
London Chess Classic 2011
The 2011 London Chess Classic took place in the Olympia
Conference Centre from Saturday, December 3rd until Monday, December 12th.
Time controls were classical forty moves in two hours, then twenty moves in
one hour and thirty minutes for the rest of the game. A win counted as three
points, a draw as one, and a loss zero. Tiebreaks: 1) number of wins, 2) number
of wins with Black, 3) result of the individual game between the tied players.
The total prize fund is €160,000 before tax.
Vlad All Over
Round nine report by John Saunders
Round 9:
Monday, December 12, 2011 |
Luke McShane |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Hikaru Nakamura |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
Nigel Short |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
David Howell (bye) – assisting
commentary |

Many congratulations to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, who has won the third London
Chess Classic. If you needed someone to save your life by getting a draw with
white, Kramnik would be most people’s first choice. He was solidity personified
against Levon Aronian, rapidly liquidating to a level bishop ending. That gave
him the point he needed to take the trophy.

Magnus Carlsen could still have shared the money (though not the trophy) with
Vlad had he won with black against Nigel Short in their now traditional last
round encounter but he had rather worst of things. The game started with the
Giuoco Pianissimo – ‘very quiet game’ – which most of
us learn when we are beginners. “I haven’t played this since I was
about eight,” said Nigel. “I haven’t scored with White in
this event and I decided to play something incredibly boring. Magnus tried to
inject some excitement into [the game] – but the excitement was all for
White.” Nigel managed a picturesque d4-d5 thrust, which was a very useful
pawn sacrifice, and the resultant activity saw him go from a pawn down to a
pawn up. He was close to winning at one stage and Magnus admitted he “played
a horrible series of moves” to get himself into difficulties.
However, it turned out to be what chess writers like to call a ‘symbolic
advantage’ only. Nigel was a pawn up, but with all the pawns on one side
of the board, and the world number one defending stoutly, his winning chances
abated. He indulged in the ritual torture that all GMs practise against each
other in such positions (it is part of the unwritten grandmaster’s code
– your opponent tortures you when he or she gets the chance, so you are
honour bound to do the same back to them). But it was unlikely to bear fruit
against the world’s top rated player and a draw was the result.
The first move in McShane-Anand was executed by Yasmin Qureshi, the British-Pakistani
Labour Party Member of Parliament for Bolton – the town Nigel Short hails
from
Luke McShane faced the world champion Vishy Anand with White. Vishy played
the Caro-Kann and the play was fairly balanced. A repetition led to early peace
terms.

Hikaru Nakamura in his final game in London
The game of the day was Hikaru Nakamura versus Mickey Adams and was earmarked
as such from the moment that Hikaru played the King’s Gambit. As with
the previous outing in the tournament for this museum piece of an opening (when
Nigel Short played it against Luke McShane), initial exuberance soon gave way
to caution and tentativeness as Hikaru tucked his king away on h1 and allowed
a c4 counter-thrust. A pleasantly piratical game ensued, with White launching
a pawn assault on the queenside as Mickey Adams pointed his bishops at the white
kingside.
Watching in the VIP room was a fascinating experience as the super-GMs who
had finished their games were joined by Garry Kasparov (above) and other former
greats of the game.

Commentators in the VIP room: GM Julian Hodgson and...

...GM Stuart Conquest, both always excruciatingly entertaining
GMs Julian Hodgson and Stuart Conquest were the commentators there but for
once they were heavily outgunned by the audience. Black seemed to hold sway
for much of the game but eventually the great pendulum swung in White’s
direction. Garry Kasparov it was who first spotted the change in wind direction:
“38 Rfe1 and now it looks better for White.” A blunder followed
and White duly triumphed, taking Hikaru Nakamura to clear second in the table
and condemning poor Mickey Adams to last place. Credit to both players, though,
for providing the last round audience with a feast of chess entertainment.

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nxd5 6.0-0 Be6 7.Bb3 c5 8.Kh1 8.d4 cxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 10.Ba4 Rc8 8...Nc6 9.d4 c4 10.Ba4 10.Bxc4 Ne3 11.Bxe3 Bxc4 12.Bxf4 Bxf1 13.Qxf1 Bd6 10...Bd6 11.b3 c3 11...cxb3 12.axb3 12.Qd3 0-0 13.Bxc6 bxc6 14.Nxc3 Re8 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.c4 Be4 17.Qc3 a5 18.a3 f6 19.Bb2 Ra7 20.Rad1 Rae7 20...Rb7 21.Rfe1 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Kh8 23.Qb3 Rb7 24.Bc3 Qb8 25.b5 cxb5 26.c5 b4 27.Bd2 Bf8 28.Rde1 g5 29.Qc4! g4 29...b3 30.c6 Ra7 31.Bc3 b2 32.Nd2 Bxc6!? 33.Qxc6 Rc8 34.Qxf6+ Bg7 35.Qxg5 Rxc3 30.Nh4 30.Ne5!? Bxg2+ 31.Kxg2 fxe5 32.dxe5 f3+ 30...f3 30...b3 31.c6 Ra7 32.Bc3 Qd6 33.Qxb3 Qxc6 31.d5 fxg2+ 32.Nxg2 Bf3 33.Kg1 Rc8 34.c6 Rb5 34...Bd6 35.Bf4!? 35.Nf4 35.Rxf3 gxf3 36.Nf4 Bd6 35...Bc5+ 36.Be3 Bxe3+? 36...Qb6 37.Bxc5 Rxc5 38.Qd4 R5xc6! 37.Rxe3 Qb6 38.Rfe1 b3?? 38...Rc5?? 39.Re8+ Rxe8 40.Rxe8+ Kg7 41.Ne6+ Kf7 42.Nxc5 Kxe8 43.d6! 38...Ra5 39.Qc3! Rf8 40.Ne6! b2 41.c7! 41.c7 b1Q 42.Qxf6+! Rxf6 43.c8Q+ 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Nakamura,H | 2758 | Adams,M | 2734 | 1–0 | 2011 | C36 | London Chess Classic | 9 |
Please, wait...
So that’s the third London Chess Classic over and done with. The end
of a chess tournament is always a melancholic affair, as the organisers pack
up the equipment and take down score tables, the winners lug home their trophies,
the unsuccessful slink away to lick their wounds, and old chess friends part
company for the dreary-seeming ‘real world’.
Just as I myself was getting ready to leave for home, I saw something I had
never seen before on such occasions: a young man sitting playing a guitar on
a bench just outside the commentary room. And playing quite beautifully, too.
I love playing the guitar but I cannot play like this talented young man. I
stood and listened to him giving this impromptu concert, all on his own outside
the now deserted commentary room. Presently, Nigel Short happened to be passing
and he too, as a guitar aficionado, stopped and marvelled at the music coming
from the young man’s unusual eight-stringed instrument. “Fantastic!”
exclaimed the grandmaster.

Alf Lundberg's guitarre has eight strings, with an extra A-string above
and below the usual six
The young man was Alf Wilhelm Lundberg, from Norway, and you too can listen
to some of his music at his website.
I asked him what he was doing there. He told me he happened to be in England
and had stopped by to see his famous compatriot Magnus Carlsen, but he had missed
him – the world number one had already departed. He’s a chessplayer
too, incidentally. Norway – great chessplayers and great guitarists. Sounds
like my sort of country.
On that note, I must close. Dear reader, I hope I have been able to bring to
life some of the thrills, incidents and excitement of a wonderful tournament
for you. It has been a great privilege to write for you. I wish you all the
compliments of the season - may Caïssa go with you in 2012 and may your
errors not be of the double question mark variety.
Final standings (London scoring)

Final standings (traditional scoring)

Schedule and results
Round
1: Saturday, December 3, 2011 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½ |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Levon Aronian |
½-½ |
Luke McShane |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
David Howell |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Nigel Short (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Round
2: Sunday, December 4, 2011 |
David Howell |
½-½ |
Michael Adams |
Luke McShane |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Hikaru Nakamura |
1-0 |
Levon Aronian |
Nigel Short |
0-1 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Vishy Anand (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Round
3: Monday, December 5, 2011 |
Levon Aronian |
1-0 |
Nigel Short |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Michael Adams |
0-1 |
Luke McShane |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
David Howell |
Vladimir Kramnik (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
4: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 |
Magnus Carlsen |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Michael Adams |
0-1 |
Nigel Short |
Vishy Anand |
0-1 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
David Howell |
0-1 |
Luke McShane |
Levon Aronian (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Wednesday,
December 7, 2011 Rest day |
|
Round
5: Thursday, December 8, 2011 |
Hikaru Nakamura |
1-0 |
David Howell |
Nigel Short |
0-1 |
Vishy Anand |
Vladimir Kramnik |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
Levon Aronian |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Luke McShane (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Round
6: Friday, December 9, 2011 |
Michael Adams |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Vladimir Kramnik |
David Howell |
½-½ |
Nigel Short |
Luke McShane |
½-½ |
Hikaru Nakamura |
Magnus Carlsen (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
7: Saturday, December 10, 2011 |
Nigel Short |
0-1 |
Luke McShane |
Vladimir Kramnik |
1-0 |
David Howell |
Levon Aronian |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Magnus Carlsen |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
Hikaru Nakamura (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
8: Sunday, December 11, 2011 |
Vishy Anand |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
David Howell |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
Luke McShane |
0-1 |
Vladimir Kramnik |
Hikaru Nakamura |
½-½ |
Nigel Short |
Michael Adams (bye) –
assisting commentary |
|
Round
9: Monday, December 12, 2011 |
Luke McShane |
½-½ |
Vishy Anand |
Hikaru Nakamura |
1-0 |
Michael Adams |
Nigel Short |
½-½ |
Magnus Carlsen |
Vladimir Kramnik |
½-½ |
Levon Aronian |
David Howell (bye) – assisting
commentary |
|
Links
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 and get
immediate access. Or you can get our latest Fritz
13 program, which includes six months free premium membership to Playchess. |
|
Copyright
ChessBase