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The London Super Sixteen rapid tournament has started. The main event of the London Chess Classic takes place from December 11th to December 15th at the Olympiad Conference Center in London, England. The tournament brings together many of the best players of the World as well as two qualifiers from the Open section of the London Chess Classic.
Players were divided into four groups initially, to play a double round robin between them and determine two qualifiers to the knock out stages.
A guitar performance opened the event
The groups are as follows:
Group A
Name | Rating |
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
Michael Adams | 2761 |
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
Luke McShane | 2697 |
A very close group. Despite Anand having focused so much energy in the recent World Chess Championship, it is cear that he is a magnificent rapid chess player and he has excellent chances of making it out of the group stage. Luke McShane will have to prove that he is not rusty to be able to have a chance of second, while it seems that more realistically the second place will be a toss-up between Adams and Istratescu.
Group B
Name | Rating |
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
Despite Sadler's unquestionable talent and his magnificent return to chess with an over 2900 performance in a recent tournament, it is unlikely Rowson or him have a chance against Kramnik and Svidler. Surprises are always fun but it's hard to expect one here.
Group C
Name | Rating |
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 |
Boris Gelfand | 2764 |
Judit Polgar | 2696 |
Gawain Jones | 2633 |
Gelfand and Nakamura come as the favorites in this group, unquestionably, but unlike Group B this one is rather dangerous. Polgar is an experienced tactician who has defeated Kasparov in rapid time controls, so she is a force to be reckoned with. Further Gawain Jones is very talented and he can take away a key half or even full point from the favorites to make the group interesting.
Group D
Name | Rating |
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
Nigel Short | 2684 |
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
David Howell | 2644 |
Probably the hardest group to call. Caruana has a nice rating advantage over his opponents but rapid and blitz have never been his strong suit. On the other hand there is Nigel Short who can always play amazing chess if he feels like it, Sutovsky who is very experienced and Howell who is still young and talented.
Young players checking out who is in the Super Sixteen
Round 01 – Group A: Wednesday December 11th, 14:00 | ||||
Luke McShane | 2697 |
0-1
|
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
0-1
|
Michael Adams | 2761 |
Round 01 – Group B: Wednesday December 11th, 14:00 | ||||
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
1-0
|
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
1-0
|
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
Round 01 – Group C: Wednesday December 11th, 15:30 | ||||
Boris Gelfand | 2764 |
1-0
|
Judit Polgar | 2696 |
Gawain Jones | 2633 |
½-½
|
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 |
Round 01 – Group D: Wednesday December 11th, 15:30 | ||||
Nigel Short | 2684 |
½-½
|
David Howell | 2644 |
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
1-0
|
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
This English duel ended in a fought draw
Relatively few surprises were seen on round one. What we did see was a flurry of decisive results. Istratescu's English Opening against Adams was more than shady, and the highest rated English player played a nice technical game to win with Black.
Istratescu (left) qualified from the Open Section, as did Sutovsky
Luke McShane's game however was very different. He valiantly sacrificed a pawn in the opening and soon obtained a winning position as Anand had to surrender an exchange. Unfortunately for McShane his followup was less than stellar and his technique was atrocious, so much so that Anand even got a winning endgame being down the exchange...
Gelfand doesn't seem to approve of such aggression on move one
Svidler essayed one of those novel opening ides with the knight on the rim against Kramnik and his position was actually rather playable out of the first few moves. A miscalculation left Kramnik down a rook and a pawn against two pieces and Black was certainly looking like he had good chances to win. Carelessness however tied Black's pieces down to each other and a nice tactical coup with the king spelled disaster for Svidler's position.
Caruana won a nice tactical melee:
[Event "5th London Chess Classic Rapid"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.12.11"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Sutovsky, Emil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2657"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 d6 4. h3 c5 5. dxc5 Qa5+ 6. Qd2 Qxc5 7. Nc3 {An unusual opening. White has a relatively nice central control and the game would resemble the Sicilian if White ever plays e4, which looks natural.} Bf5 $5 {Bur Sutovsky will have none of that. Caruana however really wants to play e4.} 8. Nd4 Ne4 $5 9. Nxe4 Bxe4 10. f3 Bc6 11. e4 e5 $2 {Based entirely on a miscalculation.} (11... Bg7 12. Be3 Qe5 13. Bc4 O-O 14. O-O Nd7 {was playable for both sides, even though the awkward bishop on c6 might mean that White has a slight edge as he will be able to target it while preparing f4-f5 type of ideas in the long run.}) 12. Be3 {Caruana has seen further in this position:} exd4 13. Bxd4 Bh6 14. Qf2 Qa5+ 15. Bc3 $1 {The bishop keeps the double attack on the rook on h8 and the queen.} Qd8 16. Bxh8 f6 {a last ditch attempt to trap the bishop on h8, which would give Black a pleasant position. However Caruana will not give Sutovsky that kind of time.} 17. Qh4 Bg5 18. Qxh7 Qa5+ 19. c3 Nd7 20. Qxg6+ Ke7 {Maybe in a normal game Sutovsky would have resigned, but this is rapid chess!} 21. h4 Be3 22. Bxf6+ $1 {A beautiful finish} (22. Bg7 Qb6 23. Rb1 Bf2+ {is winning for White but counterplay is the only way that Black can get back into this game.}) 22... Nxf6 23. Qg7+ Ke6 24. g3 {Cold blooded calculation. The problem for Black is that he cannot prevent Bh3+ with devasting consequences.} Bf2+ $1 {very resourceful} 25. Kd2 $1 (25. Kxf2 Qb6+ 26. Kg2 Qxb2+ 27. Kh3 Qxc3 {leaves White with a lot of extra material, but his position is somewhat uncomfortable and far from immediately winning.}) 25... Be3+ $1 26. Kc2 $1 {The kamikaze bishop has been avoided and White's king is surprisingly safer on c2 than on h3.} Bxe4+ 27. fxe4 Qa4+ 28. b3 Qxe4+ 29. Kb2 (29. Bd3 $4 Qg2+ {spoils absolutely everything.}) 29... Qf3 30. Bh3+ Kd5 {A very pretty game full of resources. Caruana made it look easy!} 1-0
Hikaru Nakamura held on by the skin of his teeth against Gawain Jones but he was able to set up a fortress and hold a draw. Meanwhile Gelfand convincingly beat Polgar. Finally the Short-Howell game was spectacularly weird but it somehow ended in a draw.
Kramnik won a game he probably should not have against Svidler
Round 02 – Group A: Wednesday December 11th, 18:00 | ||||
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
½-½
|
Michael Adams | 2761 |
Luke McShane | 2697 |
1-0
|
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
Round 02 – Group B: Wednesday December 11th, 18:00 | ||||
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
½-½
|
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
1-0
|
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
Round 02 – Group C: Wednesday December 11th, 19:30 | ||||
Judit Polgar | 2696 |
0-1
|
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 |
Boris Gelfand | 2764 |
1-0
|
Gawain Jones | 2633 |
Round 02 – Group D: Wednesday December 11th, 19:30 | ||||
David Howell | 2644 |
1-0
|
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
Nigel Short | 2684 |
0-1
|
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
Anand and Adams played a "real game" instead of a rapid and played some theory, exchanged some pieces and solidly drew. McShane's game against Istratescu was complicated, wild and razor sharp, and the Englishman took it in the end with a beautiful finishing checkmate.
Svidler misplayed horribly his white side of a French against Sadler and had to resort to some tactics to force a perpetual. Kramnik just steamrolled over Rowson from a Reti opening.
Polgar had the advantage all throughout the game against Nakamura, probably a winning advantage too, but she misplayed the position badly and the American was able to convert an endgame that should have been harder than it was. Gelfand always had a nagging edge against Jones who blundered in an endgame which might have been held.
Howell took advantage of a blunder by Sutovsky to win an exchange and the game. Nigel Short played a ridiculous opening against Caruana (1.b4), proceeded to play in consistent ridiculous fashion and was promptly checkmated.
The Lawrence Trent and Danny King duo are doing a fantastic job doing the live analysis of the games
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Round 01 – Group A: Wednesday December 11th, 14:00 | ||||
Luke McShane | 2697 |
0-1
|
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
0-1
|
Michael Adams | 2761 |
Round 01 – Group B: Wednesday December 11th, 14:00 | ||||
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
1-0
|
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
1-0
|
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
Round 01 – Group C: Wednesday December 11th, 15:30 | ||||
Boris Gelfand | 2764 |
1-0
|
Judit Polgar | 2696 |
Gawain Jones | 2633 |
½-½
|
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 |
Round 01 – Group D: Wednesday December 11th, 15:30 | ||||
Nigel Short | 2684 |
½-½
|
David Howell | 2644 |
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
1-0
|
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
Round 02 – Group A: Wednesday December 11th, 18:00 | ||||
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
|
Michael Adams | 2761 |
Luke McShane | 2697 |
|
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
Round 02 – Group B: Wednesday December 11th, 18:00 | ||||
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
|
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
|
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
Round 02 – Group C: Wednesday December 11th, 19:30 | ||||
Judit Polgar | 2696 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 | |
Boris Gelfand | 2764 | Gawain Jones | 2633 | |
Round 02 – Group D: Wednesday December 11th, 19:30 | ||||
David Howell | 2644 |
|
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
Nigel Short | 2684 |
|
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
Round 03 – Group C: Thursday December 12th, 14:00 | ||||
Gawain Jones | 2633 | Judit Polgar | 2696 | |
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 | Boris Gelfand | 2764 | |
Round 03 – Group D: Thursday December 12th, 14:00 | ||||
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
|
David Howell | 2644 |
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
|
Nigel Short | 2684 |
Round 03 – Group A: Thursday December 12th, 15:30 | ||||
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
|
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
Michael Adams | 2761 |
|
Luke McShane | 2697 |
Round 03 – Group B: Thursday December 12th, 15:30 | ||||
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
|
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
|
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
Round 04 – Group C: Thursday December 12th, 18:00 | ||||
Judit Polgar | 2696 | Boris Gelfand | 2764 | |
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 | Gawain Jones | 2633 | |
Round 04 – Group D: Thursday December 12th, 18:00 | ||||
David Howell | 2644 |
|
Nigel Short | 2684 |
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
|
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
Round 04 – Group A: Thursday December 12th, 19:30 | ||||
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
|
Luke McShane | 2697 |
Michael Adams | 2761 |
|
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
Round 04 – Group B: Thursday December 12th, 19:30 | ||||
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
|
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
|
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
Round 05 – Group A: Friday December 13th, 14:00 | ||||
Luke McShane | 2697 |
|
Michael Adams | 2761 |
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
|
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
Round 05 – Group B: Friday December 13th, 14:00 | ||||
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
|
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
|
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
Round 05 – Group C: Friday December 13th, 15:30 | ||||
Boris Gelfand | 2764 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 | |
Judit Polgar | 2696 | Gawain Jones | 2633 | |
Round 05 – Group D: Friday December 13th, 15:30 | ||||
Nigel Short | 2684 |
|
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
David Howell | 2644 |
|
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
Round 06 – Group A: Friday December 13th, 18:00 | ||||
Michael Adams | 2761 |
|
Vishy Anand | 2775 |
Andrei Istratescu | 2709 |
|
Luke McShane | 2697 |
Round 06 – Group B: Friday December 13th, 18:00 | ||||
Matthew Sadler | 2646 |
|
Peter Svidler | 2746 |
Jonathan Rowson | 2573 |
|
Vladimir Kramnik | 2794 |
Round 06 – Group C: Friday December 13th, 19:30 | ||||
Hikaru Nakamura | 2772 | Judit Polgar | 2696 | |
Gawain Jones | 2633 | Boris Gelfand | 2764 | |
Round 06 – Group D: Friday December 13th, 19:30 | ||||
Emil Sutovsky | 2663 |
|
David Howell | 2644 |
Fabiano Caruana | 2779 |
|
Nigel Short | 2684 |
Photographs by Ray Morris-Hill
LinksThe 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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |