11/22/2021 – The UK’s favourite chess festival, the London Chess Classic, organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC), is back for its 12th edition on December 3-12, 2021 at a brand new venue, the Cavendish Conference Centre in central London. Due to limitations on numbers imposed by Covid, the festival will look a little different this year – but the organisers are sure that chess fans will like the fantastic range of events on offer.

7/26/2019 – Boris Johnson has completed an improbable rise to the top of British politics. After the resignation of Theresa May as the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, Johnson is next in line to unravel the Gordian knot of the so-called "Brexit". Back in 2014, as the Mayor of London, he was a guest at the London Chess Classic and spoke clever things about the game of chess. But is his game up to the task ahead?

12/18/2018 – Tuesdays at 18:00 CEST (5:00 pm UK time, Noon EDT) Lawrence Trent brings you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments. This week Lawrence looks at the British Knockouts from the London Chess Classic.

6/25/2018 – IM Malcolm Pein, now a candidate for FIDE Deputy President, took time out from a full schedule for a chat with Macauley Peteron in Leuven at the end of the "Your Next Move Rapid and Blitz" tournament. Malcolm discussed the Grand Chess Tour, the FIDE / Agon proposed "broadcast policy," the upcoming World Championship in London, and his thoughts on the election including having his old friend Nigel Short as a political sparring partner. | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

12/22/2017 – In addition to the London Chess Classic, let's not forget the British Knockout Championships. Luke McShane beat David Howell in the final, but it took a tiebreak to do it. Video interview with both players. Plus, in the extremely strong London Classic Open, Gabriel Sargissian lead a trio on 7½ / 9. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

12/19/2017 – Tuesdays at 5pm UK time Lawrence Trent goes on air on Playchess.com. In his show Lawrence Trent will be dealing with the latest trends, games and combinations from the elite chess tournaments. This week features games from the London Chess Classic, European Rapid and Blitz and Russian Superfinals!

12/1/2017 – Magnus Carlsen played against his great predecessor, the 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov yesterday at the Pro-Biz Cup kick-off to the London Chess Classic 2017. Guess who won? Games, photos and info... | Photo: John Saunders

1/2/2017 – One player who did exceedingly well in 2016 is Wesley So. The 23-year-old won two super tournaments – the Sinquefield Cup and London Chess Classic, he helped the US win team gold in the Chess Olympiad in Baku where So also won gold for the best performance on board three. So also won the Grand Chess Tour ahead of legends such as Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and others. We got in touch with Wesley So to talk about the London Chess Classic and the chess decisions in much greater detail.

12/21/2016 – Every chess tournament has its share of errors, mistakes, blunders, no matter whether amateurs or the world's best players try their skills. Jon Speelman takes a look at agonizing moments from the London Chess Classic.

12/16/2016 – The man of the day was once again Hikaru Nakamura. After his devastating loss in the round before, he didn't hesitate to opt for the ultrasharp 6.Bg5 in the Najdorf and destroyed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in exemplary fashion - as shown by Georg Meier in his notes. By the way, it was the same line, Nakamura went to rack and ruin with Black the day before. The other four games ended in a draw, Wesley So remains in the lead, Fabiano Caruana is trailing him by half a point. Mehr...

12/16/2016 – Wesley So might be the newest member of the U.S. Chess team, and many may consider him to be a “transfer”, but he is slowly growing in popularity. After helping the U.S. team win a gold medal in Baku and doing it with such grace and style, it is no wonder the U.S. is falling for the American-Filipino.

12/12/2016 – We all witnessed Nakamura’s painful defeat against Wesley So in round 1, which meant that he Hikaru’s birthday did not go the way he intended. We all watched him put Vishy through the same pain yesterday on his 47th birthday, meaning that birthdays seem to be unlucky in chess! Sabrina Chevannes reports...

12/10/2016 – The London Chess Classic kicked off quite fast as today's 2nd round brought three decisive games. Anand showed good preparation against the Najdorf and didn't shy away when Maxime Vachier-Lagrave gave him the chance to sacrifice an exchange - notes by Krikor Mekhitarian. Wesley So nurtured a slight but nagging advantage against Adams until the Englishman collapsed. Topalov and Caruana played a rollercoaster game but in the end the star from the U.S. had the better of it.

12/9/2016 – Three decisive games - the London Chess Classic is on. Georg Meier shows how Vladimir Kramnik outplayed Veselin Topalov from the opening to score a quick and clean win. Hikaru Nakamura celebrated his 29th birthday but blundered in the opening and lost in 28 moves against Wesley So. Michael Adams also blundered and lost against Levon Aronian. Report, results, games...

12/9/2016 – One of the many attractions of the London Chess Classic is the Pro-Biz Cup. It offers businessmen the chance to team up with top grandmasters and top grandmasters the chance to discuss strategy with non-chess-related strategy experts. This year's Pro-Biz Cup was again a lot of fun and very competitive!

1/11/2016 – How do you make a chess festival special? How do you bring together all the resources, spark the interest of the entire chess community, ignite in thousands a passion for the game, and yet make the entire project financially feasible? Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal were in London for the entire duration of the London Chess Classic and sent us thirteen reasons why this annual event is an example of one of the best planned chess festivals in the world.

12/19/2015 – Many chess fans complained about the cumbersome tie-breaking rules of the Grand Chess Tour. The three-way tie for first in London was decided by a playoff in which Vachier-Lagrave beat Anish Giri, but then a single loss to Carlsen decided the tournament and an overall Tour victory. In his Huffington Post column GM Lubomir Kavalek analyses key games and tells us how the Chess Grand Tour points could have been simplified.

12/17/2015 – After the regular games at the London Chess Classic 2015 three players, Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had tied for the top spot. In the rapid playoffs MVL eliminated Giri but then succumbed to the World Champion in the finals. Magnus Carlsen thus not only became the London winner but also the Grand Chess Tour Champion. Big pictorial report with instructive analysis by Sagar Shah.

12/16/2015 – Okay, it is not in the OED, the word does describe the super Sunday at the London Chess Classic 2015. Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave went into the final round leading with 5.0/8 points. Both drew their games, while World Champion Magnus Carlsen, trailing half a point behind, managed to outwit Alexander Grischuk to force a tiebreak. Sagar Shah watched it all unfold and sent us a two-part in-depth report.

12/14/2015 – Before the last round 5 players could still win the tournament. After Giri and MVL drew their games it was Carlsen vs Grischuk to decide wether it's a three-way or two-way tie break. Daniel King picked this game and a game from the tie break for his highlights video. In his usual manner Daniel King explains the ideas of the players in a comprehensive and lively way. Click here for the video...

12/14/2015 – Three players finished with 5.5/9 points, leading to a very exciting three-way playoff. Due to the nature of the rules, Vachier-Lagrave and Giri first squared off, with MVL prevailing in a dramatic turnaround. He then faced Carlsen for the title. More playoff tension, but in the end Magnus Carlsen claimed both the London Classic title and the Grand Chess Tour. Express report.

12/13/2015 – The eighth round produced only one decisive game – Anish Giri beating Hikaru Nakamura. However, the other games were filled excitement, most notable being Carlsen’s draw against Topalov, where the 50 move rule hampered the World Champion’s chance to win the game. The last round promises to be an especially exciting one as five players have a chance to win the title. We have an illustrated round eight report with lots of pictures and game analysis.

12/12/2015 – It was not for lack of trying, but round eight saw four of the five games draw, a scene the fans are all too familiar with. The only win was Anish Giri's victory over Hikaru Nakamura, still not recovered from yesterday's disheartening loss. Magnus Carlsen pressed Vesselin Topalov for the longest time, but could not crack the Bulgarian. Express report with video analysis by Daniel King.

12/11/2015 – Three decisive games! The moment we saw that there was no Berlin played on any of the boards we knew that this round was going to be different. Carlsen ground down Nakamura after a marathon seven hour struggle. Maxime played a beautiful game to down Anand, and so did Aronian to beat Veselin Topalov. In the FIDE Open Dutch GM Benjamin Bok won the event with an impressive 8.0/9. We have game analysis, interviews and pictures from London.