Abhijeet Gupta fell short at London Classic Open

Chess: Abhijeet Gupta loses in London Classic to end Indian participation
Dec 16, 2013

London: Grandmaster and former world junior champion Abhijeet Gupta went down fighting against Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway and had to settle for a tied seventh place finish in the open section of London Classic here today. After a disappointing exit by former world champion Viswanathan Anand from the quarterfinal of the premier event, Gupta, too, could not make it to the podium as he lost his way against Hammer.

Favorites qualify to quarters in London

12/14/2013 – Every first and second seed of the group stages was able to make it to the knock out system. Howell came close to giving a big surprise had he taken out Caruana, but a huge blunder left his chances in the dust. Kramnik got a little lucky that Sadler didn't capitalize against Svidler, which would have overtaken the World Cup winner. See the interesting quarterfinal pairings.

 

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.

Eager fans going to see the last day of the group stage

London Chess Classic round 3 & 4 report

News release

Thursday 12th December 2013

LONDON CHESS CLASSIC 2013: ROUNDS 3 AND 4

John Saunders reports:

SUPER SIXTEEN RAPID, ROUNDS 3 AND 4

ROUND 3

14:00 Group C

Gawain Jones 0-1 Judit Polgar
Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Boris Gelfand

Group D

Fabiano Caruana ½-½ David Howell
Emil Sutovsky 0-1 Nigel Short

15:30

Group A

Andrei Istratescu 0-1 Vishy Anand
Michael Adams ½-½ Luke McShane

Group B

Jonathan Rowson 0-1 Peter Svidler
Matthew Sadler ½-½ Vladimir Kramnik

The first session of Round 3 featured major match-ups between the leaders of Groups C and D, while the players at the foot of the table had to slug it out to rescue their chances of staying in contention beyond the end of the all-play-all phase on Friday.

Caruana ½-½ Howell: this was an epic encounter in which the British Champion stood and fought toe-to-toe with the world number seven and had several chances to win. Fabiano’s opening didn’t look too sharp and David gradually outplayed him, with his b-pawn becoming a monster. Watching in the VIP room, the pitch and volume of Julian Hodgson raised higher and higher as David’s chances improved (Julian is unashamedly partisan towards the English representatives, though obviously he has nothing against the overseas ones). The silicon – we’re using the excellent Hiarcs engine here – showed that various chances went begging, Julian veered somewhere between falsetto and castrato when David played the powerful 78...e3 but subsided back into the lower registers after David missed the devastating 81...Qc7. Thereafter the win became problematic. “White is lost but not completely lost,” opined the watching Vlad Kramnik. The game went on so long that the next batch of games had to be put back a quarter of an hour but Fabiano managed to hold the draw.

Nakamura ½-½ Gelfand: such was the excitement generated by the above game that it wasn’t possible to follow what happened here. It came down to an unusual endgame in which Boris’s sole remaining piece, a bishop, had to fend off a cluster of three pawns, two of which were doubled. The Hiarcs Tablebase gives it as a draw and so it proved.

Sutovsky 0-1 Short: Nigel Short was true to his promise to wake up for today's games after yesterday's warm-up. "Played with a very straight bat against Sutovsky. That's more like it!" was his comment on Twitter (@nigelshortchess - Nigel is a 'must-follow' on Twitter). Nigel got a grip on the black squares and Emil's attempts to wriggle free and secure some play only served to make his position worse. Eventually Emil took one risk too many and succumbed to a winning finish...

Sutovsky - Short, Round 3, after 39.Kh3

Nigel wants to play ...h5 and ...g4+, winning the house but at the moment White might be able to reply to ...h5 with the boring Qxh5. So he needs a way to lure the white queen away from its defence of the h5 square. So he played 39...Qb2! The white queen now has to attend to the defence of the bishop on b1 - 40.Qd1 - to which Nigel replied 40...h5! and now it's all over. Emil played 41.Qc2 but resigned without waiting to see 41...Rxb1! 42.Qxb1 g4 mate. Had White played his bishop away on move 40, say, with 40.Bd3, Black would have played 40...Ra2 when the pressure along the rank is too much.

Jones 0-1 Polgar: I've already alluded to the rapidplay phenomenon whereby you can't always guess the result of a game based on who emerges best from the early middlegame. Rapid chess can be a game of two halves - or even three, four or five halves (maths never was my strong suit). Judit Polgar seemed to have the worst of things against Gawain Jones, but as history has taught us, hell hath no fury like a Polgar scorned. It was quite similar to Sutovsky-Short in that the Englishman had a mighty dark-squared bishop, but Judit took the chance to give up a rook for Gawain's marauding bishop. There was still nothing much in it until Gawain blundered irrevocably with 63.Rxd4, allowing Judit’s h-pawn to touch down.

Istratescu 0-1 Anand: more misery for the genial French GM, playing a genius Indian world champion. Andrei tried to attack the black king but Vishy flashed out the amazing 21...Nxe5, exploiting the weak situation of the white bishop on c2. It wasn’t quite the end of the story as Vishy had to give up the exchange but he gained two pawns by way of compensation. The game was finally by Andrei’s blunder 49.Rb1 which opened the door to a winning attack.

Adams ½-½ McShane: a well-contested game which favoured White first, and then Black, and then White again. One big chance for Mickey came and went on move 59 when the computer screams out for 59.Qb8!, shepherding home the passed c-pawn, but Mickey missed it. I can’t remember whether it was after this game or his fourth round game when Mickey Adams revealed the secret of rapid chess. I’ve given you my take on it, rather long-windedly, but Mickey was succinct. Lawrence Trent asked him the key question: “Do you have any particular strategy in rapid chess?” Mickey gave the wonderfully laconic reply: “I play a bit faster.”

Rowson 0-1 Svidler: Jonathan is one of a number of players in the line-up who are either a bit rusty from shortage of play or else keen not to be out-booked by the illustrious theoreticians present. He opted for some sort of King’s Indian Attack against Peter’s Sicilian and then gave up a pawn to be able to harass Peter on the dark squares. Peter gave up the exchange to get a big centre and an initiative. Then there was a mutual oversight, starting with 23...e3, where White could have played 25.Rxf6 when 25...Qxh4+ to win it back allows 26.Bh3! attacking the rook on c8. These things happen at rapid chess.

Sadler ½-½ Kramnik: Matthew decided to risk a theoretical encounter with the great Russian and an accurately-played game brought him a fairly steady draw.

ROUND 4
18:00

Group C

Judit Polgar ½-½ Boris Gelfand
Hikaru Nakamura 1-0 Gawain Jones

Group D

David Howell 0-1 Nigel Short
Emil Sutovsky 0-1 Fabiano Caruana

19:30

Group A

Vishy Anand 1-0 Luke McShane
Michael Adams 1-0 Andrei Istratescu

Group B

Peter Svidler 1-0 Vladimir Kramnik
Matthew Sadler 1-0 Jonathan Rowson

Polgar ½-½ Gelfand: Judit had a much better day two than day one, though she is still unlikely to qualify as Gelfand and Nakamura are now four points clear of her. This was a steadily played game, with Boris perhaps now happy to coast his way to qualification for the final stages.

Nakamura 1-0 Jones: Gawain’s third loss means he can no longer qualify for the quarter-final stage and will be playing for fun on Friday. He has certainly had his money’s worth with four games lasting 70, 77, 67 and 84 moves respectively. Hikaru started with 1.b3 and Gawain looked better out of the opening. But gradually Hikaru started to show why is so good at quick chess, steadily forcing his opponent onto the back foot. Gawain tried to stay active but it proved a hopeless task.

Howell 0-1 Short: this was a well contested game, with the mistake coming on move 35 when David allowed his central pawns to become blockaded, instead of launching a promising attack with 35.e5!? He did play it a while later but by then Nigel was racing his a-pawn down the board. David tried to attack the black king but Nigel defended easily and launched an overwhelming counter down the e-file. So, a good day for Nigel, and he must his chances of qualifying for the quarter-final.

Sutovsky 0-1 Caruana: our lesson here comes from Matthew 13:12: “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” As a result of winning this game, Fabiano is almost certainly through to the quarter-final, while Emil now has four zeroes to counterbalance the four points he scored in the FIDE Open. Chess is a cruel game, and rapid chess cruel but a bit faster (as Mickey Adams might have said). Emil seemed out of sorts in an insipid opening and was simply pushed off the board by a rampant Fabiano.

Anand 1-0 McShane: Vishy is really enjoying life now he no longer has to sit opposite a certain Norwegian player. This was like the teenage Vishy, going all-in with a speculative piece sacrifice. It’s always good to have the initiative at rapid chess, and Luke was faced with a major defensive problem. Your computer will suggest a range of reasonable solutions, but Luke didn’t have time to sort them out and he soon came unstuck. Vishy is now almost certain of qualification, while Luke is four points adrift of Mickey and unlikely to go forward.

Adams 1-0 Istratescu: lots of material came off early but Andrei relaxed too soon and played the injudicious 27...f5, allowing Mickey to snaffle a pawn. It wasn’t long before Andrei’s position worsened further and he was gone. Like Emil, he has followed four aces in the FIDE Open with four duck eggs in the Super Sixteen Rapid. Mickey, meanwhile, looks good to accompany Vishy into the next phase.

Svidler 1-0 Kramnik: Peter took his revenge for his first round misfortune against Vlad, who found himself obliged to mix it after a slightly streaky opening. Peter emerged with two bishops against a rook and this time he made no mistakes in converting his advantage. The two of them now share the lead in their group, two points clear of Matthew Sadler.

Sadler 1-0 Rowson: this was another revenge match in group B. After maintaining a steady edge for a long while, Matthew suddenly launched a kingside attack with a piece sacrifice, rather like Vishy had done against Luke. Unlike Luke, Jonathan didn't go wrong immediately but managed to put up a more than decent defence, to the point where he was objectively winning on the board but in the ensuing time trouble mayhem he fell victim to Matthew's much smaller commando force.

STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 4 (OF 6)

Group A: Anand 10, Adams 8, McShane 4, Istratescu 0.
Group B: Svidler, Kramnik 7, Sadler 5, Rowson 3.
Group C: Gelfand, Nakamura 8, Polgar 4, Jones 1.
Group D: Caruana 10, Short 7, Howell 5, Sutovsky 0.

COMING NEXT AT THE LONDON CLASSIC...

Super Sixteen Rapid rounds 5 and 6 take place on Friday 13 December 2013, starting at 1400 UK time. There are three further sessions at 1530, 1800 and 1930.

Please consult the website for the timings of playing sessions (click on ‘Schedules’ on the left and select ‘Super Sixteen Rapid’ or go directly to the page here: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/classicrp_schedule.htm).

For photos to accompany this press release, please go to our Flickr Press Photos page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnchess2/sets/72157638571169226/

For more information and to buy tickets to the London Chess Classic, please go to www.londonchessclassic.com

ENDS

For further information please call:

John Saunders
Press Chief, London Chess Classic
Mobile: 07777 664111
E : chesspress@londonchessclassic.com

London going as expected

The top seeds of their groups in the London Super Sixteen rapid tournament have taken a strong lead. In group A Adams and Anand seem untouchable while in Group B Svidler took out Kramnik and now shares the lead with him. Gelfand and Nakamura lead group C as do Caruana and Short in D, although Howell can still come back in that one. Will the leaders keep their positions?

 

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.

Round 3

Round 03 – Group C: Thursday December 12th, 14:00
Gawain Jones	2633	0-1	Judit Polgar	2696
Hikaru Nakamura	2772	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2764
Round 03 – Group D: Thursday December 12th, 14:00
Fabiano Caruana	2779	½-½	David Howell	2644
Emil Sutovsky	2663	0-1	Nigel Short	2684
Round 03 – Group A: Thursday December 12th, 15:30
Andrei Istratescu	2709	0-1	Vishy Anand	2775
Michael Adams	2761	½-½	Luke McShane	2697
Round 03 – Group B: Thursday December 12th, 15:30
Jonathan Rowson	2573	0-1	Peter Svidler	2746
Matthew Sadler	2646	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik	2794

Nakamura played the Larsen (1.b3) against Gelfand following the logic of Lawrence Trent from yesterday's commentary: it's a better move than 1.b4. The game became somewhat wild after Nakamura sacrificed some material but when the dust settled an equal endgame was reached. Jones obtained a seemingly winning position against Polgar but through mistakes he managed to lose.

A little chit-chat before the game didn't help Jones convert his advantages

Howell missed a golden opportunity to beat Caruana with black as he was simply two pawns up. He made it too hard on himself and ended up drawing. Short outplayed Sutovsky through most of the game in a Spanish and ultimately a blunder by the Israeli cost him the game in a situation that was already bad.
Anand demolished Istratescu with good tactics and sound positional play, while Adams uncorked a beautiful tactic with 14.Nd5! and was probably winning at some point, but his follow-up was not the best, he let go of his advatange and McShane crawled his way back into a draw.
Sadler made an easy draw with Kramnik by not risking too much while Rowson faced a powerful exchange sacrifice by Svidler. Black quickly got a winning position and never let go of the throttle.
Interestingly all groups in round three ended with a black win and a draw!

The audience!

Round 4

Round 04 – Group C: Thursday December 12th, 18:00
Judit Polgar	2696	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2764
Hikaru Nakamura	2772	1-0	Gawain Jones	2633
Round 04 – Group D: Thursday December 12th, 18:00
David Howell	2644	0-1	Nigel Short	2684
Emil Sutovsky	2663	0-1	Fabiano Caruana	2779
Round 04 – Group A: Thursday December 12th, 19:30
Vishy Anand	2775	1-0	Luke McShane	2697
Michael Adams	2761	1-0	Andrei Istratescu	2709
Round 04 – Group B: Thursday December 12th, 19:30
Peter Svidler	2746	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik	2794
Matthew Sadler	2646	1-0	Jonathan Rowson	2573

Polgar spoiled a slight edge against Gelfand and had to settle for a draw while Nakamura outplayed Jones from an equal endgame to share first with Gelfand in the group, and it seems unlikely they do not go through.
Howell played another good game, this time against Short, but his atrocious time management left him in a bad situation and Short fully exploited this, with some tactics he turned the game around and won a piece. Sutovsky lost his fourth game in a row and was simply demolished by Caruana.
Adams had the smallest of advantages for a long time against Istratescu, but a blunder by the French player on move 27 allowed Adams to win a pawn and subsequently convert the game. Istratescu, like Sutovsky, qualified from the Open and neither player has scored a single point in the rapids. Anand demolished McShane:

McShane felt the power of Anand's wrath

Sadler still has realistic chances to advance if he pulls of a big upset tomorrow

Svidler took revenge on Kramnik for his round one loss, and this time he against found himself with two pieces against a rook. In this case however the Russian Champion annihilated his opponent with the two bishops. Sadler also reversed the result from round one and took out Rowson.

Svidler took out Kramnik, he now shares first with the other Russian in group b

Highlights of Day 2 by Daniel King

Standings

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Schedule

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	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

Round 03 – Group C: Thursday December 12th, 14:00
Gawain Jones	2633	0-1	Judit Polgar	2696
Hikaru Nakamura	2772	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2764
Round 03 – Group D: Thursday December 12th, 14:00
Fabiano Caruana	2779	½-½	David Howell	2644
Emil Sutovsky	2663	0-1	Nigel Short	2684
Round 03 – Group A: Thursday December 12th, 15:30
Andrei Istratescu	2709	0-1	Vishy Anand	2775
Michael Adams	2761	½-½	Luke McShane	2697
Round 03 – Group B: Thursday December 12th, 15:30
Jonathan Rowson	2573	0-1	Peter Svidler	2746
Matthew Sadler	2646	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik	2794

Round 04 – Group C: Thursday December 12th, 18:00
Judit Polgar	2696	½-½	Boris Gelfand	2764
Hikaru Nakamura	2772	1-0	Gawain Jones	2633
Round 04 – Group D: Thursday December 12th, 18:00
David Howell	2644	0-1	Nigel Short	2684
Emil Sutovsky	2663	0-1	Fabiano Caruana	2779
Round 04 – Group A: Thursday December 12th, 19:30
Vishy Anand	2775	1-0	Luke McShane	2697
Michael Adams	2761	1-0	Andrei Istratescu	2709
Round 04 – Group B: Thursday December 12th, 19:30
Peter Svidler	2746	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik	2794
Matthew Sadler	2646	1-0	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

London Super Sixteen Starts

12/12/2013 – The London Super Sixteen is the crown jewel of the London Chess Classic. This rapid tournament brings the top rapid players of the world and the best British players in an exciting event. The games were certainly not dissapointing as the fans saw many blunders, traps, crazy and wild games and very few solid draws. Group stages continue tomorrow and the day after while the knockout begins on Saturday. Round one and two reports.

 

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.

Round 1

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.
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 2

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

Daniel King's highlights of the day

Standings

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Schedule

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

Links

• Official tournament site
• All games in PGN

London Chess Classic Rank After Round 4

Full standings: http://www.classic.livechess.co.uk/2013/fideop/SMWSite/index.html

The London Classic Pro-Celebrity Challenge

h stars of TV, music and sport teaming up with the grandmasters and facing off against another pro-celebrity team. These ten-minute games were broadcast live, with live commentary. Each winning team would receive £5000 for their favourite charity. Here is the pictorial with videos.

 

The London Classic Pro-Celebrity Challenge

On Tuesday December 10, a special Pro-Celebrity Challenge was held at the Olympia Auditorium with stars of TV, music and sport teaming up with the grandmasters and facing off against another pro-celebrity team.
Games were played with ten minutes with a ten-second increment and were broadcast live. Lawrence Trent and Malcolm Pein acted as live commentators with Malcolm Peinas the Master of Ceremony. Each winning team would receive £5000 for their favourite charity.

Celebrity line-up

The celebrities were Shingai Shoniwa, Alex Zane, Lethal Bizzle, and Edgar Davids

Edgar Davids: Dutch footballing legend whose club career took him to Ajax, Juventus and Spurs, and included 74 international caps for Holland. His dreadlocked hair and protective goggles made Davids one of the most recognisable players of his generation. Edgar Davids has his own foundation @Fountain
Alex Zane: Alex is an English television personality and DJ best known for presenting Rude Tube on Channel 4. Alex was a guest at the 2010 London Chess Classic. He chose as his charity "Community Links"
Shingai Shoniwa: Singer and bassist for the Noisettes, an English indie rock band from London who are best known for the single “Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)”. She has asked for her prize to go to the Philippines appeal.
Lethal Bizzle: HipHop artist who gained fame in December 2004, with the release of "Pow (Forward)", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number eleven in its first week and reached number one on the UK Dance Chart. As his charity of choice, he has opted for the Multiple Sclerosis Association.

The grandmasters

Michael Adams	Vishy Anand	Peter Svidler	Hikaru Nakamura

The event

The event went smoothly and was a great success with the audience, who
enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and light-hearted commentary provided on
stage by IM Malcom Pein, Master of Ceremony, and IM Lawrence Trent.

Alex Zane receives some last-minute tips by Vishy Anand

Facing them were Peter Svidler consulting with Joshua Altman and Shingai Shoniwa

The players enjoyed some of Malcolm Pein's wit

Despite all the fun, there was still money at stake for charity, so they fought hard.
Nevertheless their game ended in a draw.

On the other board, Mickey Adams got some help from Lily and James...

...while Nakamura and Lethal Bizzle made a winning team, and won.

There were no real losers though, as charity would benefit one way or the other

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