London Chess Classic 2013 Super-16 Rapid: Hikaru Nakamura beats Boris Gelfand to win Title
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Twenty-six-year-old American Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura has won the 5th London Chess Classic 2013, staged this year as a rapid chess tournament and billed 'the Super-Sixteen Rapid'. Nakamura defeated former World Chess Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand of Israel 1½-½ in the final.
As the world number four on the FIDE Rating List for classical chess, and number three at rapid chess, Nakamura's result was far from being a surprise but it was a significant achievement in the career of a remarkable player who must be a leading contender to threaten Magnus Carlsen’s world crown in the next few years.
Hikaru’s progression through the competition was impressive. He scored +2, =4, -0 in the preliminary phase, and then improved that to +3, =3, -0 against sterner opposition in the knock-out phase. To go through without a loss was a clear sign of strength. His toughest moment was when he came close to elimination in his second semi-final game with Vladimir Kramnik but he showed an amazing resilience in first holding the former world champion at bay and then taking advantage of Kramnik’s evident state of confusion to finish the match off with a win.
In the final match against Boris Gelfand, Hikaru showed the courage of his convictions by going straight for an ultra-sharp tactic in the opening against a player who had hitherto proved himself the best defender in the event, and also at this time control in world championship qualifiers. They say ‘fortune favours the brave’ and Hikaru’s conquest of this elite rapid chess event backs that up.
THE FINAL
Nakamura 1½-½ Gelfand
Game 1 - win for Nakamura
Hikaru received the white pieces in the draw for colours conducted by chief arbiter Albert Vasse, and they launched into a Grünfeld Defence, one of the most fashionable of all current super-GM openings.
Hikaru's 10.Ng5 is quite a double-edged move but Boris avoided the standard continuation 10...Nb6 by playing instead 10...Nc6. Hikaru's response was brave and speculative – 11.Nxf7!? – a move we all like to play against a castled king, whatever level we play at.
On the face of it, the line looks very dodgy for Black as he has to give up the exchange, but it is almost inconceivable that Boris wouldn’t have something prepared for this. By way of compensation he demolished the white centre and got his minor pieces to strong outposts. Was it enough? The unofficial grandmaster jury in the VIP Room was undecided: the Hiarcs engine thought White was better around move 15 but Matthew Sadler and others preferred Black.
Hikaru may not have been entirely confident of his chances as he thought for nine minutes about his 16th move: quite a big chunk of his allotted 25 minutes. However, within a few moves, the initiative seemed to have shifted back to the American after Boris played the dubious 17...Ne4. "He's blown it," exclaimed GM Julian Hodgson, perhaps a little melodramatically. Then, calming down slightly, "I think Hikaru's over the worst now – he'll survive."
Julian might have been right the first time. The next few moves saw Hikaru consolidate his material advantage, in machine-like fashion, and Boris never really looked like getting back into the game. At move 25 he used around half of his remaining six minutes, suggesting he was running out of ideas.
More solid moves followed from Hikaru and Boris had to resign.
Game 2 - draw
Boris, with White, played the Averbakh variation of the King's Indian Defence. It followed theory for about 15 moves and Boris acquired a space advantage. However, Black’s position remained playable and White couldn’t bring any real pressure to bear on it. Hikaru used his tactical prowess to exchange queens and then give up the exchange for two pawns. It might sound risky but Black’s pieces remained well-coordinated and Boris’s pair of rooks had no useful inroads. Boris pressed too hard and made a slip. Eventually only Hikaru could win the position but, since he didn’t need to, he was happy to acquiesce to a draw.
What a gripping competition! Thanks to Malcolm Pein and his team for their hard work, the players for their wonderful chess, and to everyone at home and at the venue for being a great audience. See you all again this time next year! (Report by John Saunders)
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: Boris gelfand, Hikaru nakamura, london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013: Boris Gelfand vs Hikaru Nakamura in Final
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The London Chess Classic 2013 is going to witness the grand final between Boris Gelfand of Israel and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA on Sunday from 17.30 onwards local time at the Olympia Centre in London.
WATCH LIVE FINALS @ LONDON CHESS CLASSIC OFFICIAL WEBSITE
The semi-finals have just finished where Gelfand knocked out a determined Michael Adams and Hikaru Nakamura snatched a win on an endgame-jitters' from Vladimir Kramnik. Gelfand won the first game and drew the second with Adams to cruise to the final. Hikaru drew the first game and was a tad lucky as Kramnik stumbled.
Earlier, on Saturday, in the quarter-finals, interestingly, three of the eight semi-finalists had an average age of about 40!
Kramnik 1½-½ Anand: This pairing got off to a hesitant start which drifted into a a draw. In the second game, however, Anand played defensively in the opening and Kramnik beat him in a Semi-Tarrasch with a vicious attack.
Adams 1-1 (2-0) Svidler: Mickey Adams beat Peter Svidler swapping rooks and converting to an easily winning king and pawn endgame. The second game featured a Réti-ish opening with Svidler winning back. But, in the blitz play-off, Adams won to cruise to the semis.
Caruana 1-1 (0-2) Gelfand: The Israeli Grandmaster and former World Chess Championship Challenger also needed the tiebreaks to go through to the semis. Both main games were drawn, but Gelfand struck to win the tiebreak!
Short ½-1½ Nakamura: The first game was a shocker defeat for Nigel Short and Nakamura held his ground to draw the second and get into the semis.
Labels: Boris gelfand, Hikaru nakamura, london chess classic 2013, michael adams, vladimir kramnik
London Chess Classic 2013: Favourites through to Quarter Finals
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The latest chess news updates from the London Chess Classic 2013 are here from a report by John Saunders:
SUPER SIXTEEN RAPID: THE END OF THE BEGINNING...
So the preliminary stage is over, with the result that all eight starting favourites are through to the quarter-finals (pairings are Kramnik-Anand, Adams-Svidler, Caruana-Gelfand, Short-Nakamura). The tournament has had a number of surprise individual results but in the end the double-cycle all-play-all format has ensured that the consistent performers have come through.
ROUND 5
McShane 0-1 Adams: The result of this game means that all qualification issues in group A are settled - Mickey and Vishy proceed to the quarter-finals, with a decisive result between them in the final round (or a coin toss) deciding which of them finishes first and second. The game exited Lopez theory on move 14, when Luke innovated with 14.Bg5. A couple of moves later it was chased back to d2, so one wonders about its efficacy. Mickey soon threw off the shackles of 'Spanish torture' and was giving his youthful rival what looked like a nasty Chinese burn down the b-file. There followed some fairly standard cut and thrust until Luke rather unexpectedly overstepped the time limit (despite the ten-second increment). Clearly he should have read yesterday's report, which contained the secret of rapidplay chess, as told by Mickey Adams - "play a bit faster".
Anand ½-½ Istratescu: This result accomplished something of comfort for both players. For Vishy, it gave him the point he needed to be sure of playing on Saturday. For Andrei it gave him a point - his first. Not an exciting game and I'll save you a few minutes of your life by advising you not to play through it.
Kramnik ½-½ Sadler: Matthew's draw means that he still has a small chance of qualifying, though he has to rely on help from someone else. Vladimir seemed to be struggling a little around move 35 but it was probably just an illusion as there was no concrete way for Black to make progress.
Svidler 1-0 Rowson: Peter always seemed on top here but Jonathan put up a good fight. I was a bit surprised he didn't repeat positions with 44...Kg8. It came down to rook and three versus rook and two. The decisive error was 57...Rxh4, played when Jonathan still had three minutes left on his clock and giving Peter a tempo to switch his rook behind the b-pawn.
Gelfand ½-½ Nakamura: This result came as a slight surprise as Boris has an imposing score against Hikaru, but it was good enough to secure the Israeli super-GM's qualification through to the next round.
Polgar 0-1 Jones: Gawain was already eliminated so was just playing for the honour, but Judit started the game needing a win if she was to have any chance of continuing in the tournament. Consequently she played no-holds barred chess, which of course suits her style. There were a number of occasions in this game when she might ordinarily have settled for a draw, e.g. on move 20 when 20.Rh8+! forces a draw via a double rook sacrifice, but her attempts to win eventually compromised her game. A well-played game by Gawain.
Short 1-0 Sutovsky: A great result for Nigel to secure "another day's work" as he quipped to me in the VIP room about his qualification for the knock-out phase. Nigel's experiences to date on the stage at Olympia have not been very positive and he effectively changed the script. He felt more comfortable with what I referred to as his 'Victorian repertoire', in this case a Giuoco Piano which turned into a weird sort of Evan’s Gambit in slow motion. "Yes, going for f7 is what it's about." Emil took the free ‘Evans pawn’ on b4 with his knight but this only lent wings to Nigel’s attack and Emil had to give the pawn back. On move 24 Emil made an oversight, allowing Nigel to go a pawn ahead. He soon wrapped up the game to secure his place in the next stage with a round to spare.
Howell 0-1 Caruana: David described the end of his hopes as 'abrupt' and it certainly was that as he blundered a rook after being a pawn up and having the better of things for much of the game. It ended his qualification hopes but put Fabiano through to the quarter-finals. Had he taken his chances, David might well have scored two wins against the world number seven, but moral victories don’t count on the scoreboard.
Read more »Labels: london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013: Final 8 to be decided today after Rounds 5, 6
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The London Chess Classic 2013 is an exciting 16-round rapid chess event with some of the world's best chess elite. Excerpts from a report by John Saunders on Rounds 3 and 4 played in London on Thursday:
Peter Svidler versus Vladimir Kramnik in Round 4 at the London Chess Classic 2013./Photo: John Saunders
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’ 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.
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
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. Official website of the London Chess Classic 2013.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013 begins with Super 16 in Rapid Format
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Here is the London Chess Classic 2013: Super 16 Rapid update (excerpts), by John Saunders, on Rounds 1 and 2 played on Wednesday.
This year’s main event at the London Chess Classic, the Super Sixteen Rapid, began at 1400 at the Olympia Conference Centre, with the elite players playing at a rate of 25 minutes for all the moves, plus ten seconds added per move. They are divided up into four groups of four, with the top two qualifying for a final knock-out phase. The point system is, as usual at the Classic, 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.
After the opening ceremony, with brilliant Norwegian guitarist Alf Wilhelm Lundberg playing his own arrangement of ‘Chestnuts’ for all of us chess nuts, it was straight down to action. Rapid chess is,of course, a very different beast from classical (or longplay) chess. At this, the highest level, the opening and early middlegame can be played with as much accuracy as a classical game but sooner or later the limited thinking time puts the players under huge pressure and this can cause a huge swing in fortunes, much as in a blitz game. This proved to be the case at the Classic right from the start, as we shall see.
Replay all the games of both the rounds with Chess King.
ROUND 1
Anyone predicting a result based on computer assessments after 20 or 30 moves of the first batch of four games would probably have only got one of the four results right. Mickey Adams himself demurred when asked if he was better all the way but his win looked the least problematic of the first four games on the stage as he took on the FIDE Open qualifier Andrei Istratescu from France, who no doubt struggled to make the transition after four days of tough classical chess.
The 15th World Champion Vishy Anand, playing his first game since Chennai, was definitely in severe trouble against Luke McShane as the world’s strongest amateur played swooped to win rook for knight. But, in the inevitable time pressure, Luke made a poor move (31.Ke2 – see the accompanying PGN file), Vishy’s pawns suddenly became massively strong and Luke crumbled.
In the commentary room Vishy quipped “It was an embarrassing game,” but quickly added “I’d take an embarrassing win over a beautiful loss any time.” Well, I guess that is a lesson we amateurs could teach the professionals as we play embarrassing games rather more often they do. It was actually a very instructive game, showing the value of resilience under pressure and also that, at rapid chess, there is no such thing as a ‘won game’.
Vishy wasn’t the only world champion to turn his game around. Vladimir Kramnik did much the same against Peter Svidler. Vlad tried a tactic (19.Nxc7) which he later admitted was a mistake as it marginally lost material (two pieces for rook and pawn) but he managed to generate enough counterplay to force his opponent into time trouble and finally blunder.
Matthew Sadler managed to win two knights for a rook against Scottish number one Jonathan Rowson but he allowed his opponent’s queen and rook to maintain a powerful pin on the seventh rank. That shouldn’t have been good enough to win but Jonathan eventually had two connected passed pawns and it proved too hard to defend in the time available.
The rounds are played in two shifts of four games, so now Groups C and D took the stage. It proved very tough for Emil Sutovsky to make the transition from classical to rapid chess in one day (bear in mind that he had already played four tough games before the other guys started), and his attempt to do something unusual in the opening backfired against Fabiano Caruana, and the brilliant Italian super-GM made no mistake.
Gawain Jones’s first game was against the world number three rapidplay player, Hikaru Nakamura, rated 2812 at rapid chess. (In case you were wondering who the two players above Hikaru on the rapid list are... surprise, surprise, Magnus Carlsen, rated 2845 at this form of the game, and Russian superstar Alexander Grischuk, 2828.) So it was a particularly valiant effort for Gawain to draw against Hikaru. An interesting position cropped up on move 50: Jones - Nakamura, Round 1, after 49...Bc6
Here Gawain played 50.Qd4, to which Hikaru replied 50...e5!, opening the path for his queen to come to h3 and threaten mate on g2 or h1. Gawain replied 51.Qxe5 (there’s nothing better) and here Hikaru should have played the crushing intermezzo move 51...Re8!! before putting his queen on h3. Instead he went there immediately – 51...Qh3? – and Gawain was able to block the diagonal with 52.Rd5! If Hikaru takes the rook, he would actually lose so he had to retreat his queen. Thereafter Gawain had rather the better of it but it wasn’t enough to win.
Nigel Short’s homebrew opening seemed to throw David Howell off course slightly, but the crowd of English GMs in the VIP room, where Nigel’s illustrious contemporary Julian Hodgson holds sway, were a bit disappointed when he didn’t go all in with something other than 9.Qxe6 in the opening. Thereafter he played steadily to secure a draw.
Judit Polgar was made to pay for a slight inaccuracy (14...Nbd7) in the opening against Boris Gelfand, who won a pawn and exploited it calmly and efficiently as if it were a classical game.
Read more »Labels: london chess classic 2013
Novelty Chess Events at London Chess Classic 2013; Main Event begins Today 1300 UK Time
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The main event of the London Chess Classic 2013 begins today. Before that, John Saunders reports on the novelty chess events being held in London along with the Chess Classic:
SUPERSTARS LIMBER UP WITH SOME NOVELTY CHESS
The fourth day of the 2013 London Chess Classic, held at the Olympia Conference Centre in London saw the arrival of the superstars, to take part in some novelty events, with celebs, amateurs and representatives of the business world, and maybe to try to gain a psychological edge over their rivals.
There was also some crucial action in the FIDE Open, to decide the last two places in the Super Sixteen Rapid. Two top GMs, Andrei Istratescu of France and Emil Sutovsky of Israel, won their fourth straight games and earned instant promotion to the main event.
Action began early in the main auditorium with two Pro-Amateur matches. This was the first of three ‘chess doubles’ events of the day, where the GM makes the first move of the game for each side and thereafter the pairs alternate moves. A PGN file has been appended of all games played: all you have to remember is that the GMs made the odd-numbered moves and their partners the even ones. (I nearly made the mistake of writing that the ‘GMs made the odd moves’, thereby risking several expensive lawsuits.)
In the Pro-Am. In this event Luke McShane was paired with Sean Ingle, Sports editor for the Guardian newspaper, against Nigel Short and Raijko Vujatovic, strong chess player, writer, well-known Chessboxing referee and all-round nice guy. I don’t think Sean has played competitive OTB chess but he’s got pretty strong playing online. I’ve played him a few times and was very impressed by his chess ability, so it was no surprise to me when he and Luke got the better of Nigel and Raijko.
Incidentally, Sean is also an impressive football pundit. His uncannily accurate 2010 FIFA World Cup predictions can still be found on the web (http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2010/jun/10/world-cup-guardian-predictions), so if you want to know who is going to win in Brazil in 2014, you could do worse than ask him.
The other Pro-Am contest saw Boris Gelfand and Robert Mitchell take white against Vladimir Kramnik and Matthew Lunn. Matthew’s extra OTB strength probably made the difference here, as he and former world champion Kramnik triumphed after White’s promising early middlegame attack foundered.
The Pro-Business Cup was played on a semi-final and final basis, with Matthew Sadler and Daniel Lindner, who works in the wealth management division of Barclays, coming through to beat David Howell and Ali Mortazavi in the final. Ali is Chief Executive of Silence Therapeutics, and of course also a chess IM in his own right, which must have made him and his partner the favourites, but 37-year-old Daniel Lindner from Germany, though not a familiar name to us Brits, is also a more than handy chessplayer, with a peak rating in the high 2200s, which would probably have been even higher had he been able to devote more time to the game.
In the semi-finals Matthew and Daniel had beaten the Italian pairing of Fabiano Caruana and Fabio Buanne, director of International Business Development for Orange, while David and Ali had beaten Gawain Jones and Jeremy Hodgson, Senior Systems Programmer with Interactive Data, but perhaps better in our world as brother of several times British Champion Julian Hodgson. Jeremy took a long sabbatical from the game but has recently been bitten by the chess bug again and is now regularly seen playing in chess competitions.
Read more »Labels: london chess classic 2013
Exciting Chess Events at London Chess Classic 2013 Live Today: Showbiz Celebrities, Chess Amateurs and Stars!
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The Pro-Am Cup and Pro-Business Cup started is being held at the London Chess Classic 2013 today. This special chess event - before the start of the main GM event - includes amateurs and businessmen players paired with chess professionals in teams.
The Pro-Celebrity Challenge starts at 14:00 local time (15:00 CET) and includes showbiz stars. Games will be played with 10 minutes and 10 seconds on the clock and broadcast live. Lawrence Trent and Malcolm Pein will officiate. Each winning team receive £5000 for their favourite charity.
Confirmed celebrity line-up
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.
Alex Zane: Alex is an English television personality and DJ best known for presenting Rube Tube on Channel 4. Alex was a guest at the 2010 London Chess Classic.
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)”.
* Alex Zane has opted to give charity for Community Links
* Shingai Shoniwa has asked for her prize to go to the Philippines appeal
* Edgar Davids has his own foundation @Fountain
1st Pro-Am Cup
Four amateur players have bid to play with a chess legend in a rapid format game at the London Chess Classic on Tuesday 10 December. The winning bidders have been paired with top flight GM and will face another PRO-AM team across the board. The 1st London Chess Classic PRO-AM takes place at 10.30 in the auditorium at Olympia.
All proceeds go to support the charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC).
The players get to discuss tactics with the GM before hand but once underway there is no conferring. The GM and amateur make alternate moves. The games will broadcast live on the web and to the theatre audience so no pressure then !
The time limit will be 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move
The pairings are:
Vladimir Kramnik Pro – Am Ravi Mansharamani
Judit Polgar Pro – Am Robert Mitchell
Luke McShane Pro – Am TBA
Nigel Short Pro – Am Rajko Vujatovic
Pro-Business Cup
UK charity Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) has this year launched a new micro-tournament as part of its flagship event, the London Chess Classic, which sees the world’s leading chess players descend on London’s Olympia Exhibition Centre in December for a week of top class matches.
This year’s event, the fifth annual edition of the prestigious Classic, will challenge top business minds to face off against the best chess players in the world in the Pro-Business-Chess-Cup.
The tournament will give business leaders the chance to team up with one of the world’s top chess Grandmasters and take on other Pro-Business pairings. Pro players include the UK’s youngest ever Grandmaster and current British Chess Champion David Howell; twice British Champion and speed chess specialist, Matthew Sadler; the youngest ever Italian or American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruano; and, British Grandmaster and Commonwealth Champion, Gawain Jones.
Labels: london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013 Chess in Schools and Communities Events for Kids
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The 5th London Chess Classic takes place at Olympia from Saturday 7th December to Sunday 15th December 2013. CSC school events at previous Classics have proved great successes and shall be running them again this year. The programme will be delivered by professional chess tutors and is intended for children of all chess abilities, from complete beginners upwards. These events will run from 10.00 am to 3.30 pm each day, with a break for a sandwich lunch. All primary and secondary schools are invited to participate. Please note that space is limited to 400 children per day and priority will be given to current CSC schools. Photographs will be taken at all LCC events which may appear on the CSC website and the charity’s promotional material. Members of the press may also film some of the events for broadcast. Appropriate parental consent should be obtained beforehand. Please contact Nevil Chan on 020 7935 3445 if you have any queries. Also check the official website of the London Chess Classic 2013.
Labels: Chess in Schools and Communities, london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013 Super Sixteen Draw Announced
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
On the same day as the football World Cup draw is made in Brazil, the London Chess Classic is also officially announcing their groups for the ‘Super Sixteen’ Rapid tournament that will start on Wednesday, 11th December at the Kensington Olympia. The draw for the group stages took place on Wednesday 4th December at Ravenscroft Primary School in Newham.
Pupils at the school conducted the draw in the presence of tournament director Malcolm Pein and deputy arbiter David Sedgwick.
Ravenscroft were the first school to take part in Chess in Schools and Communities scheme in 2010 and are now coached by FM Jerzy Dzybowski. The school has excelled in local competition and will be presented with an award for outstanding achievement from the British Chess Educational Trust at the London Chess Classic next week.
The players were divided into four pools on the basis of their FIDE Rapidplay ratings, using Standard play ratings for players without Rapidplay Ratings. Qualifier 1 will be the qualifier with the higher score from the first four rounds of the Open, or the qualifier with the higher rating if both have the same score. One player from each pool was placed into each group and a subsidiary draw determined each player’s position within the group:
Group A
Luke McShane
Qualifier 1
Michael Adams
Vishy Anand
Group B
Vladimir Kramnik
Jonathan Rowson
Matthew Sadler
Peter Svidler
Group C
Boris Gelfand
Gawain Jones
Hikaru Nakamura
Judit Polgar
Group D
Nigel Short
Fabiano Caruana
Qualifier 2
David Howell
The full pairings and times for each of the four groups can be found on the Classic Official tournament website: www.londonchessclassic.com.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013: Two Opportunities to play Alongside a Chess Legend – and aid Charity!
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
Two unique opportunities to play alongside a chess legend – and aid charity!
The London Chess Classic is offering chess aficionados the chance to play alongside a chess legend and face another PRO-AM team in two new additions to this year’s event – and at the same time help to raise money for the Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) charity!
The Pro-Business Chess Cup will take place on Tuesday 10th December at the Olympia Auditorium between 10.30 and 13.30. Business leaders will have a golden opportunity to team up with one of the world's top chess Grandmasters and take on other likeminded Pro-Business pairings. Pro players include Hikaru Nakamura, the three-time US Champion and world number 4; Fabiano Caruana, the young Italian/American Grandmaster and world number 6; Matthew Sadler, twice British Champion and speed chess specialist; and Gawain Jones, the 2012 British Champion and 2011 Commonwealth Champion.
Four pairings will take to the stage at the Olympia Exhibition Centre on 10th December for games of speed chess, with only 60 minutes allowed per game, in a two round knockout tournament. Each business leader will have an exclusive training session with their Grandmaster before the game to discuss tactics beforehand, but once the game has started, they will take alternate moves with their GM, with no conferring allowed. Winners of Round 1 will stay on for the final and have a chance to win the inaugural Pro-Business Chess Cup.
Malcolm Pein, Chief Executive of CSC, said: “We’re delighted to be able to host the London Chess Classic again and very excited by the additional tournament formats, particularly the prospect of seeing some of Britain’s leading business executives making the transition from the boardroom to the chessboard by taking on the brilliant minds of some of the world’s top Grandmasters.”
All games will be broadcast live on the internet and to the theatre audience. Professional photographs will be taken of the occasion and made available to all who take part. All proceeds raised will go directly to the CSC charity.
The Pro-Am Auction offers another chance to play with a chess legend at the London Chess Classic. As with the Pro-Business Cup, games will take place Tuesday 10th Deecember and last 60 minutes each. Make the winning bid on our bid page and you will find yourself sitting alongside a true great of world chess and facing another PRO-AM team. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity with all proceeds again going to support the charity CSC.
Before the game you will discuss tactics with your GM partner but once it is underway there can be no conferring and you and your partner will make alternate moves. The games will take place on stage in the Auditorium between 10.30 and 13.30 and be broadcast live on the internet and to the theatre audience. Professional photographs will be taken and available as mementos.
Elite players taking part in the Pro-Am include: World Champion Vishy Anand, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar, Boris Gelfand, Mickey Adams, Peter Svidler, Luke McShane, Nigel Short and David Howell. Bidding has already started; and to secure your place go to our special bidding page. Official tournament website: www.londonchessclassic.com
Find out more about how your business can take part by e-mailing at ProBusCup@londonchessclassic.com or calling 020 7494 1616.
Labels: london chess classic 2013
Chess and Education Conference at London Chess Classic 2013
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hello everyone,
The London Chess Classic showcases the hard work done by Chess in Schools and Communities, of how chess can be used as a very effective and invaluable educational tool in the classroom to help children with their school work. There has been a lot of global research done on chess in the classroom; and many academics agree that school chess simply works.
During the Classic, there will also be the Chess and Education London Conference on the weekend of 7th and 8th December 2013 at the Olympia Conference Centre, Kensington. Titled “Successes and Challenges: Improving School Chess Practice, Research and Strategy.” The conference will bring together like-minded promoters of scholastic chess from Armenia, Sweden and Denmark, who will highlight the latest success stories of their work in the classroom, as well as recent research and commentary from eminent scientists, academics and authors. Over the two days of the conference, there will a mixture of workshops and lectures. The keynote speakers will be: Michelle Ellefson (University of Cambridge), Leontxo Garcìa (author and journalist), Aram Hajian (American University of Armenia) and Mads Jacobsen (Skoleskak Denmark). The registration fee is £125 GBP for both days, £75 GBP for one day but is free for CSC accredited tutors, education professionals from CSC schools and representatives of schools chess organisations and national chess federations. The full education conference programme is now available on http://www.londonchessclassic.com/conference. Delegates can also get to witness at first hand the UK’s largest chess festival, where they will see a mixture of chess events, from the world’s elite players in the ‘Super Sixteen to junior tournaments for children - and all under the one roof! And should they like to mix chess with the education conference, they can opt to play in one of our many tournaments.
Labels: london chess classic 2013
London Chess Classic 2013: Online Entry for Festival Events Now Open
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
Chess in Schools and Communities is delighted to announce that online entries are now open for the UK's largest chess festival. The 5th London Chess Classic will run Saturday 7th - Sunday 15th December 2013. The marquee event is the ‘Super Sixteen’ Rapidplay featuring the World’s Elite and the Best of British. The festival also has events for all abilities and ages, with over £18,000 in prize money.
In addition, there are blitz tournaments and Grandmaster simultaneous displays with former British Champions Julian Hodgson, John Nunn and Jon Speelman.
FIDE Open (9 round Swiss event)
Saturday 7th - Sunday 15th December (with a guaranteed £10,500 prize fund and the top two after 4 rounds going into the Super Sixteen) Ten Grandmasters and six International Masters have already entered the FIDE Open, including the following five super-GMs:
Matuesz Bartel: 2635
Sabino Brunello: 2617
Viorel Iordachescu: 2609
Robin Van Kampen: 2606
Jon Ludvig Hammer: 2605
Weekday Tournaments (5 round Swiss events)
Weekday Classic FIDE U2000: Monday 9th - Friday 13th December
Weekday Classic ECF U135: Monday 9th - Friday 13th December
Weekend Tournaments (5 round Swiss events)
Weekend Classic A (Open, U170, U145, U120): Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th December
Weekend Classic B (Open, U2000, U1800, U120): Friday 13th - Sunday 15th December
Rapidplay Tournaments (6 round Swiss events)
English Junior Rapidplay: Saturday 7th December
Classic Rapidplay A: Sunday 8th December (FIDE Rated)
Classic Rapidplay B: Saturday 14th December (FIDE Rated)
Classic Rapidplay C: Sunday 15th December (FIDE Rated)
All events will be held at the Olympia Conference Centre, Hammersmith Rd, London, W14 8UX.
Official tournament website: www.londonchessclassic.com
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: london chess classic 2013, online tickets chess festival
Top Six English Players Register for 5th London Chess Classic
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013
Hi everyone,
Six leading English players, Michael Adams, Luke McShane, Nigel Short, Matthew Sadler, David Howell and Gawain Jones have accepted their invitation to play in the 5th London Chess Classic to be staged at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, running from Saturday 7th December to Sunday 15th December.
Life begins at 41 for the UK No.1, Michael Adams, who was one of the world’s best players in the 1990s. He was a four-time semifinalist (1993, 1997, 1999 and 2000) in World Championship events, and in 2004 he made itto the final. He was ranked No.4 in the world in 2001 and 2002, but by 2009 had dropped to No.50.
Since then, the popular Cornishman has seen a renaissance in his game with a return to elite status; and this summer, he scored the biggest tournament victory of his career by winning the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, Germany, ahead of a field that included Vladimir Kramnik, the former world champion and world No. 3, and Fabiano Caruana of Italy, who is ranked fifth.
Luke McShane, 29, and Matthew Sadler, 39, both follow in that quaint English tradition -- much like C.H.O’D Alexander and Jonathan Penrose, who shocked top Soviet stars such as Botvinnik, Bronstein and Tal -- by being regarded as the world’s top two amateur players, as they hold down very demanding full-time professional jobs. McShane works in finance in the City, and Sadler in IT in The Netherlands - but while chess is now a “hobby” for both, the English No’s. 2 and 4 respectively still play to a very high standard.
Globe-trotting Nigel Short continues to add further successes to his long list of tournament victories, with this summer seeing the English No.3 share first prize in the Sigeman Invitational in Malmo, Sweden, and first on tiebreak in the Canadian Open Championship in Ottawa; and, on both occasions, ahead of talented younger rising stars.
Short, 48, consistently performs at or close to the elite GM 2700 rating level, as he fights off younger rivals by using his wealth of experience from a glittering career whose peaks include victory at the VAS Amsterdam tournament in 1991, ahead of Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, a Candidates match victory over Karpov in 1992 and a world title challenge in 1993 to Kasparov. Short is also in demand as an online commentator for some of the world’s top tournaments -- but we are always glad to see him play!
David Howell, 22, and Gawain Jones, 25, are, respectively, the English No. 5 and 6, and also the last two winners of the British Championship titles - Howell storming to victory this summer in Torquay, for his second title (which he dedicated to his late father), and Jones, winning last year in North Shields. Both represented England at the very top at junior level, and have now become a regular fixture for their country at Olympiads and European Team Championships.
Adams, McShane, Short, Sadler, Howell and Jones will be cheered on by the patriotic home crowd expected to fill the Kensington Olympia, as they go into battle in the 5th London Chess Classic with the tough elite opposition of World Champion Vishy Anand, World Cup winner Kramnik, Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler and Judit Polgar. The composition of the remainder of the 16-player field will be announced next week.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Labels: david howell, gawain jones, london chess classic 2013, luke mcshane, Matthew Sadler, michael adams, nigel short
5th London Chess Classic: Caruana, Gelfand, Svidler, Polgar Also Sign Up
Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hello everyone,
Chess in Schools and Communities has announced that another four international stars, Fabiano Caruana, Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler and Judit Polgar have accepted their invitation to play in the 5th London Chess Classic to be staged at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, running from Saturday 7th Fabiano Caruana, 21, is the Miami-born, Brooklyn-raised former chess prodigy who beat Bobby Fischer’s record of becoming the youngest American Grandmaster. He holds both Italian and American citizenship, and plays under the Italian tricolour. In the last year or so, Caruana has burst onto the elite stage with some superb results. Currently, he is ranked World number five on the September 2013 FIDE rating list.
Boris Gelfand, 45, is the Belarus-born Israeli grandmaster who, nearly a quarter-century ago, became a World Top 10 player and qualified for a number of World Championship Candidates events. But just when everyone thought his best days were behind him, he
made a dramatic comeback to win the Candidates to challenge Vishy Anand in last year’s World Championship match, where he lost in the play-offs. And his Indian summer continues: this year, he tied for first in the Alekhine Memorial in Paris and St. Petersburg
followed by clear first at the Tal Memorial in Moscow.
Peter Svidler, 36, is the erudite and popular St. Petersburg grandmaster, former World Cup winner, and multi-time Candidates qualifier with a record-breaking six Russian championship titles to his name. But he’s not your stereotypical Russian grandmaster,
because Svidler is a big cricketing fan who owns a complete set of the cricketer’s almanac Wisden, and once had a letter read out by Henry Blofeld on the BBC’s Test Match Special.
Judit Polgar, 37, from Budapest, Hungary is a phenomenon in the game. At the age of 15, she broke Bobby Fischer’s near 30-year record for becoming the youngest Grandmaster. Polgar is the best woman player of all time and the only woman currently in the world’s Top 100. At her peak she was in the Top 10 and would regularly do battle in Super GM tournaments with the likes of Kasparov, Karpov and Anand.
Caruana, Gelfand, Svidler and Polgar now join World Champion Vishy Anand, recent World Cup winner Vladimir Kramnik and the US No.1, Hikaru Nakamura to have confirmed they will play in the 5th London Chess Classic. The rest of the 16-player field will
be announced early next week.
Labels: Boris gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Judit Polgar, london chess classic 2013, peter svidler
World Chess Cup Winner Vladimir Kramnik to Play in 5th London Chess Classic
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013Hi everyone,
Chess in Schools and Communities is delighted to announce today that GM Vladimir Kramnik, the recent Fide World Cup winner in Tromsø, Norway, has accepted his invitation to play in the 5th London Chess Classic to be staged at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, running from Saturday 7th December to Sunday 15th December.
London has become a happy hunting ground for Kramnik. Not only has the former World Champion been a regular at the London Chess Classic, winning the 2011 edition, and runner-up twice (behind Magnus Carlsen, the World No.1, on both occasions), in 2009 and 2012, but in 2000, London was also the venue for his historic world title win over Garry Kasparov.
Earlier this week in Tromsø, Kramnik showed he’s still a major force in the game with his easy victory in the four-game Fide World Cup final over the current Russian champion, Dmitry Andreikin; that will see both qualify for next year’s Candidates’ tournament. And Kramnik’s overall performance in the World Cup, also saw the former World Champion once again reclaiming the World No. 3 spot in the September Fide rating list published this week.
Kramnik now joins World Champion Vishy Anand and the US No.1, Hikaru Nakamura as the the third player to have confirmed they will play in the 5th London Chess Classic. The rest of the 16-player Rapid field will be announced in the coming week.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Labels: london chess classic 2013, vladimir kramnik
100-Day Countdown to 5th London Chess Classic Begins; Anand, Nakamura to play Rapid
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
Chess in Schools and Communities is delighted to announce the 100 day countdown is underway for the 5th London Chess Classic to be staged at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, running from Saturday 7th December to Sunday 15th December.
Due to a demanding elite-player schedule through 2013 -- that will culminate with the World Championship match in Chennai, India between Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen set to end on November 26th, and the World Team Championship in Antalya, Turkey on 6th December -- this year the Classic will be headlined by a world-class Rapid tournament (25 minutes + 10 seconds per move) that will start on Wednesday 11th December and finish on Sunday 15th December.
This will feature a 16-player field split into four groups, with the top two from each group qualifying for the quarter final knockout stages. Scoring will be 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss (Sofia Rules will apply regarding draw offers). The total prize fund on offer will be €150,000 - the full breakdown being: 1st €50,000; 2nd €25,000; 3rd-4th €12,500; 5th-8th €6,250; 9th-16th €3,125.
And the first two players to sign up for the 5th Classic are both big crowd-pleasers: World Champion Anand and the US No.1 Hikaru Nakamura.
Anand (with or without the world crown) will be heading to London immediately after his title match with Carlsen, and Nakamura not long after playing in the Sinquefield Cup -- along with Carlsen, Aronian and Kamsky -- in St Louis, one of the strongest tournaments ever to be held in America. Over the next two weeks, the rest of the field will be announced as player contracts have been signed and approved.
The schools events will be expanded and the festival, with weekenders, FIDE Open, simultaneous displays and lectures will all take place as usual -- but look out for what could be a novelty twist to the FIDE Open! The smorgasbord of chess at the London Classic will also include Pro-Celebrity Chess, Blindfold Chess and Chess 960. Tickets will go on sale in September after the field has been finalised. Tickets will again be free for children.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal chess blog
at www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: london chess classic 2013
5th London Chess Classic 2013 Announced, but with a difference...
12th Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Latest Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
We're not sure if this announcement comes with a tinge of sadness for chess fans. The 5th London Classic has been announced from December 7-15, 2013, but with a difference.
Malcolm Pein writes: I am delighted to announce that the 5th London Chess Classic will take place at Olympia from Saturday December 7th to Sunday December 15th. The 5th Classic will not feature top level Classical Chess, but it will be headlined by a world class Rapid tournament as well some celebrity contests if I can find some celebs that are brave enough."The switch to Rapid is because Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen will doubtless be very tired so soon after the conclusion of their world title match at Chennai which is scheduled to end on November 26th. The schools events will be expanded and the festival, with weekenders, FIDE Open, simultaneous displays and lectures will take place as usual.
The FIDE Open will probably act as a qualifier for the main event and there will be some Blindfold Chess and Chess 960 so it should be an all round chess extravaganza. Tickets will go on sale in September after the field has been finalised. The venue will again be Olympia. (More details to follow)
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com
Don't miss Chess Queen™
YouTube Channel
Labels: london chess classic 2013, Magnus Carlsen, malcolm pein, Viswanathan Anand
|
|
