London R1 – Carlsen beats Kramnik

by ChessBase
12/8/2009 – The London Chess Classic began with a very convincing victory by top seed Magnus Carlsen over second seed and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who was subtly outplayed by his 19-year-old Norwegian opponent. Luke McShane ground down Nigel Short in a 163-move marathon that lasted seven hours. Game commentary to follow, here's our first picture report.

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Round one report

Round 1: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
 Vladimir Kramnik
Luke McShane 
1-0
 Nigel Short
David Howell 
½-½
 Michael Adams
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
 Ni Hua

A full report on the games will be provided on Wednesday morning. For now we provide you with visual impressions of the first round of the 2009 London Chess Classic.


A full theatre at the start of the London Chess Classic 2009, with the players in the front row
waiting to be introduced (Nakamura, McShane, Carlsen, Howell, Adams, Kramnik, Short, Ni Hua)


Waiting for the opponent – Magnus on the stage


The handshake at the top board: Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik


Kramnik in action


British Champion David Howell, who caused Michael Adams some anxious moments


Michael Adams, already a veteran, facing the new generation


The start of what would turn out to be the longest battle of the day


The games under way on the stage of the Olympia Conference Center


The commentary room, where the games were commented by experts for the public


The audience follows the commentary in London


GM Steven Gordon and IM Lawrence Trent broadcast their analysis live on Playchess


Frederic Friedel and Daniel King working on the live broadcast for the official site


Meanwhile in the theatre Carlsen kibitzes in the game Adams vs Howell


US GM Hikaru Nakamura got a very promising position against Ni Hua


Inner British battle between Nigel Short and Luke McShane


Nigel Short suffering in his game, which lasted seven hours


Magnus Carlsen ponders his 43rd move...


...which he plays at 7:21 p.m., after which the young Norwegian...


... waits on the stage for his opponent to return from the rest area


Vladimir Kramnik returns and ponders the position after 43.Ne2...


...and at 7:26 p.m. resigns the game

Photos by Frederic Friedel and Pascal Simon in London

From Magnus Carlsen's Arctic Securities blog

The game against Kramnik today was quite important as we’re ranked one and two in this tournament. A couple of hundred spectators followed the games in the auditorium. I played 1.c4 and the English opening. The ambition was to obtain a complicated position but not necessarily an advantage out of the opening. Kramnik seems slightly uncomfortable in the kind of position that arose. I won a pawn after a tense middle game, but black had considerable compensation. At this point he made several inaccuracies and around the first time control his position went from being difficult to being lost. He resigned a few moves after the time control in face of mate or big material losses. That evens our internal score in classical chess (two victories each) and I’ve got a wonderful start to this tournament!

7th ranked Luke McShane won a marathon endgame against Nigel Short while the other two games ended with draw. I commented on the game for a large audience and press after the game. I'm impressed by the interest in the tournament so far. Wednesday I’m playing white against co-leader McShane. Magnus Carlsen, London December 8th 2009.

Courtesy of the Arctic Securities web site

Schedule and results

Round 1: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Magnus Carlsen 
1-0
 Vladimir Kramnik
Luke McShane 
1-0
 Nigel Short
David Howell 
½-½
 Michael Adams
Hikaru Nakamura 
½-½
 Ni Hua
Round 1: Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Vladimir Kramnik 

-

 Ni Hua

Michael Adams 

-

 Hikaru Nakamura

Nigel Short 

-

 David Howell

Magnus Carlsen 

-

 Luke McShane

Games – Report
Round 1: Thuesday, December 10, 2009

Luke McShane 

-

 Vladimir Kramnik

David Howell 

-

 Magnus Carlsen

Hikaru Nakamura 

-

 Nigel Short

Ni Hua 

-

 Michael Adams

Games – Report

Friday, December 12, 2009

Rest day

Round 1: Saturday, December 12, 2009

Vladimir Kramnik 

-

 Michael Adams

Nigel Short 

-

 Ni Hua

Magnus Carlsen 

-

 Hikaru Nakamura

Luke McShane 

-

 David Howell

Games – Report
Round 1: Sunday, December 13, 2009

David Howell 

-

Vladimir Kramnik

Hikaru Nakamura 

-

Luke McShane

Ni Hua 

-

Magnus Carlsen

Michael Adams 

-

Nigel Short

Games – Report
Round 1: Monday, December 14, 2009

Vladimir Kramnik 

-

Nigel Short

Magnus Carlsen 

-

Michael Adams

Luke McShane 

-

Ni Hua

David Howell 

-

Hikaru Nakamura

Games – Report
Round 1: Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Hikaru Nakamura 

-

 Vladimir Kramnik

Ni Hua 

-

 David Howell

Michael Adams 

-

 Luke McShane

Nigel Short 

-

 Magnus Carlsen

Games – Report

Tournament Schedule

Monday 7th December Press Conference + blindfold display  

Tuesday

8th December

Round 1

2.00pm

Wednesday 

9th December

Round 2

2.00pm

Thursday

10th December

Round 3

2.00pm

Friday 11th December Rest day and Community / School events  

Saturday

12th December

Round 4

2.00pm

Sunday

13th December

Round 5

2.00pm

Monday

14th December

Round 6

2.00pm

Tuesday

15th December

Round 7

12.00pm


Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!


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