Final Results for the London Chess Classic

GM Magnus Carlsen 13 points

GM Viswanathan Anand 11 points

GM Luke McShane 11 points

GM Hikaru Nakamura 10 points

GM Vladimir Kramnik 10 points

GM Michael Adams 8 points

GM David Howell 4 points

GM Nigel Short 2 points

Considering the strength of this tournament it doesn't really matter that GM Luke McShane didn't win it. His performance over the tournament considering his rating was extremely impressive. 

London Chess Classic round 7

In the last round GM Magnus Carlsen won against GM Nigel Short in the French Defence winning the tournament. GM Viswanathan Anand drew his game against GM Vladimir Kramnik in the Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence. GM Luke McShane drew his final game against GM David Howell in the Sicilian Defence Dragon variation. The game seemed to be losing for black however GM David Howell was in serious time trouble again and accepted the draw by three fold repetition. After a long game GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Michael Adams drew their game. In order to win the tournament GM Luke McShane or GM Viswanathan Anand would have needed to win their game and GM Nigel Short would have needed to draw against GM Magnus Carlsen. Since this did not happen even if Anand or McShane had won their game, Carlsen would have won the tournament because he has played black more often. It was a great tournament congratulations to GM Magnus Carlsen on winning the tournament.

Vishy Anand	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Michael Adams
David Howell	½-½	Luke McShane
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Nigel Short

The standings after round 6 at the London Chess Classic

GM Magnus Carlsen 10 points
GM Viswanathan Anand 10 points
GM Luke McShane 10 points
GM Hikaru Nakamura 9 points
GM Vladimir Kramnik 9 points
GM Michael Adams 7 points
GM David Howell 3 points
GM Nigel Short 2 points

London Chess Classic round 6

GM Michael Adams and GM Viswanathan Anands game began with the Sicilian Najdorf, Opovcensky Variation and ended in a draw. GM Nigel Short and GM David Howells game began with the Kings Gambit Accepted and was one of the more exciting games but also ended in a draw. GM Luke McShane began his game against GM Nakamura with the move 1. g3 a move he has used before in this competition going into the English opening the game also ended in a draw. GM Vladimir Kramnik and GM Magnus Carlsens game began in the Queens Gambit Declined, Chigorin Defence and Kramnik looked to have the win in hand  but Carlsen managed to draw the end game. The positions of the players  haven't changed in the table. So its still too close to call. I wouldn't be able to predict who's going to win it. I would like to wish all the players good luck in the next round.

	Vladimir Kramnik	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
	Nigel Short	½-½	David Howell
	Luke McShane	½-½	Hikaru Nakamura
	Michael Adams	½-½	Vishy Anand

London Chess Classic round 5

GM Daniel King was back today in the commentary box with GM Chris Ward. The other three commentators GM Jonathan Rowson, GM Stephen Gordon and IM Lawrence Trent were also in attendance at various points of the day.  Some more exciting chess today. Many of the games headed into the Ruy Lopez. The only game that didn't was GM Magnus Carlsen's game against GM David Howell. That game started with the Sicilian Defence Najdorf variation. GM Magnus Carlsen won his game which ended with him being a piece up. GM Nigel Short lost his game against GM Hikaru Nakamura in a risky line of the Closed Ruy Lopez Marshall Attack. He entertained the audience during the interview after the game with a little chess related song. GM Michael Adams and GM Vladimir Kramnik drew their game and so did GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Luke McShane. This leaves the top scorer's in the tournament so far very close to each other. GM Magnus Carlsen now joins GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Luke McShane at the top of the table with 9 points. GM Hikaru Nakamura and GM Vladimir Kramnik are tied at 8 points. GM Michael Adams is not far behind with 6 points. Leaving GM David Howell with 2 points and GM Nigel Short with 1 point quite far behind the rest. However considering a win gives 3 points the players at the bottom of the table could still make a recovery in the next two rounds. Neither of them however can win the tournament. Its hard to say who will win since the top players are so close together. Its all down to how they perform in the next two rounds. It would seem that winning the next two games rather than drawing either of them might be the only way to be certain of victory. I'm not certain however considering who each player is facing in the final two rounds that any of them could win two in a row. The end of the tournament might be very close. It might be more than one player sharing the top spot at the end of the tournament.

Michael Adams	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik
Vishy Anand	½-½	Luke McShane
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Nigel Short
David Howell	0-1	Magnus Carlsen

London Chess Classic round 4

A slight change to the commentators today. Instead of GM Daniel King we had Scottish number one GM Jonathan Rowson paired up with GM Chris Ward. GM David Howell had a little time trouble again in his game and lost to GM Vladimir Kramnik. GM Magnus Carlsen won his game against GM Hikaru Nakamura in a bishop and pawn ending. GM Nigel Short lost to world champion GM Visawathan Anand after a risky knight sacrifice. GM Luke McShane managed a draw against GM Michael Adams. That leaves Anand and Shane tied at the top with 8 points. The rest of the GM's are still close so almost anyone can still win the tournament.

Vladimir Kramnik	1-0	David Howell
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Nigel Short	0-1	Vishy Anand
Luke McShane	½-½	Michael Adams

The standings after round 3 at the London Classic

GM Luke McShane 7 points
GM Anand Viswanathan 5 points
GM Hikaru Nakamura 5 points
GM Vladimir Kramnik 4 points
GM Michael Adams 4 points
GM Magnus Carlsen 3 points
GM David Howell 2 points
GM Nigel Short 1 point

London Chess Classic round 3

Another interesting round of chess at the London Chess Classic. The world champion GM Viswanathan Anand  won his game against GM Magnus Carlsen. Despite getting into serious time trouble GM David Howell managed a draw against GM Hikaru Nakamura. GM Nigel Short drew his game against GM Michael Adams. After a long struggle lasting 139 moves GM Luke McShane drew against GM Vladimir Kramnik.

Luke McShane	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik
Michael Adams	½-½	Nigel Short
Vishy Anand	1-0	Magnus Carlsen
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	David Howell

London Chess Classic round 2

There was a change to the commentators today. Instead of just two there were four being rotated as the day progressed. IM Lawrence Trent was paired up with GM Stephen Gordon. GM Daniel King was paired up with one of my favourite GM's Chris Ward. What made the day even better for me was GM Luke McShane's choice of opening. He decided to choose the Sicilian Dragon variation which he won in the end against GM Nigel Short. GM Magnus Carlsen managed to recover from yesterday's surprise defeat by beating GM Michael Adams in the English opening.  GM Hikaru Nakamura impressively managed to defeat GM Vladimir Kramnik in his game. GM Viswanathan Anand managed only a draw against GM David Howell. This round has been just as interesting as the first. Lets hope the next round continues the trend.

Vladimir Kramnik	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
David Howell	½-½	Vishy Anand
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Michael Adams
Nigel Short	0-1	Luke McShane

London Chess Classic round 1

The classics first round had one very surprising result. GM Luke J, McShane won his game against world number one Magnus Carlsen. This is the second time that an English GM has managed an unexpected victory against him this year. The opening played was the English symmetrical. An opening that McShane doesn't generally use but decided to play for this event. If you want to follow the event for the next few days follow the link here. You can follow the games either with or without commentary. I would suggest choosing the commentary since the players are interviewed after the match. The games are also explained live so its useful if you want to understand the reason the players chose a particular move. The commentators are IM Lawrence Trent and GM Daniel King. Lets hope tomorrows round will be as interesting as today's. 

Nigel Short	0-1	Vladimir Kramnik
Luke McShane	1-0	Magnus Carlsen
Michael Adams	1-0	David Howell
Vishy Anand	½-½	Hikaru Nakamura

London Chess Classic starts today

The London chess classic features the Grandmasters Anand, Carlsen, Nakamura, Kramnik and the four English Grandmasters Adams, Short, McShane and Howell. It sounds like its going to be an interesting competition. I wonder if Michael Adams can repeat his Olympiad victory against Magnus Carlsen.

http://www.londonchessclassic.com/

How to reassess your chess 4th edition available now

The book has been available for a little while now. You can get it from Amazon USA although it does go out of stock now and again. You can also get it from chess4less. Unfortunately for those of us in Britain there is no sign of the book at Amazon UK. I emailed the publisher and they kindly pointed out a couple of places I could get it. Its available at New in Chess if your from the UK or Europe. It costs £23.99 or €29.95. They are apparently getting copies of the book soon they may already have them. You can also get it from the London chess centre website.

http://www.chess4less.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=chess4less&AFFIL=JEREMY

http://www.newinchess.com/Shop/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductID=794&Currency=British%20Pound

http://www.ukgamesshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=chsoon100801&Category_Code=