Wesley So, double winner in London

London Chess Classic 2016: Round 9

Veselin Topalov - Levon Aronian / Notes by Krikor Mekhitarian

Krikor Mekhitarian's commentary will also be in the next ChessBase Magazine #176, together with all the games of the London Chess Classic, a lot of them annotated - and much more. ChessBase Magazine #175, the current issue, also contains a wealth of material and annotated games by Vladimir Kramnik, Wesley So, David Navara, Pavel Eljanov, Simon Williams, Daniel King any many other exclusive authors.  Have a look!

London Chess Classic 2016: the games

Game of the day video by Daniel King

So – Vachier-Lagrave
The winner of this year’s Grand Chess Tour only needed a draw to secure first place (given the fact Caruana wouldn’t win his game against Giri) and kept matters calm against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who loves to counterattack. So chose a quiet English setup with White. The Frenchman tried to unbalance the game, but with 6.d4 the centre was opened, and the occurring mess fizzled out peacefully. Neither White nor Black was in real danger in this last encounter. Draw it was. Congratulations to the winner of the tournament and Grand Chess tour. All in all, both repeated the same line they played in Leuven. Vachier-Lagrave deviated, but So was well prepared. The game finished within the first hour. Now it was on Caruana to decide how to catch up with the tournament leader.

In an interview with Maurice Ashley after the game, Wesley So again displayed his modesty. He said he was grateful to play this event and that he wants to learn from his mistakes. As the commentator Alejandro Ramirez remarked, Wesley So has to fly back without learning much, because there weren’t any mistakes to learn from this time.

Anand – Kramnik
Both players know each other well. According to his repertoire, there was not much to do for the Russian with Black. In accordance with Garry Kasparov’s declaration "It’s up to White to create complications", all that Kramnik could do was offer some imbalances with the choice to play with hanging pawns. Anand was ready for the encounter, and a dynamic balance wasn’t to be disturbed by unnecessary risks. Both players were ready to play for three results, but in fact, an early repetition was the logical outcome.

Vladimir Kramnik said that he wasn’t too content with his result in the tournament. To play such an event successfully you don't only have to avoid mistakes, he said. It’s also about picking up your chances, and that he failed to do so in the fifth round against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

The game between former World Champions Anand and Kramnik was also a draw.
Photo: @fionchetta pic.twitter.com/Qxng8GNYbL

— London Chess Classic (@london_chess) December 18, 2016

Aronian – Topalov
The Bulgarian had a terrible tournament and is not in the top 20 anymore. In Saint Louis he was showing some remarkable chess, but this time it was just a horrible tournament. His encounter with the Armenian was the longest game this Sunday, but without significance for the outcome of the tournament. However, the last round might be a little moral redemption. Not losing the fighting spirit is proving a remarkable stamina.

Aronian had a dark moment against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, when pressing too hard proved to be fatal against the counterattack specialist. Now the Armenian experienced a similar situation; being tired after hours of play, he presented Topalov with chances to go for the full point. Topalov: "After the first time control, he pushed too hard, it was just equal."

Veselin Topalov also revealed that his little daughter was born not too long ago. He said he hasn't much sleep these days, but his results are not caused by this. It's more due to the lack of proper preparation.

The #LondonChess Classic ends with a bang as Veselin Topalov beats Levon Aronian in the last game of the tournament!
Photo: @LennartOotes pic.twitter.com/ZSm7rdfQ9Q

— London Chess Classic (@london_chess) December 18, 2016

Giri – Caruana
The number two of the ranking list tried to unbalance the game with accepting the Queen’s Gambit. Anish Giri chose a system championed by Rubinstein. Harmless, but solid. Caruana was completely fine with Black, but a draw wouldn’t help him in the tournament. He had to win to tie with tournament (and tour) winner) Wesley So.

But Giri didn’t invite Caruana to a real fight. The moment the tension was gone, Caruana committed a minor mistake with 27…e5, when the pawn was in danger suddenly. But the game ended in a draw anyway – with Giri finishing with 9/9 draws. Not much of a chance for Giri to join the Grand Chess Tour next year. In a conspicuously relaxed attitude, Giri said, he would have to seek out for a life on the streets next year, playing with the hustlers, or play some other tournaments. Should help to work on his street fighting spirits.

Adams – Nakamura
To finish the tournament successfully and to secure the participation of the Grand Chess Tour next year, Hikaru Nakamura only needed a draw to secure second place in the overall table of the Grand Chess Tour, so he chose the Berlin against Michael Adams. There was not much to do for the Englishman. No big surprise that the game ended peacefully. Second place in the GCT means $50.000 for Nakamura.

For the next year, these players qualified for the Grand Chess Tour 2017, which is very much the core of the US national team that won gold in Baku:

Watch the moments of the finale:

Next year the format will change a bit, when all the results will count: