London Chess Classic 2015

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 30th November, 2015, 07:32 AM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

Pairings have now been announced.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/london-calling

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 30th November, 2015, 07:46 AM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

Despite his lack of recent form, Magnus Carlsen, who turns 25 today, remains the prohibitive favourite at 57/50. The number 2 ranked player in the world, Veselin Topalov, is at odds of 17/1, ahead of only Grischuk (19/1) and Adams (28/1) in bettors' eyes.

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 30th November, 2015, 11:53 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

November 30, 2015

Draw and Pairings

In accordance with the arrangements notified in St Louis, the colours were reversed from the Sinquefield Cup, with Michael Adams playing the opposite colours to Sinquefield Cup wild card Wesley So.

The players were placed in two groups of five. Viswanathan Anand, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, Veselin Topalov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will play five games with the white pieces and were randomly allocated numbers 1-5. Michael Adams, Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri and Hikaru Nakamura will play five games with the black pieces and were randomly allocated numbers 6-10.

The results of the draw were as follows:

1. Veselin Topalov
2. Alexander Grischuk
3. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
4. Fabiano Caruana
5. Viswanathan Anand
6. Michael Adams
7. Levon Aronian
8. Magnus Carlsen
9. Hikaru Nakamura
10. Anish Giri

Full Pairings

Round 1, Dec. 4, 2015 16:00

Topalov-Giri
Grischuk-Nakamura
MVL-Carlsen
Caruana-Aronian
Anand-Adams

Round 2, Dec. 5, 2015 14:00

Giri-Adams
Aronian-Anand
Carlsen-Caruana
Nakamura-MVL
Topalov-Grischuk

Round 3, Dec. 6, 2015 14:00

Grischuk-Giri
MVL-Topalov
Caruana-Nakamura
Anand-Carlsen
Adams-Aronian

Round 4, Dec. 7, 2015 16:00

Giri-Aronian
Carlsen-Adams
Nakamura-Anand
Topalov-Caruana
Grischuk-MVL

Round 5, Dec. 8, 2015 16:00

MVL-Giri
Caruana-Grischuk
Anand-Topalov
Adams-Nakamura
Aronian-Carlsen

Rest Day – Dec. 9, 2015

Round 6, Dec. 10, 2015 16:00

Giri-Carlsen
Nakamura-Aronian
Topalov-Adams
Grischuk-Anand
MVL-Caruana

Round 7, Dec. 11, 2015 16:00

Caruana-Giri
Anand-MVL
Adams-Grischuk
Aronian-Topalov
Carlsen-Nakamura

Round 8, Dec. 12, 2015 14:00

Giri-Nakamura
Topalov-Carlsen
Grischuk-Aronian
MVL-Adams
Caruana-Anand

Round 9, Dec. 13, 2015 14:00

Anand-Giri
Adams-Caruana
Aronian-MVL
Carlsen-Grischuk
Nakamura-Topalov

Note the starting times 14:00 and 16:00, which correspond to 9 am and 11 am (Toronto/Montreal).

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 4th December, 2015, 05:24 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

Round One

December 4, 2015

The two commentators at the London Classic site are Jan Gustafsson and Danny King.

A one-day ticket is £20, which is $ CAN 40.40.

The time control is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by the rest of the game in 1 hour with a 30-second increment from move 41.

The first two games to finish are draws:

London Chess Classic 2015
Round 1, Dec. 4, 2015
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 O-O 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.a4 bxa4 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.cxb4 Bb7 16.Rxa4 Qc8 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18.Bd3 Bc6 19.Rxa6 Rxb4 20.O-O Rd4 21.Qf3 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 Qxa6 23.Qg4+ Kh8 24.Qf5 Rxe4 25.Qxf6+ Kg8 26.Qg5+ Kh8 27.Qf6+ Kg8 28.Qg5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Dec. 4, 2015
Anand, Vishy – Adams, Michael
A22 English, Bremen, Reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.Be3 Re8 10.Rc1 Bf8 11.Ne4 Nd4 12.Qd2 a5 13.Nc5 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Nd5 15.a3 b6 16.Na4 Bb7 17.Rfe1 Rb8 18.Bg2 Qd7 19.Nc3 Nxe3 20.Qxe3 Bc5 21.Qg5 h6 22.Qh5 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Bd4 24.Rc2 Bxc3 25.Rxc3 c5 26.Rec1 Qb5 27.R1c2 Rbd8 28.Qf3 g6 29.Qb7 Rb8 30.Qd5 Rbd8 31.Qb7 Rb8 32.Qd5 Rbd8 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Dec. 4, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Aronian, Levon
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed (6.d3)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 11.d4 Bxa2 12.Rxa2 Nc6 13.d5 Nb8 14.Be3 Qc8 15.Qe2 Nbd7 16.Rd1 Qb7 17.Raa1 Rfc8 18.h3 Rab8 19.Nh2 h5 20.Nf3 Nb6 21.Bg5 g6 22.Na2 c6 23.dxc6 Rxc6 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.Nb4 Rc4 26.Nd5 Be7 27.Nxb6 Qxb6 28.c3 a5 29.Rd5 Rc5 30.Rad1 b4 31.Rxc5 Qxc5 32.Rd5 Qa7 33.axb4 axb4 34.c4 Rc8 35.b3 Rc5 36.Rxc5 Qxc5 37.g3 Bd8 38.Qd2 Bb6 39.Kg2 Kg7 40.Ne1 Qc7 41.Nc2 Bc5 42.Ne3 Bxe3 43.Qxe3 Qc6 44.g4 hxg4 45.hxg4 Qc8 46.Kg3 Qc5 47.Qxc5 dxc5 48.g5 Kf8 49.f4 Ke7 50.f5 Kd6 51.f6 1/2-1/2

Grischuk was under pressure in his game. Stockfish says that 26…Ra7 was an error and 34..Rh7 was equally imprecise and the game went to a draw, much to Nakamura's disgust.

Round 1, Dec. 4, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Nakamura, Hikaru
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 Be6 11.g4 Ne7 12.Nd4 Bd7 13.Kh2 c5 14.Ndb5 Kd8 15.Be3 a6 16.Na3 b6 17.Ne4 h5 18.Kg3 hxg4 19.hxg4 Bc6 20.Ng5 Ke8 21.f4 f5 22.Rad1 g6 23.Ne6 fxg4 24.Nxc7+ Kf7 25.e6+ Kg8 26.Kxg4 Ra7 27.Rd7 Nf5 28.Bf2 Nh6+ 29.Kg3 Nf5+ 30.Kg4 Be7 31.Rfd1 Nh6+ 32.Kg3 Nf5+ 33.Kg4 Nh6+ 34.Kg3 Rh7 35.Nc4 Nf5+ 36.Kg4 Nh6+ 37.Kg3 Nf5+ 38.Kg4 Nh6+ 1/2-1/2

Anish Giri has not lost a game yet in the Grand Chess Tour. Today it looked like he might except that Topalov had about 9 moves to make in the 3 minutes he had left before the time control. Then look what happened:

Round 1, Dec. 4, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Giri, Anish
E60 King’s Indian, 3.g3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Qa4 Nfd7 6.cxd5 Nb6 7.Qd1 cxd5 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.e3 Bg7 10.Nge2 O-O 11.O-O Re8 12.b3 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.h3 Bf5 15.Nd4 Bd3 16.Re1 Ba6 17.Qd2 Nd3 18.Rd1 Bxd4 19.exd4 Qf6 20.a4 Qxd4 21.a5 Nd7 22.Ra4 Qe5 23.Nxd5 Nxc1 24.Rxc1 Nf6 25.Nc7 Rad8 26.Qf4 g5 27.Qb4 Qb2 28.Raa1 Re2 29.Qc5 h6 30.Nxa6 bxa6 31.Rab1 Qd2 32.Bf3 Ne4 33.Qxa7 Nxf2 34.Bxe2 Nxh3+ 35.Kf1 Qd5 36.Bh5 Qh1+ 37.Ke2 Qg2+ 38.Ke1 Re8+ 39.Kd1 Nf2+ 40.Kc2 Ne4+ 0-1
________

- Nakamura gives away his advantage against Grischuk and draws, while Giri is mating Topalov!

(Nigel Short (who is ill)) - Gutted at not being at London Chess. Watching the demigods from my study.

(Tarjei J. Svensen) – Carlsen has seven tournaments in a row without winning the first round. Last time he won R1 was in Shamkir 2014.

(Tarjei J. Svensen) - A terrible meltdown for Topalov, who loses vs Giri with white after having what seemed like a good position.

**Jack Maguire** · Saturday, 5th December, 2015, 02:08 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

An amusing tweet from Nigel Short during today's 'action':

Nigel Short @nigelshortchess
When I see the Berlin, I almost become happy that I am no longer a top player.

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 5th December, 2015, 05:12 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

Round Two

December 5, 2015

The commentators are Jan Gustafsson and Gawain Jones. Gawain is an English grandmaster, 27 years old, and author of books on the Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, the Benoni and Benko and the Dragon.

Later on, Chris Ward comes in to replace Gawain. He is 47 years old, the author of more than a dozen chess books and ebullient. When he joins Jan in the last half of the transmission, he addresses the spectators. Jan likes to pretend they are not there and spills his coffee as a reaction to the human whirlwind sitting next to him. Chris is reputed to be a keen Salsa dancer. Doesn’t favoring the Dragon and liking Salsa date one a little bit? I don’t know..

His voice reminds me of that of Eric Blore, the Englishman, who appeared in many Rogers and Astaire movies (e.g. Top Hat).

It is a lazy Saturday afternoon. Here are the draws of the first four games to finish:

London Chess Classic 2015
Round 2, Dec. 5, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Anand, Vishy
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bd2 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.a3 Bxc3 8.Bxc3 Ne4 9.Qc2 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Nd7 11.Bd3 h6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Qb2 Qe7 14.O-O Nf6 15.Rfb1 c4 16.Bc2 Ne4 17.a4 Re8 18.a5 Nd6 19.Qb4 Be6 20.Re1 Bf5 21.Bxf5 Nxf5 22.Qxe7 Rxe7 23.h4 h5 24.g3 Nd6 25.Reb1 Rc8 26.Kg2 f6 27.Ng1 g5 28.Nf3 Ne4 29.Ra3 Rf8 30.Rb5 Rd7 31.Rb2 Rg7 32.Rb5 Rd7 33.Rb2 Rg7 34.Rb5 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Dec. 5, 2015
Giri, Anish – Adams, Michael
E37 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Noa Variation, Main Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.Nf3 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Qxc5 11.e3 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 dxc4 13.Bxc4 O-O 14.b4 Qe7 15.Bd3 h6 16.Qc3 a6 17.O-O Bd7 18.Nc4 Rab8 19.Nb6 Rfd8 20.Rac1 Be8 21.Be4 Na7 22.a4 Qd6 23.Nc4 Qe7 24.Nb6 Qd6 25.Nc4 Qe7 26.Nb6 Qd6 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Dec. 5, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Caruana, Fabiano
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Be7 13.c4 Nc7 14.d4 d5 15.cxd5 Nxd5 16.Nxd5 cxd5 17.Bf4 Bf6 18.Be5 Bxe5 19.Rxe5 Re8 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.Qb3 Qc6 22.Bb5 Qb6 23.Qxd5 a6 24.Bd3 Be6 25.Qe4 g6 26.d5 Bf5 27.Qe2 Bxd3 28.Qxd3 Qxb2 29.Re1 Rd8 30.d6 Rd7 31.g3 Qf6 32.Rd1 Qe5 33.Qa3 a5 34.f4 Qe2 35.Qc1 Qe6 36.Qc5 b5 37.Qxb5 Rxd6 38.Qb8+ Kg7 39.Qxd6 Qe3+ 40.Kg2 Qe2+ 41.Kg1 Qe3+ 42.Kg2 Qe2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Dec. 5, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Grischuk, Alexander
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.Nbd2 d6 7.h3 a6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.O-O Re8 10.Re1 h6 11.Nf1 Bb6 12.Ng3 Bd7 13.Be3 Qb8 14.Qd2 Bxe3 15.Rxe3 a5 16.d4 exd4 17.cxd4 Qb4 18.b3 Qxd2 19.Nxd2 a4 20.a3 axb3 21.Rxb3 Ra4 22.Rb7 Rxd4 23.Nf3 Ra4 24.Rxc7 Rc8 25.Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.e5 dxe5 27.Nxe5 c5 28.Rc1 Rxa3 29.Rxc5 Be6 30.Rc1 Ra8 31.Nf3 Rc8 32.Rxc8+ Bxc8 33.Nd4 1/2-1/2
________

Everyone calls the last game to finish a Benoni. My engine does not. The consensus is that Black had a very good game until around about move 32 and that Bxc4 and Nd5 were not good.

Several people comment on the game and it seems to be impossible to glance at the various positions without saying, “A Benoni, with White a tempo (or two tempos) down”.

Round 2, Dec. 5, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A48 King’s Indian, East Indian Defence

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. d5 d6 7. Nc3 e6 8. O-O exd5 9. cxd5 Na6 10. Nd2 Rb8 11. e4 Re8 12. f3 Nh5 13. f4 Nf6 14. Kh1 Nc7 15. a4 a6 16. a5 Bd7 17. Bf3 Nb5 18. e5 dxe5 19. fxe5 Rxe5 20. Nc4 Rf5 21. Ne2 Rxf3 22. gxf3 Bh3 23. Re1 Qxd5 24. Nf4 Qxd1 25. Rxd1 Bd7 26. Be3 Bc6 27. Kg2 Re8 28. Kf2 g5 29. Nd3 g4 30. Nde5 Bd5 31. Rg1 h5 32. h3 Bxc4 33. Nxc4 Nd5 34. fxg4 Nxe3 35. Nxe3 Bxb2 36. Rae1 Bc3 37. Re2 Bd4 38. Kf3 Nc3 39. Ree1 Ne4 40. gxh5+ Kh7 41. Rg2 Nd6 42. Ree2 Re5 43. Nc2 Rxh5 44. Nxd4 cxd4 45. Rg4 Rxa5 46. Rxd4 Nf5 47. Rb4 b5 48. Kf4 Nh6 49. Ke5 Ra3 50. h4 Rg3 51. Ra2 Rg6 52. Rb1 Re6+ 53. Kf4 Rf6+ 54. Ke4 Re6+ 55. Kf4 Rf6+ 56. Ke4 Re6+ ½-½

Nigel’s Tweets

Nigel Short, not feeling well, is at home watching the tournament online. Some of his tweets as the games progressed:

- When I see the Berlin, I almost become happy that I am no longer a top player

- Disappointing not to see any Albin Counter Gambits today

- Today's philosophical question: is the Benoni so bad even with an extra tempo? We will find out..

- 12...Nh5!? (and mate) now looks promising for Vachier-Lagrave

- Can someone please wake me up if anything happens in the Carlsen-Caruana game?

- No reason to get excited, but Toppy's position feels a tad better. Plonk a knight on f5, go f4 and attack!

- Not quite sure why Toppy was in such a hurry to isolate his own a-pawn. It is not a pawn ending

- I know the engines say equal, but I always get a bit nervous when my opponent has a passed pawn on the 6th - Carlsen-Caruana

- "Geil!" - as the Germans say. I like Vachier_Lagrave's 21...Rxf3!

- When deciding upon a crap opening, choose one with an upside - like the Benoni

- Two very strong tacticians making serious errors in Nakamura-MVL. Shows what a complicated position it was

______

Chris tries to give a boost to the only chess café run by women in the world but no matter what he says, he elicits a laugh from the audience. “Now folks, all you can do there is play chess”, “Chess with fun and games…”

To avoid a misunderstanding, it is best to give the web address:

http://casualchess.org

and their greeting:

Finally, London has a real life chess cafe! You’ll find us in The BFI Lobby, 21 Stephen St, Off Tottenham Court Rd, W1T 1LN (nearest tube Tottenham Court Rd), every day 5.30pm – 10pm (closed Sundays). Free chess sets and clocks, for friendly games of chess in a relaxed, chatty atmosphere.

Choose your own time control and grab a coffee or a glass of wine. Just come along any time Monday to Saturday 5.30pm – 10pm (closed Sundays) and play everyone. Boards and clocks provided.

We welcome absolutely everyone. Organised by women, we are particularly happy to see other female players, and will make sure there’s always a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.

**Jack Maguire** · Sunday, 6th December, 2015, 11:25 AM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

Nigel Short continues to tweet his opposition to the prevalence of the Berlin Defense (:

Nigel Short ‏@nigelshortchess 57m57 minutes ago
In my day we were still allowed to play openings other than the Berlin #LondonChess

Nigel Short ‏@nigelshortchess 53m53 minutes ago
Think I will just hibernate for a while in the hope that one or two positions might eventually flicker into life #LondonChess

**Jack Maguire** · Sunday, 6th December, 2015, 10:37 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

Who in tarnation made Aronian a 13/2 dog tomorrow? He's absolutely owned Giri, +4, -0, =8 at classical time controls and another +6, -1, =2 at quicker time controls. Those numbers certainly don't translate into 13/2 (:

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 6th December, 2015, 11:07 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

Round Three

December 6, 2015

From the Official Site:

Third Round Action

After yesterday’s five draws, it looked like there could be up to four decisive results in today’s 3rd round, but many missed opportunities meant Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the only player to bring home the full point, thus joining Anish Giri in the lead with 2/3.
In the most highly anticipated clash of the day, Carlsen chose to meet Anand’s Ruy Lopez with the Berlin Defence, an opening that famously played a huge part in both their World Championship matches. Anand came out of the opening with a favourable position, but a few inaccuracies before the time control left Carlsen in the driving seat. However, the World Champion failed to convert his clear advantage and the players eventually agreed a draw on move 57. Carlsen was clearly displeased after the game, stating: ‘It was a bit embarrassing for both of us’.

Another player who came very close to tasting victory was Alexander Grischuk. The Russian virtuoso spent 1 hour and 3 minutes(!) on 20. f4, but subsequently reached an almost winning position. Having run very short of time though, he missed the necessary precision to convert his advantage and a draw was agreed – meaning Anish Giri remains unbeaten in the Grand Chess Tour.

Caruana will also be disappointed tonight, as he failed to convert a position that seemed to be technically winning in the US derby against Nakamura. Adams meanwhile scored his third draw - against Aronian - despite having been a tiny bit worse out of the opening. This leaves us with the only decisive game of the day: Vachier- Lagrave was outplaying Topalov, and the Bulgarian decided to sacrifice a rook to try and find a perpetual. However, he ran out of checks only two moves later and saw himself forced to resign.

Fiona Steil-Antoni
Press Officer

London Chess Classic
Round 3, Dec. 6, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.h3 O-O 8.Nc4 Nd7 9.Qe2 b5 10.Ne3 Nb6 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.exf5 Nd7 13.Nd2 Bb4 14.c3 Ba5 15.Ne4 b4 16.O-O Rfd8 17.cxb4 Bxb4 18.Be3 f6 19.Qc2 Nb6 20.a3 Bd6 21.Qxc6 Qd7 22.Qxd7 Rxd7 23.Rfc1 Nd5 24.Bd2 Bf8 25.g3 a5 26.Kf1 a4 27.Ke2 Rb8 28.Rc2 Rb3 29.Rac1 Rd8 30.Nc3 Nxc3+ 31.Bxc3 Rd5 32.g4 c6 33.Rg1 h6 34.h4 Be7 35.Rg3 Kf7 36.Kd2 Bd6 37.Ke2 Bc5 38.g5 Bd4 39.gxh6 gxh6 40.Rg6 Bxc3 41.bxc3 h5 42.Rh6 Kg7 43.Rg6+ Kf7 44.Rh6 Kg7 45.Rg6+ 1/2-1/2

36.Kd2?, better is Re3

“In the three games so far, I should have won one and lost two” (Nakamura at the postmortem)

Round 3, Dec. 6, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Giri, Anish
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Ne2 b6 12.Bg5 c5 13.Nc3 Bb7 14.Rad1 Bxf3 15.gxf3 c6 16.Ne4 Be7 17.f4 Bxg5 18.fxg5 Ke7 19.Nd6 Ke6 20.f4 Rad8 21.Rfe1 g6 22.Kf2 Nd4 23.c3 Nf5 24.Kf3 Ng7 25.Rd2 Ke7 26.Red1 Rhg8 27.a4 a6 28.Nc4 Rxd2 29.Rxd2 b5 30.Na5 Rc8 31.Rd6 bxa4 32.Rxc6 Rd8 33.Nc4 a3 34.bxa3 Rd3+ 35.Ke4 Rxc3 36.Nd6 Rxa3 37.Rc7+ Ke6 38.Rxf7 Ne8 39.Rf8 Nxd6+ 40.exd6 Ra4+ 41.Ke3 Kxd6 42.Rf6+ Kd5 43.f5 Ra3+ 44.Kf4 Ra4+ 45.Ke3 Ra3+ 46.Kf4 Ra4+ 47.Ke3 1/2-1/2

After 33…a3, flesh and blood would play 34.bxa3 instead of the silicon-recommended 34.Rc7+ (34...Ke6 35.Ke4 Nf5 36.Rc6+ Kd7 37.Rxa6 axb2 38.Nxb2 Ke7 39.Ra7+ Ke6 40.Na4 Ng3+ 41.Ke3 c4 42.Ra6+ Ke7 43.Nc5 Nf5+ 44.Ke2 Rd5 45.Ra7+ Kd8 46.e6)

At the postmortem Giri and Grischuk take over and cut out Gustafsson and King. The two of them are really a lot of fun analyzing and commenting and it is worth replaying the video cut online.

Round 3, Dec. 6, 2015
Adams, Michael – Aronian, Levon
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Anti-Marshall (8.a4)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.Nbd2 Bd6 13.a5 h6 14.Bc4 Re8 15.Nb3 Be6 16.Bd3 Red8 17.Nfd2 Nd7 18.Nc4 Nc5 19.Nxc5 Bxc5 20.Be3 Bxe3 21.Nxe3 b3 22.Bf1 Nd4 23.cxb3 Nxb3 24.Ra3 Rd2 25.Re2 Rxe2 26.Bxe2 Nd4 27.Bf1 Kf8 28.Rc3 Rb8 29.Rxc7 Rxb2 30.h4 Ra2 31.Bxa6 Rxa5 32.Bc8 Ra8 33.Bxe6 Nxe6 34.Rc2 h5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Dec. 6, 2015
Anand, Vishy – Carlsen, Magnus
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 Be6 11.Rd1 Bc5 12.g4 Ne7 13.Ng5 Bd5 14.Nge4 Bb6 15.Kg2 Rd8 16.Bf4 Ng6 17.Bg3 h5 18.f4 hxg4 19.hxg4 Ke7 20.Rh1 Bd4 21.Nxd5+ cxd5 22.Nc3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Kd7 24.f5 Ne7 25.Rae1 Rde8 26.Kf3 Rxh1 27.Rxh1 Nc6 28.Re1 g5 29.a4 a6 30.Kg2 Kc8 31.Kf2 b6 32.Kf3 Kd7 33.Kf2 Kc8 34.Re3 Na5 35.Re1 Nc4 36.Kf3 Kd7 37.Kg2 a5 38.Kf2 c6 39.Kg2 b5 40.Rb1 Rh8 41.Bf2 Nxe5 42.axb5 Nxg4 43.bxc6+ Kxc6 44.Bd4 Re8 45.Kg3 Ne5 46.Rb6+ Kc7 47.Rf6 Kd7 48.Bxe5 Rxe5 49.Kg4 Ke7 50.Kxg5 Re1 51.Ra6 f6+ 52.Kg4 Rg1+ 53.Kf4 Rf1+ 54.Kg4 Rg1+ 55.Kf4 Rf1+ 56.Kg4 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Dec. 6, 2015
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime – Topalov, Veselin
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5 8.g3 Nbd7 9.Bg2 b5 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Qxd5 Rb8 12.Be3 Be7 13.Qd2 Nf6 14.O-O O-O 15.Kh2 Bb7 16.Nc3 Rc8 17.a4 b4 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.exd5 a5 20.Qe2 Bg5 21.Bxg5 Qxg5 22.h4 Qf6 23.Qb5 Qe7 24.Qxa5 Rxc2 25.Rac1 Rxb2 26.Rb1 Ra2 27.Qxb4 Ba6 28.Qb3 Bxf1 29.Qxa2 Bxg2 30.Kxg2 Ra8 31.a5 e4 32.Rb3 f5 33.Qd2 Qc7 34.Qb2 Rxa5 35.Rb7 Ra2 36.Qb5 Rxf2+ 37.Kxf2 Qc2+ 38.Qe2 1-0

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 7th December, 2015, 02:27 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

Nigel Short has a trio of tweets on the Topalov game (:

Nigel Short ‏@nigelshortchess 1h1 hour ago
When it rains, it pours. Tailender Toppy already struggling to equalise with White after just a few routine moves #LondonChess

Nigel Short ‏@nigelshortchess 26m26 minutes ago
I've got a hunch that Topalov will get slaughtered #LondonChess #ineptprognosticator

Nigel Short ‏@nigelshortchess 19m19 minutes ago
If you are in bad form at #wimbledon, you just get knocked out. If you're in bad form at #LondonChess you can be humiliated day after day.

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 7th December, 2015, 05:37 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

December 7, 2015

Round Four

Jan Gustafsson and Danny King are in the commentator’s chairs again.

Danny says that at one of the training sessions with children, that are part of the London Classic, one boy was asked the name of the World Champion and said he was “Carlos Magnusson”. Danny says that is a great name for a swash-buckling alter ego of Magnus. Jan mentions that he lived in a town called San Carlos, when he was young. It is in Catalonia in Spain but he moved back to cold Hamburg later on.

Jonathan Speelman comes in just as the guys finish reading a Nigel Short tweet. They all analyze Nakamura-Anand together.

Jonathan is the chess columnist for The Observer and The Independent, an author of books on the endgame and former member of several Chess Olympiad teams for England.

(Nigel Short) – I suspect that Mickey Adams has spotted that 7…cd5 drops a piece

(Nigel Short) – Vishy and Fabiano (soundly) gambitting pawns in the opening

(Nigel Short) – Hikaru is probably thinking, “Why did I put that knight on a3?”

(Nigel Short) – Mickey Adams is probably thinking, “Why did I put that knight on a6?”

______

The American commentary can be found at:

http://grandchesstour.com/2015-londo...s-classic-live

There, the observers are Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley and Alejandro Ramirez.
_______
Back in London, the guys discuss Kirsan Ilyumzhinov stepping down temporarily as FIDE head. Jan relates that at the Berlin Rapid and Blitz tourney, Kirsan stopped in to hand him an FIDE pin. The next day he forgot to wear it as it was on his other suit jacket and meeting the president again, Kirsan seemed to show disapproval that he didn’t have the pin on. Jan felt bad and someone said that with Kirsan you are either for him or against him.

Jan is asked if he has sympathies for Kirsan now and Jan replies, “As Michael Jordan said, ‘Republicans buy sneakers too.’
No one is sure what this means so Jan says that Michael was once asked why he wouldn’t endorse black Democratic candidate Harvey Gantt in a North Carolina senate race, to which Michael said that Republicans buy sneakers too. In other words, don’t share your views on politics on the program because you might offend potential customers!

In analyzing a position in Carlsen-Adams, they talk about using the computer. Jonathan says when using one, you must be in charge or it is completely useless. You must also have trust in yourself. You know there is a good move there and you should be able to find it yourself and then have the computer check it. If it is just a matter of calculation, the computer is good at that. But the problem with electronic cheating (say) is that once you start, it is almost impossible to stop. You want it to check each move to see if it is correct.

Jan: It seems that you have given the cheating topic some thought. Are you going to stage a comeback?

And Jonathan goes on to talk about the Cheating Commission and the correlation of moves with their programs.

– Jonathan Speelman is a revelation. Precise with language, can tell he has a brain like a razor blade.
______

The first two games through are draws:

London Chess Classic
Round 4, Dec. 7, 2015
Giri, Anish – Aronian, Levon
A29 English, Bremen 3…Bb4

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 O-O 5.e4 Bxc3 6.bxc3 Re8 7.d3 c6 8.Nf3 d5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Qc2 Qc7 12.O-O Qxc3 13.Qxc3 Nxc3 14.Bb2 Na4 15.Bxe5 Nc6 16.Rfe1 Nb6 17.Bc7 Rxe1+ 18.Rxe1 Be6 19.Ne5 Rc8 20.Bxb6 Nxe5 21.Bxa7 Nxd3 22.Rd1 Nb2 23.Ra1 b5 24.a3 h6 25.Bd4 Nc4 26.h4 Bd7 27.Kh2 Bc6 28.Bc3 Bxg2 29.Kxg2 Ne3+ 30.fxe3 Rxc3 31.Kf3 h5 32.Rb1 Rxa3 33.Rxb5 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Dec. 7, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
B96 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 b5 12.g4 Nc6 13.O-O-O Bb7 14.h4 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Qc3 Rc8 18.Rh3 b4 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Qxc7 Rxc7 21.f5 O-O 22.Be1 Bd5 23.g5 Rfc8 24.Bxb4 Bxb4 25.f6 Kh7 26.c3 gxf6 27.gxf6 Rg8 28.Bxa6 Bc5 29.Nb5 Rc6 30.Bb7 Rb6 31.Bxd5 exd5 32.Nd4 Bxd4 33.cxd4 Rg2 34.Rd2 Rxd2 35.Kxd2 Kg6 36.b3 Kf5 37.Rg3 Kf4 38.Rg1 e3+ 39.Kd3 Rxb3+ 40.Kc2 Rb6 41.Kd3 Rb3+ 42.Kc2 Rb6 43.Kd3 1/2-1/2

Nakamura comes in for the postmortem with the guys. At the end they ask him what his time control preference is. He just wishes that the limits would be all the same – in classical chess, they should be uniform.

Round 4, Dec. 7, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Anand, Viswanathan
E10 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Qc2 c5 7.O-O cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Rd1 Nc6 10.Nxc6 Qxc6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Na3 Bd7 14.Rab1 Rac8 15.Qd3 Rfd8 16.cxd5 Qa4 17.Rd2 b5 18.Rbd1 exd5 19.Bxd5 Bc6 20.e4 a6 21.h4 Bxd5 22.exd5 Qb4 23.Rb1 Qa5 24.b4 Qa4 25.Rb3 Be7 26.Re2 Rc7 27.Kg2 Bf6 28.Qf3 Re7 29.Rd2 Red7 30.Qe2 g6 31.h5 g5 32.Qd1 Bg7 33.Nc2 Qxa2 34.Ne3 Qa1 35.Qxa1 Bxa1 36.Ra2 Bd4 37.Nf5 Bg7 38.Rxa6 Bf8 39.d6 Bxd6 40.Nxh6+ Kh7 41.Ng4 1-0

Round 4, Dec. 7, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Caruana, Fabiano
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Nbd2 d6 7. h3 Ne7 8. d4 Bb6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qe2 Ng6 11. g3 Qe7 12. Bd3 a5 13. Nc4 Bc5 14. Be3 Rd8 15. Bxc5 Qxc5 16. Ne3 h6 17. O-O-O Be6 18. Kb1 b5 19. c4 b4 20. Nd5 Nd7 21. Ne1 c6 22. Nc7 Rac8 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. h4 Rf8 25. Bc2 Qe7 26. Nd3 Nc5 27. Qe3 Nxd3 28. Rxd3 Rfd8 29. Rhd1 Rxd3 30. Qxd3 Nf8 31. Ba4 Qc5 32. Rd2 Kf7 33. Bd1 Ra8 34. Qd6 Qxc4 35. Qxe5 Qb5 36. Qc7+ Kg8 37. Qd6 a4 38. Be2 Qb6 39. Bc4 Re8 40. Qd4 c5 41. Qd6 Qb7 42. f3 a3 43. Rd3 axb2 44. Kxb2 Kh7 45. Kc2 Rc8 46. Ba6 Qa7 47. Bxc8 Qxa2+ 48. Kd1 c4 49. Rd2 Qa1+ 50. Ke2 c3 51. Qxf8 cxd2 52. Kxd2 Qb2+ 53. Ke3 Qc1+ 54. Kf2 Qd2+ 55. Kf1 Qd1+ 56. Kg2 Qe2+ 57. Kh3 h5 58. g4 hxg4+ 59. Kxg4 Qg2+ 60. Kf4 Qh2+ 61. Ke3 Qg1+ 62. Kd3 Qf1+ 63. Kd4 Qa1+ 64. Kc4 Qc3+ 65. Kb5 b3 66. Bxe6 Qe5+ 67. Kb4 Qxe6 68. Kc3 Qb6 69. Qf5+ Kg8 70. Qd5+ Kf8 71. Qxb3 Qf6+ 72. Kc2 Qxh4 73. Qb8+ Kf7 74. Kd3 Qe1 75. Qf4+ Ke6 76. Qf5+ Ke7 77. Qc5+ Kf7 78. Qf5+ Ke7 79. Qg6 Qd1+ 80. Ke3 Qe1+ 81. Kf4 Qc1+ 82. Kf5 Qc5+ 83. Kf4 ½-½

Round 4, Dec. 7, 2015
Carlsen, Magnus – Adams, Michael
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack (Barcza System)

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O e6 5. d3 Bd6 6. c4 Ne7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nc3 O-O 9. h3 Bh5 10. e4 Na6 11. exd5 cxd5 12. Re1 Nc6 13. d4 Nc7 14. a3 h6 15. b4 Rc8 16. Bb2 a6 17. Na4 a5 18. Nc5 axb4 19. axb4 Rb8 20. Qa4 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Qf6 22. Qb3 Rfd8 23. Bg4 Nxd4 24. Bxd4 Qxd4 25. Red1 Qc4 26. Qxc4 dxc4 27. Nd7 Rxd7 28. Bxd7 Bxb4 29. Ra4 Bc5 30. Rxc4 b6 31. Kg2 g6 32. Bc6 Ne8 33. Rd7 Nf6 34. Ra7 Kg7 35. Ra8 Rxa8 36. Bxa8 h5 37. Ra4 Ng8 38. Bd5 Ne7 39. Ba2 Nc6 40. Ra8 Nb4 41. Bc4 Nc6 42. f4 Ne7 43. Kf3 Nf5 44. Ra7 Nd6 45. Bd5 Bd4 46. Rd7 Bc5 47. Ba2 Kf6 48. g4 hxg4+ 49. hxg4 Kg7 50. Rd8 Nb7 51. Rd7 Nd6 52. Ke2 Kf8 53. Kd3 Kg7 54. Bd5 Kf8 55. Rd8+ Kg7 56. Bc6 Kh7 57. g5 Kg7 58. Bd5 Kh7 59. Rd7 Kg7 60. Ke2 Kf8 61. Kf3 Ke8 62. Rc7 Bd4 63. Kg4 Be3 64. Bxf7+ Nxf7 65. Rc6 Bd4 66. Rxg6 b5 67. Rg8+ Kd7 68. f5 Be3 69. Rg7 Ke8 70. Rg8+ Kd7 71. Rg7 Ke8 72. g6 Nh6+ 73. Kf3 Nxf5 74. Rf7 Nh4+ 75. Kxe3 Nxg6 76. Rb7 b4 77. Ke4 b3 78. Rxb3 ½-½

Ranking After Round 4

1. MVL 2.5
1. Nakamura 2.5
1. Giri 2.5
4. Grischuk 2
4. Caruana 2
4. Adams 2
4. Aronian 2
4. Carlsen 2
9. Anand 1.5
10. Topalov 1

**Jack Maguire** · Monday, 7th December, 2015, 07:22 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

Here's one more Nigel Short tweet today that amused me (:

Nigel Short ‏@nigelshortchess 4h4 hours ago
If I budgeted my time like Grischuk, I doubt that my Elo would be much above 2200 #justsaying #LondonChess

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 8th December, 2015, 12:24 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

Round Four (concluded)

December 8, 2015

From John Saunders’ Round Four Report

http://www.londonchessclassic.com/do...nd4_report.pdf

As some wit commented on Twitter, the Berlin Chess Classic is over and the London Chess Classic has started. Well, very nearly. In fact, one of the fourth round games did feature this unpopular but highly effective Ruy Lopez variation but it was a long and interesting struggle. There was plenty of absorbing chess but still only one decisive result, with Hikaru Nakamura beating Vishy Anand to move into a triple tie for first place with MVL and Anish Giri.

Giri-Aronian was something of an academic exercise. Neither player seemed inclined to push very hard. The game began with an English Opening and pieces were exchanged off at regular intervals. A draw looked on the cards from an early stage and so it proved.

At the start of play, Julian Hodgson in the VIP room made it plain which game he intended to concentrate on: the Grischuk versus Vachier-Lagrave game featuring a Sicilian Najdorf. This is the sort of opening variation that watching grandmasters slaver over, whilst the rest of us can only marvel at the nuances that they argue over. It was indeed a pretty good game, with Grischuk walking the time tightrope as usual, after expending about an hour and a half over moves 13 to 15, but again the players spoilt matters by playing too well.

Some apparently unbalanced positions occurred along the way but the players picked their way precisely through the complications, in Grischuk’s case with very little time to spare, and found all the right moves to maintain the equilibrium. Shortly after the time control they repeated positions and a draw was agreed. If you look at the Stockfish engine’s assessments of the position from Black’s move 26 to the end, you’ll find it was exactly 0.00 on every move. Positively uncanny.

Nakamura-Anand was a surprising game in many ways. The opening, a Catalan, wasn’t particularly sharp, though White built up pressure against Black’s d5- pawn. Anand chose to counter this by surrendering it for some positional counterplay. This was a reasonable plan but he followed it up unconvincingly, and Nakamura was able to consolidate his pawn plus, and bottle up Anand’s queen on the queenside into the bargain. Nakamura grasped his chance with alacrity and by the time they reached move 40 was about to increase his material when Black decided he’s seen enough and resigned. Quite a disappointing game for Anand and his many followers. With all three decisive games being lost by the forty-somethings in the line-up, pundits are shaking their heads and citing anno domini as a significant factor. I do hope they are wrong: come on, the old guys.

The other two games lasted long into the evening, with Carlsen-Adams ending at 10.30pm (a 6 1/2 hour session) and Topalov-Caruana going on even longer. In both cases White was trying to win but, not for the first time in this event, the defenders triumphed in both cases.

Mickey’s opening woes probably stemmed from the awkwardly-placed knight on a6 and the best he could do to survive was to give up the exchange for a pawn. However, with limited material left on the board, he had more than a glimmer of hope of survival. Eventually, on move, he manoeuvred his way into a position where he had a vulnerable pawn on f7 but it was defended by the knight, which is defended by the bishop, which is defended by (and defends) the pawn on b6. You could call it a fortress, but perhaps ‘spider’s web’ would be more apt. After relocating his attacked bishop, Carlsen was left trying to find ways for his king and kingside pawns to find a way through the net. Having failed to do so, he tried giving up the bishop to get two kingside passed pawns but that too proved insufficient. A great save by the England number one.

The final game to finish was Topalov-Caruana. A Berlin Defence, with a sort of Giuoco Pianissimo flavour to it, the game exited the book on move 8. The Bulgarian, on 1.2/3, showed further signs of being out of sorts with some insipid play in the opening. Not only did he lose the initiative, he looked at a distinct disadvantage from about move 11 onwards. GM heads in the VIP room started to shake and a few people had already chalked up a 0-1 score in their mind as Caruana’s queenside attack started to unfold. But then things started to change: Caruana’s 21...c6? was a misjudgement and a deceptively simple sequence of moves by Topalov put White in the ascendant. However, a far- sighted, imaginative defence by Caruana enabled him to save the game.

______

A nice piece of writing.

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 8th December, 2015, 06:26 PM

Re: London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

Round Five

December 8, 2015

Jan Gustafsson introduces Jonathan Speelman as his co-host with, “..the second strongest player from West Hampstead”.

The bets each day are on how many Berlin Defences will be played. Today, there are three.

Early on, the guys talk about Steinitz and Jan says that Chigorin played a match with Steinitz in 1892 and could have drawn it but in the last game, he moved his bishop in a blunder that made it mate in 2.

Two comments on that game from chessgames.com:

- Could 32.Bb4?? be the greatest blunder of all time in the history of chess? I have it #1 in my game collection in the top 10 greatest blunders. I thought it would be #1 because it cost Chigorin the entire match.

- I read that Chigorin drank brandy during the match, while Steinitz drank champagne. Maybe champagne does less harm than brandy. Or maybe Chigorin drank more than Steinitz did. We may never know.

I have looked for brandy snifters and champagne bottles on the tables here but only see Isklar bottled water.
_______

- Gee, more draws. Naka was right – everyone is saving their good prep for the Candidates in March.
______

London Chess Classic 2015
Round 5, Dec. 8, 2015
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime – Giri, Anish
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.g3 Bc4 15.Rfe1 Rg6 16.Nce4 Rd8 17.Rxd8+ Bxd8 18.b3 Bd5 19.c4 Nd4 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.Nd6+ cxd6 22.exd6+ Ne6 23.Nf3 Bf6 24.Be3 Kd7 25.Bxa7 Rh6 26.Rd1 Kxd6 27.Bb8+ Kc6 28.Rc1+ Kd7 29.Rd1 Kc6 30.Rc1+ Kd7 31.Rd1 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Dec. 8, 2015
Aronian, Levon – Carlsen, Magnus
A34 English, Symmetrical, Three Knights

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.d4 cxd4 7.exd4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Nd7 10.Bd3 b6 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Qf3 Rb8 13.O-O Bd6 14.Qh3 h6 15.Rfe1 O-O 16.Nf3 Bf4 17.Bxf4 Qxf4 18.Ne5 Bb7 19.Rad1 Qg5 20.c4 Rbd8 21.Qg3 Qxg3 22.hxg3 Rfe8 23.f3 Nd7 24.Kf2 Kf8 25.Bc2 Nxe5 26.Rxe5 Re7 27.Bb3 Red7 28.Ke3 g6 29.g4 Bc6 30.d5 exd5 31.cxd5 Bb7 32.f4 f6 33.Re6 Bxd5 34.Rxd5 Rxd5 35.Bxd5 Rxd5 36.Rxf6+ Kg7 37.Rc6 Ra5 38.Rc2 Kf6 39.Rc6+ Kg7 40.Rc2 Kf6 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Dec. 8, 2015
Adams, Michael – Nakamura, Hikaru
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Nd7 7.Nc4 O-O 8.Bd2 Re8 9.Qe2 f6 10.h4 Nf8 11.h5 Be6 12.Ne3 Qd7 13.h6 g6 14.O-O Bg4 15.Nxg4 Qxg4 16.Nd4 Qxe2 17.Nxe2 Ne6 18.g3 g5 19.Be3 Bf8 20.Kg2 Bxh6 21.Rh1 Bg7 22.Kf3 h6 23.Kg4 Re7 24.Raf1 Rf8 25.Rh3 Nd4 26.Nxd4 exd4 27.Bc1 Re5 28.f4 Rc5 29.Rh2 f5+ 30.exf5 Rfxf5 31.Rhf2 gxf4 32.Bxf4 h5+ 33.Kh3 Be5 34.Re1 Ra5 35.a3 Rd5 36.Re4 a5 37.a4 Rf7 38.b3 Bd6 39.Rfe2 Rg7 40.Bxd6 cxd6 41.Re8+ Kh7 42.Rf2 Rdg5 43.Rf3 R5g6 44.Re4 Rg4 45.Re6 h4 46.Rxd6 c5 47.Rd5 Rxg3+ 48.Rxg3 hxg3 49.Kg2 b6 50.Rd6 Rg6 51.Rxg6 Kxg6 52.Kxg3 Kg5 53.Kf3 Kf5 54.Kg3 Kg5 55.Kf3 Kf5 56.Kg3 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Dec. 8, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Grischuk, Alexander
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Be6 7. O-O Bd6 8. d4 Nd7 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. f4 Bd4+ 12. Kh1 f5 13. Qh5+ g6 14. Qe2 O-O 15. Nf3 Bf6 16. e5 Be7 17. Rd1 Qe8 18. Nd4 Qf7 19. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. Be3 Rfd8 21. c4 a6 22. b3 Kf7 23. a4 Ke8 24. h3 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Rd8 26. Rxd8+ Bxd8 27. Bc5 Kf7 28. Qd2 Bh4 29. Kh2 h5 30. a5 Qe8 31. Ba3 Qd8 32. Qb4 b6 33. Qc3 c5 34. Bb2 Qd1 35. e6+ Kxe6 36. Qe5+ Kd7 37. Qg7+ Be7 38. Qxg6 Qc2 39. Be5 h4 40. axb6 cxb6 41. Qxb6 Qd3 42. Qb7+ Ke8 43. Qa8+ Kd7 44. Qb7+ Ke8 45. Qc6+ Kf8 46. Qa8+ Bd8 47. Bc3 Qg3+ 48. Kh1 Qd3 49. Qb8 Kf7 50. Qb7+ Be7 51. Be5 a5 52. Bb8 Qb1+ 53. Kh2 a4 54. Qd5+ Kf8 55. Bd6 axb3 56. Qa8+ Kf7 57. Qd5+ Kf8 58. Qa8+ Kf7 ½-½

- Obvious draw now. White can't prevent b-pawn from queening so has to go for a perpetual

- Bravo Alexander! Nice save
_______

Fascinating ending as the players play on after six hours. One of the chessbomb kibitzers says that he is analyzing with Comet, Crafty, Fritz 5 and Rybka 4 engines!

Round 5, Dec. 8, 2015
Anand, Vishy – Topalov, Veselin
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Qd3 g6 12. O-O-O Nd7 13. Kb1 Rc8 14. Nec3 Rc5 15. Be2 b5 16. a3 Nb6 17. g4 hxg4 18. Nxb6 Qxb6 19. hxg4 Rxh1 20. Rxh1 Bg7 21. Qe3 Qb7 22. Rd1 Qc7 23. g5 Qc6 24. Rg1 Qd7 25. Qg3 Rc8 26. Bg4 Bxg4 27. Qxg4 Qxg4 28. Rxg4 Bf8 29. Nd5 Be7 30. c3 Rc6 31. Kc2 Kd7 32. Kb3 Bd8 33. a4 Rc5 34. axb5 Rxb5+ 35. Ka2 a5 36. b4 axb4 37. cxb4 Rb7 38. Kb3 Rb8 39. Rg1 Rb7 40. Rg3 Rb8 41. Rg1 Rb7 42. Ra1 Bxg5 43. Kc4 Bd8 44. f3 f5 45. Rh1 fxe4 46. fxe4 g5 47. b5 Rb8 48. Rh7+ Ke6 49. Kb4 g4 50. Rg7 g3 51. Rxg3 Rb7 52. Rg6+ Kd7 53. Rg7+ Kc8 54. Rg8 Kd7 55. Kc4 Rb8 56. Rg7+ Ke6 57. Kb4 Ba5+ 58. Kc4 Bd8 59. Rg8 Rc8+ 60. Kd3 Rb8 61. Rh8 Kd7 62. Rh7+ Ke6 63. Kc4 Rc8+ 64. Kb4 Rc1 65. b6 Rb1+ 66. Ka5 Bxb6+ 67. Nxb6 Ra1+ 68. Kb5 Rb1+ 69. Kc6 Rc1+ 70. Kb7 Rb1 71. Kc7 Rc1+ 72. Kd8 Re1 73. Rh4 Kf6 74. Rg4 1-0

- Blunder by Topa. 63. Kc4 winning now

Nigel Shortisms

During the European Team Championships in Reykjavik last month, Nigel got sick. When asked on the English Chess Forum if there should be a team doctor, he said, “Gunnar Bjornsson's wife, Andrea, was kind enough to drive me to a clinic on the first Sunday. Unfortunately, I almost certainly got an incorrect diagnosis. Furthermore, the medication that I took before my game against Armenia, caused drowsiness. The doctor had omitted to mention this side-effect, and the instructions were in Icelandic. So the answer to the question is therefore probably "yes", I didn't get fully satisfactory medical attention. I am not blaming anyone, least of all the Icelandic organisers, but sometimes one needs a higher level of care to get to the root of a problem.”

The patient, at home, appears to be well from the number and quality of his tweets:

- Whoa! 10.h4!! Mickey Adams like a man

- I have gone on strike. I refuse to commentate on MVL-Anish Giri as a point of principle

- I like Levon’s coffee-house attack against the World champion. It is well-justified.

- The question for Magnus Carlsen is “Where should I put my king?”

- My track record of predictions is hopeless but if I make enough I will get one right. Vishy will win today

- White, Vishy, has achieved his goal – a glorious immovable knight on d5, but still has no real advantage

- I keep humming the tune “Killing me Softly” when I look at Topalov’s position

- Meanwhile Caruana has been successfully tickling the zeitnot junkie Grischuk

- The highlight of my day was being called a “misogynist” when I remarked “What a man!” after one of Mickey’s moves.

- Excellent play today by Vishy. Good karma after taking in numerous Chennai flood victims into his home
________

Note: Tomorrow is a Rest Day and the games resume on Thursday, the 10th.

Rankings After Round 5

1 Vachier-Lagrave 3
1 Nakamura 3
1 Giri 3
4 Grischuk 2.5
4 Caruana 2.5
4 Anand 2.5
4 Adams 2.5
4 Aronian 2.5
4 Carlsen 2.5
10 Topalov 1

London Chess Classic 2015

London Chess Classic 2015

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