London Chess Classic: A Barn Burner

Carlsen and Kramnik went one-two at the London Chess Classic as expected. Magnus missed a win and then had to scramble to hold the game against Short. There was plenty of drama over the final few minutes, and when the smoke cleared there were only a pair of Kings left standing. The game can be seen at Chessdom. Howell was impressive as he didn't lose a game and finished above .500 even though he was seeded last. The tournament scoreboard wasn't kind to McShane, but you have to like his fight, and it was just a disappointing tournament for Nakamura and Short, who were the only two to not win a game.

Nr.	Title	Name	Fed.	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Score
1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2801		1	½	½	1	½	½	1	13
7	GM	McShane, Luke J	ENG	2615	0		½	1	0	0	1	0	7
8	GM	Howell, David W L	ENG	2597	½	½		½	1	½	½	½	9
3	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	2715	½	0	½		½	½	½	½	6
6	GM	Ni, Hua	CHN	2665	0	1	0	½		½	½	0	6
5	GM	Adams, Michael	ENG	2698	½	1	½	½	½		½	½	9
4	GM	Short, Nigel D	ENG	2707	½	0	½	½	½	½		0	5
2	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2772	0	1	½	½	1	½	1		12

London Chess Classic: Don't Look Over Your Shoulder, Magnus

Carlsen dodged a bullet against Adams today in London. The game is worth seeing. Kramnik continued his comeback, and is now close enough that tomorrow will be a full work day for Magnus.

A further word on Kramnik. My sense is that he's going to go down as an under-appreciated World Champion. He is provocative in his statements at times, but that can likely be attributed to being brought up in a different (chess) world. One shouldn't ever forget that he took down arguably the greatest champion of all time, and I've never really bought into the idea that he did so when Kasparov was past his prime. He simply outplayed Kasparov for a brief moment in time. That was a feat. Among his recent pronouncements, he said that Magnus was not quite up to his and a few others' level quite yet. With a little time to digest the remarks, I suspect he's right. I also suspect that Magnus will exceed them all in a short time. In any event, here's to Vladimir and his game. He played well against Nigel today. And he's still a large force.

London Chess Classic: Carlsen Again; Nakamura Falls With White

In a brutal display of accuracy, Carlsen pushed Ni Hua off the board after Ni Hua ducked the Najdorf with 3.Bb5. See the game below. McShane had better luck against Nakamura with the King's Indian than against Carlsen, and he took the whole point. The other two games ended in draws. 

 

Nr.	Title	Name	Fed.	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Score	TPR
1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2801		1	½	½	1			1	11	2913
7	GM	McShane, Luke J	ENG	2615	0		½	1			1	0	7	2718
8	GM	Howell, David W L	ENG	2597	½	½				½	½	½	5	2719
3	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	2715	½	0			½	½	½		4	2625
6	GM	Ni, Hua	CHN	2665	0			½		½	½	0	3	2590
5	GM	Adams, Michael	ENG	2698			½	½	½		½	½	5	2691
4	GM	Short, Nigel D	ENG	2707		0	½	½	½	½			4	2586
2	GM	Kramnik, Vladimir	RUS	2772	0	1	½		1	½			8	2747

London Chess Classic: Kramnik Pulls Closer

Howell played the c3 Sicilian against Carlsen today, an opening in which the British youngster is a bit of an expert. Carlsen ground away in his inimitable fashion, while Howell carried on as best he could. It was Carlsen, though, who cracked in the end, and Howell no doubt cheerfully took the draw. Kramnik in the meantime notched his second straight win after losing to Carlsen. McShane played the Bishop's Opening and Kramnik was sharp on a day when McShane wasn't. Ni Hua drew Adams in a Ruy Lopez, and Nigel held Nakumura with a Nimzo. Carlsen leads by a point (1/2 point by conventional scoring).