg4 Qc8 46. Kg3 Qc5 47. Qxc5 dxc5 48. g5 Kf8 49. f4 Ke7 50. f5 Kd6 51. f6 1/2-1/2
Michael Adams, the organizer’s nomination to the London leg of the Grand Chess Tour,
began with a solid draw against the five-time World Champion Vishy Anand
Jennifer Shahade asked Vishy Anand on how confident he felt about winning the Grand Chess Tour. “My first aim is to play a good tournament and win the London Chess Classic and then think about the Grand Chess Tour”, was Vishy’s reply.
[Event "7th London Classic 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.04"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2803"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2015.12.04"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Re8 10. Rc1 Bf8 11. Ne4 Nd4 12. Qd2 a5 13. Nc5 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Nd5 15. a3 b6 16. Na4 Bb7 17. Rfe1 Rb8 18. Bg2 Qd7 19. Nc3 Nxe3 20. Qxe3 Bc5 21. Qg5 h6 22. Qh5 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Bd4 24. Rc2 Bxc3 25. Rxc3 c5 26. Rec1 Qb5 27. R1c2 Rbd8 28. Qf3 g6 29. Qb7 Rb8 $1 {Accurate defence by Adams.} ({In the press conference Anand suggested some nice variations starting with} 29... e4 $6 30. dxe4 $1 {This brave move is the best. Black's idea is of course to trap the queen with} (30. Rxc5 $6 {looks possible but after} exd3 $1 31. exd3 (31. Rxb5 $2 dxc2 $1 $19) 31... Qxd3 $11 {The position is round about equal.}) 30... Rd7 {But now White has the killer stroke with} 31. Rxc5 $1 Qxc5 32. Qxd7 $18 { And the e8 rook is also attacked!}) 30. Qd5 Rbd8 31. Qb7 Rb8 32. Qd5 Rbd8 1/2-1/2
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ChessBase are offering free copies of the newly-released Fritz 15, and ChessBase Magazine 169, to the online audience of the 7th London Chess Classic. All viewers will be able to vote online for the best game of each round of the Classic, and one randomly-drawn person will win a prize each day.
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Anand’s hometown Chennai is in turmoil with incessant rainfall which have caused the flooding of many areas in the city. Many people are homeless, while houses are left without electricity and drinking water. Many of the flights from the Chennai airport were cancelled, but Vishy managed to make it to London without too many difficulties. We asked him about Chennai and he sends strength and wishes to the people of his city.
Alejandro Ramirez and Yasser Seirawan are commentating from Saint Louis, USA, for this event
Meanwhile Danny King entertains the audience with fascinating commentary from the playing venue
The inaugural edition of the British knockout championships began with eight players. We are now down to final two – David Howell and Nick Pert. The two will indulge in a six game match which is being played from the 4th to the 9th of December. The first game of the match began as a Grunfeld with Pert having the white pieces. White had a small advantage out of the opening, but indecisive play resulted in a quick draw in just 15 moves.
Richard Pert gives his brother some last minute advice before the game begins.
Richard and Nick are identical twins and it is very easy to confuse one for the other.
Six games is a huge duration and no one would like to begin with a loss – so both played it safe.
[Event "British ch-KO 2015"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2015.12.04"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Pert, Nicholas"] [Black "Howell, David W L"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D73"] [WhiteElo "2569"] [BlackElo "2693"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "29"] [EventDate "2015.12.01"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. c4 dxc4 6. Na3 c3 7. bxc3 O-O 8. O-O c5 9. Re1 Bf5 $6 {This has been played once before by van Wely against Simen Agdestein.} (9... Nc6 {is much better.}) 10. Ng5 $1 {A strong move attacking the b7 pawn.} Bc8 {A sad retreat. At this point White should surely have an advantage.} (10... Nc6 11. d5 Na5 12. e4 Bg4 13. f3 Bc8 14. Be3 {gave White a clear opening edge in Agdestein-van Wely.}) 11. Rb1 h6 12. Nf3 Nc6 13. h3 $6 { A very tame move and the reason for such a quick draw.} (13. e4 $1 {was definitely the best move and would have given White a clear edge.} Bg4 14. d5 $1 Ne5 15. Rxb7 $14) 13... Bf5 14. Rxb7 Be4 (14... Ne4 $1) 15. Rb5 {A draw was agreed, although one can argue that White is a slightly better in the final position.} 1/2-1/2
Nick Pert has been having the tournament of his life. After knocking out Jonathon Hawkins in the quarter-finals, he went on to eliminate Luke McShane in the semis. We caught up with him after his first game against David Howell and did a small interview with him:
Along with the elite event and the British knockout championships, another strong event takes place at the Olympia Centre in London – the London Chess Classic FIDE Open. 216 players from all around the world have come to participate in this event, which has a rating average of 2125. There are 27 grandmasters taking part in the tournament and six of them are above 2600 Elo rating.
With a rating of 2670, ChessBase author Evgeny Postny from Israel is the top seed at the event
You may want to check out Evgeny's ChessBase Magazine recordings in the Shop
There were not many upsets in the first round apart from two experienced GMs Peter Wells and Neil McDonald losing their games to much lower rated opponents Roger De Coverly and Toni Riedner respectively. Tomorrow the FIDE Open will have two rounds at 10 a.m. and 4.30 p.m.
A huge shop with hundreds of books and DVDs on sale is present at the venue
Chess is everywhere at the London Chess Classic. It’s surely a-must-visit-event for every chess lover
Pictures by Amruta Mokal
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| Day and round | English | German |
| 04.12 Friday Round 1 | Merijn van Delft | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| 05.12 Saturday Round 2 | Oliver Reeh/Karsten Müller | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| 06.12 Sunday Round 3 | Merijn van Delft | Oliver Reeh/Karsten Müller |
| 07.12 Monday Round 4 | Merijn van Delft | Georgios Souleidis/Dorian Rogozenco |
| 08.12 Tuesday Round 5 | Merijn van Delft | Oliver Reeh/Dorian Rogozenco |
| 10.12 Thursday Round 6 | Merijn van Delft | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| 11.12 Friday Round 7 | Mihail Marin | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| 12.12 Saturday Round 8 | Georgios Souleidis/Oliver Reeh | Sebastian Siebrecht |
| 13.12 Sunday Round 9 | Yannick Pelletier | Oliver Reeh/Martin Breutigam |
LinksThe 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 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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