7TH LONDON CHESS CLASSIC (4-13 DECEMBER 2015) CLASSIC ROUND 1: 4 DECEMBER 2015 John Saunders reports: The seventh London Chess Classic – bigger and even stronger than its six predecessors – got under way on Friday 4 December 2015 with some tense chess, and just the one decisive result, as Anish Giri of the Netherlands recovered from a dubious position to defeat Veselin Topalov and snatch an early lead. Figure 1 A semi-circle of super-GMs It is hard to believe that the Classic has only been around for six years as it is now established as the finale of the year’s elite chess tournament circuit. And it’s as much about beginnings as ends: in its first incarnation in 2009, Magnus Carlsen exploited the opportunity to move to the top of the rating list for the first time. He clearly likes playing in London as he has won three of the four London Classics in which he has competed, as well as winning the London Candidates in 2013 on his way to wresting the world championship from Vishy Anand. It’s great to have him back in 2015. You’ll be aware that the format of the London Classic rarely stays the same from one year to the next. We like to ring the changes almost as often as Big Ben chimes. So this year, as an innovation, we’re only awarding one point for a win and a mere half-point for a draw. What’s that you say? That’s how you score tournaments in your own countries? OK, fair enough, so it’s not really an innovation, then. For once we are falling into line with the rest of the world (but don’t expect us to start driving on the right any time soon). The point, of course, is that we are no longer alone: the Classic now forms an integral part of the Grand Chess Tour, with the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger, played last June, and the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis, played in September, and the players bring their scores from those events to be totted up to decide who wins the overall tour prizes. The London Classic has the honour to be the final leg of the tour and there are still several players in with a chance of taking the $75,000 Grand Chess Tour first prize. At the start of the London leg, the ‘leader in the clubhouse’ (as they say in golf) is Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria with 17 Grand Tour points, ahead of Hikaru Nakamura 16, Levon Aronian Round 1 Report: 4 December 2015, John Saunders 15, Magnus Carlsen 14, Anish Giri 13, Vishy Anand 12, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 12, etc. With 13 points Grand Tour still available for the player who finishes an outright first in London, you can probably see that all is still to play for, at least for the top six or seven players in the current table. THE GAMES Round one was a typically tense and cagey affair. After two hours’ play, the Stockfish computer supplied with the snazzy live board displays on the website showed that every board was as close to even as it gets: pretty well +0.00 on every board. We have to bear in mind two things: one, this is the first London Classic of nine rounds, so players are going to have to conserve their energy, and, two, the sheer strength in depth of the line-up. I tried to average the ratings of the ten players but I got a nose-bleed just doing the arithmetic: I’m not good with heights. I think it was 2785. Just think about that for a moment: Bobby Fischer’s peak rating is the average rating of ten players at the 2015 London Classic. That thought is so mind-blowing I’m going to have to lie down for a while to come to terms with it. Finally we had our first result when Vachier-Lagrave versus Carlsen ended with a perpetual check. The players scooted through the opening fairly briskly until move 16, when Carlsen, playing Black had a 13-minute think before innovating with 16...Qc8. By move 20, White had used 49 minutes to Black’s 58. However, the position was a little lifeless: Carlsen didn’t think too long before allowing a line which would result in perpetual check. As London policemen like to say at minor street incidents, “nothing to see ‘ere, move along now, please, ladies and gentlemen!” We move on to Anand-Adams. Over the years Mickey has had quite a tough time against the genial Indian world champion, and thoughts of Marshall Attacks against Vishy’s Ruy Lopez are floating into my mind. But not this time as Vishy pushed his c-pawn forward two squares on the first turn, as some of you may recall that Bronstein and Carlsen both did as a courteous gesture to the host nation in tournaments many decades apart. Nothing very startling occurred in Figure 2 Carlsen looked happy enough after the game. the opening, with Vishy’s 12.Qd2 being new but not earth- shattering. Minor pieces were hoovered off and a repetition amongst queens and rooks ended hostilities. Grischuk-Nakamura began with a Berlin Defence. Some of you may recall that Vishy Anand suggested to commentator Nigel Short after last year’s final round that this line should be renamed “the London”. I was all for it, bearing in mind that it was Vlad Kramnik’s championing of the line at his 2000 world championship match in London with Kasparov that really put the defence on the map. On our map, that is, and not a German one. We could perhaps refine the name and call it the ‘London Wall’. There is such a structure, by the way, built by the Romans two thousand years ago, and that is more than can be said for the Berlin Wall, an unpopular edifice which only lasted a few decades before being pulled down. I submit, therefore, that our ancient city wall is a better metaphor for what is a highly resilient chess defence. Round 1 Report: 4 December 2015, John Saunders Round 1 A. Grischuk - H.Nakamura 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 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 Unusual. 13.f4 has been played by Karjakin, and 13.Re1 by Caruana. 13...c5 14.Ndb5 Forcing the king to move, but ultimately condemning the knight to a twilight existence on the edge of the board. 14...Kd8 15.Be3 a6 16.Na3 b6 17.Ne4 h5 18.Kg3 hxg4 19.hxg4 Bc6 This bishop now exerts great influence on the game. Around here, GM commentator in the VIP room Julian Hodgson attempted to defend the e4 knight by playing Na3-c3 and looked mildly affronted when the Hiarcs Chess Explorer software he was using immediately flipped the knight back to a3. This may or may not be connected to the fact that they serve a particularly nice claret in the VIP room. 20.Ng5 Ke8 Slightly annoying to have to move the king back whence it came but the watchword of the Berlin/London Wall is patience. 21.f4 f5 22.Rad1 Another move designed to soften up White ’s light squares, perhaps with a view to establishing the knight on f5. After 22.exf6 gxf6 23.Nf3, Black has a pleasant position, with the option of putting his king on f7 or, perhaps better, lining up the rook against the vulnerable g4-pawn. If 22.Ne6 then 22...Kf7 and the c7-pawn cannot be taken as the knight would be trapped, and 23.Ng5+ Kg6 increases Black ’s pressure on the kingside. 22...g6 23.Ne6? (diagram) White opens the door to an instinctive, and highly dangerous, exchange for pawn sacrifice by the American. Grischuk used about half his remaining 30 minutes on this move. 23...fxg4! Nakamura took 8 minutes of his own remaining half -hour thinking time on this move. 24.Nxc7+ Kf7 Black is threatening ...Nf5+, when, for example, Kxg4 is answered, not by Nxe3+ forking everything in sight (though that obviously wins too), but by Rh4+ and Be7 mate. 25.e6+ Kg8! 26.Kxg4 There ’s no time for 26.Nxa8 because of the forcing sequence 26...Nf5+ 27.Kf2 Rh2+ 28.Ke1 Nxe3 29.Rd8 and Black calmly unsheaths his bishop with 29...Kg7, lining up Be7 and Bh4+. 26...Ra7 26...Rc8! is a more precise, winning move, according to the software, but there are some mind -numbing sub -variations that even human super -GMs would be unlikely to fathom. 27.Rd7! The only move to continue the fight. Black cannot take as the resultant pawn on d7 would give White full compensation. Both players were down to their last ten minutes to make the time control at move 40 or so by now. 27...Nf5 27...Bxd7 28.exd7 Nc6 29.Nd5 b5 30.Rd1 and again the d7-pawn is indirectly defended via the knight check on f6. 28.Bf2 Nh6+ 29.Kg3 Nf5+ 30.Kg4 Be7 31.Rfd1 Nh6+ 32.Kg3 Nf5+ 33.Kg4 (diagram) 33...Nh6+? Having used six of his seven and a half remaining minutes, Nakamura decides to opt for the repetition. Houdini suggests 33...Rh5 threatening a swift mate with ...Nh6+, ...Bh4+ and then ...Bxf2. However, perhaps Black was worried by 34.Rxe7 Nxe7 35.Rd8+ Kh7 36.Rd7!? Bxd7 37.exd7 Nc6 38.Ne6 Rd5 39.Nc4, which is not quite over.