TWIC is 29. First issue 17th September 1994.
4th London Chess Classic 2012 (4)
Carlsen moves into clear first after 4 rounds of London Classic
Mark Crowther - Wednesday 5th December 2012
Carlsen takes control of the London Classic. Photo © Ray Morris-Hill. | http://raymorris-hill.smugmug.com
Magnus Carlsen opened a clear lead after four rounds of the 4th London Chess Class as it goes into the rest day. Carlsen defeated Gawain Jones in a 4.Qxd4 Sicilian where Jones played a creative queen sacrifice for two pieces. The sacrifice might have been sufficient to draw but Jones gradually went wrong and lost. Michael Adams faced a very unusual sideline of the Queen's Gambit from Hikaru Nakamura. Adams did have slightly the worse of it for a while but held the draw reasonably comfortably. Viswanathan Anand took on Vladimir Kramnik's Berlin Defence and was in danger of being worse at one stage but the blocked nature of the position allowed a draw. Luke McShane was again the last to finish and he ended up losing to Levon Aronian in a grim struggle. McShane blundered and had to give up his queen for what eventually turned out to be Rook, Knight and 3 pawns. The position remained complex for a long time but Aronian obtained a winning position on the run up to move 60 and quickly converted afterwards. Wednesday is a rest day. Thursday 2pm: Kramnik-McShane, Jones-Anand, Adams-Carlsen and Polgar-Nakamura.
Carlsen-Jones. Photo © Ray Morris-Hill http://raymorris-hill.smugmug.com/.
Carlsen,Magnus - Jones,Gawain C B [B53]
4th London Chess Classic London ENG (4.1), 04.12.2012
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 5.h3 Nc6 6.Qe3 g6 7.c4 Bg7 8.Be2 Nf6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.0-0 Nd7 11.Rb1 a5
[11...b6 1-0 Motylev,A (2704)-Wei Yi (2244)/Guangzhou CHN 2010/The Week in Chess 831 (43)]
12.b3 Nc5 13.Bb2 f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Rbd1 a4 16.Ba3 Qa5 17.Nb5
[17.b4 Nxb4 18.Bxb4 Qxb4 19.Nd5 Qa5 20.Nxe7+ Kh8 21.Nxf5 gxf5 22.Bd3 With an advantage for white.]
17...axb3 18.axb3 Qxa3?!
Gawain Jones
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Magnus Carlsen
Position after 18...Qxa3
Black gets some counterplay for his sacrifice but he has it all to prove.
[18...Rf6 Would have been normal.]
19.Nxa3 Rxa3 20.Nd2 Bd4 21.Qg3 Be5?!
[21...Ra2; 21...Ra2 22.Bf3 Be5 23.Qh4 Bf6 24.Qh6 Bg7 25.Qg5 Bf6 26.Qg3 Bc2 27.Rde1]
22.f4 Bf6 23.Bg4 Nd4 24.Kh1 Bc2 25.Rde1 Kh8 26.Re3 h5 27.b4 h4?
Carlsen quickly finishes things off now.
[27...Nd3 28.Bd1 Nf5 29.Qf3 Bxd1 30.Rxd1 Nf2+ 31.Qxf2 Rxe3 32.Nf3 Ra8 and black still has play.]
28.Qf2 Nd3 29.Qg1 Nf5 30.Bxf5 gxf5 31.Nf3 Rc3 32.c5 Bb3 33.Ne1 Bd4 34.Nxd3 dxc5 35.Qf2 Rf7 36.Rc1 cxb4 37.Rxc3 bxc3 38.Qe1 1-0
Anand-Kramnik. Photo © Ray Morris-Hill http://raymorris-hill.smugmug.com/.
Anand,Viswanathan - Kramnik,Vladimir [C65]
4th London Chess Classic London ENG (4.2), 04.12.2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.Nc4 Nd7 8.0-0 Re8 9.Bd2 Bf8
[9...Bd6 0-1 Naiditsch,A (2707)-Prohaszka,P (2553)/Szombathely HUN 2012/The Week in Chess 914 (31)]
10.b4 f6 11.a4 Nb6 12.Ne3 Be6 13.Qb1 Qd7 14.Rd1 Bf7 15.h3 Rad8 16.Be1 Bh5 17.g4 Bf7 18.c4 c5 19.b5 Nc8 20.Qc2 Re6 21.Kf1 Ne7 22.Nh4
Vladimir Kramnik
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Viswanathan Anand
Position after 22.Nh4
White needs to prevent black's knight coming into f4. He is definitely the one who has to watch out.
22...Rd6 23.Ke2 Re6
I don't really understand this move.
24.f3 b6 25.Bf2 g6 26.Nhg2 Rd6 27.Bg3 Bg7 28.Bh4 a6 29.Bf2 a5 30.Bh4 Qe8 31.Nd5 Bxd5 32.cxd5 Bh6 33.Bf2 R6d7 34.h4 Nc8 35.Rh1 Nd6 36.h5 g5
Blocking things up. A draw will follow.
37.Ne3 Bf8 38.Nc4 Nxc4 39.dxc4 h6 40.Be3 Bd6 1/2-1/2
McShane-Aronian. Photo © Ray Morris-Hill http://raymorris-hill.smugmug.com/.
McShane,Luke J - Aronian,Levon [C84]
4th London Chess Classic London ENG (4.3), 04.12.2012
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.c3 0-0 10.Nbd2 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 12.Re1 Re8 13.Nf1 Nc6 14.Ne3 b4 15.h3
[15.Bb3 Na5 16.Ba2 Rb8 17.d4 exd4 18.cxd4 Nxe4 19.Nd5 b3 20.Bb1 f5 21.dxc5 Bf8 22.cxd6 Bxd6 23.Bxe4 Rxe4 24.Rxe4 fxe4 25.Ng5 Bf5 26.Be3 h6 27.g4 Nc4 28.gxf5 Nxe3 29.Nxe3 Qxg5+ 30.Ng2 Qf6 31.Qd5+ Kh7 32.Re1 Qe5 33.Qxe4 Qxh2+ 34.Kf1 Qh1+ 35.Ke2 Qh5+ 36.Kf1 Qh1+ 37.Ke2 Qh5+ 38.Kf1 1/2-1/2 Kamsky,G (2729)-Leko,P (2747)/Dresden GER 2008/The Week in Chess 733]
15...Rb8 16.Nc4 Be6 17.Bb3 h6 18.Be3
[18.d4 cxd4 19.cxd4 Nxd4 20.Nxd4 exd4 21.Qxd4 Nd7]
18...bxc3 19.bxc3 d5 20.exd5 Nxd5 21.Qc2?
Levon Aronian
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Luke McShane
Position after 21.Qc2
White is already on the back foot. This concedes further ground.
[21.Bd2]
21...e4! 22.dxe4 Nxe3 23.Rxe3 Rxb3 24.Qxb3 Na5 25.Nxa5 Bxb3 26.Nxb3 Qb6 27.Nbd2 Qb2 28.Rae1 Rd8 29.Nf1 c4 30.Ne5 Bc5 31.Rf3 Qb3
Black has a huge advantage but it will still take technique to win.
32.a5 Rd6?!
Levon Aronian
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Luke McShane
Position after 32...Rd6
This makes life hard for black and he isn't much better after it.
[32...f6]
33.Nxf7 Rf6 34.Rxf6 gxf6 35.Nxh6+ Kf8 36.Ng4 Qxc3 37.Rd1 Qb4 38.Nxf6 Kf7 39.Nd5 Qb2 40.Nde3 c3 41.Rd5 Be7 42.Rf5+ Ke8 43.g4 c2 44.Nxc2 Qxc2 45.Ng3 Qc7
White is going to take some breaking down from here.
46.Nh5 Bd8 47.Kg2 Qc6 48.Re5+ Kf7 49.g5 Qa4 50.h4 Bxa5 51.Rf5+ Ke6 52.Nf4+ Kd7 53.f3 Qc2+ 54.Kh3 Qf2 55.Kg4 Be1 56.Ng6 a5 57.Rf7+ Kd8 58.e5 a4 59.e6 Bb4
Levon Aronian
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Luke McShane
Position after 59...Bb4
Black is finally winning.
60.e7+ Bxe7 61.Nxe7 Qc5 62.Kh5 a3 63.Kh6 a2 64.g6 Qc4 65.Nf5 a1Q 66.Rf8+ Kc7 67.g7 Qc6+ 68.Kh7 Qxf3 69.g8N Qh5+ 70.Ngh6 Qe5 71.Ng7 Qxh4 72.Rf7+ Kb6 73.Ngf5 Qee4 74.Kg6 Qe6+ 75.Kg7 Qg5+ 76.Kf8 Qc8# 0-1
Nakamura vs Adams. Photo © Ray Morris-Hill http://raymorris-hill.smugmug.com/.
Nakamura,Hikaru - Adams,Michael [D37]
4th London Chess Classic London ENG (4.4), 04.12.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qc2 c6 7.Bf4 g6 8.Ne5
It is hard to imagine this has much merit beyond being a surprise.
8...Bf5 9.Qd2 Ne4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.f3 Bf5 12.e4 Be6 13.Be2 Nd7
Michael Adams
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Hikaru Nakamura
Position after 13...Nd7
[13...0-0 14.0-0 Nd7 15.Nd3 Re8 16.Be3 dxe4 17.fxe4 Nf6 18.Nf2 a5 19.b3 a4 20.b4 a3 21.Rac1 Qd7 22.b5 Ra4 23.bxc6 bxc6 24.Rb1 Bc4 25.Bxc4 Rxc4 26.Rb3 Ra4 27.Qc2 Bd8 28.Rb8 Ra6 29.Qb3 Bc7 30.Rxe8+ Nxe8 31.Ng4 Kg7 32.Nh6 Nd6 33.e5 Nf5 34.Nxf5+ gxf5 35.Qd3 Ra5 36.Bd2 Ra4 37.Qg3+ Kh8 38.Bc3 Bb6 39.Kh1 Bxd4 40.Rb1 Ra8 41.e6 fxe6 42.Rb7 1-0 Kogan,A (2475)-Barsov,A (2475)/Vlissingen NED 1996]
14.Nd3 0-0 15.Be3 dxe4 16.fxe4 Nb6 17.b3 f5 18.Nf4 Qd7 19.d5 cxd5 20.e5 Bg5 21.Rd1 d4 22.Qxd4 Qxd4 23.Rxd4 Bxf4 24.Bxf4 Rad8 25.Rd6 Kf7 26.Kf2 Nd5 27.Bg5 Rxd6 28.exd6 h6 29.Bxh6 Rd8 30.Bf3 Rxd6 31.Rd1 Rd7 32.Kg3 b6 33.a3 Nc3 34.Rxd7+ Bxd7 35.Bf4 Be6 36.Bb8 Bxb3 37.Bxa7 Nb5 38.Bxb6 Nxa3 39.Kf4 Be6 40.Bc6 Nc4 41.Bd4 Nd6 42.h4 Nc4 43.Bf3 Nd2 44.Bc6 Nc4 45.Bc3 Ke7 46.Bf3 Kf7 47.Bd1 Bd5 48.g3 Be6 49.h5 gxh5 50.Bxh5+ Ke7 51.Kg5 Ne3 52.Bb4+ Kd7 53.Be2 f4 54.Bb5+ Kc8 55.Kxf4 Nd5+
Even after losing a pawn the winning chances for white are very limited.
56.Ke5 Nxb4 57.Kxe6 Nc2 58.Bd7+ Kd8 59.g4 Nd4+ 60.Kd6 Nf3 61.Bc6 Ng5 62.Ba4 Ne4+ 63.Ke6 Nc5+ 64.Kf7 Nxa4 65.g5 Nb6 66.g6 Nd5 67.g7 Ne7 68.g8R+ Nxg8 69.Kxg8 1/2-1/2
| 4th London Chess Classic 2012 London ENG Sat 1st Dec 2012 - Mon 10th Dec 2012
Leading Round 4 (of 9) Standings: |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Rtg | Gms | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pts | TB1 | Perf |
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | 2848 | 4 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3079 | |||||
| 2 | Kramnik, Vladimir | 2795 | 4 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 1 | 8 | 2962 | |||||
| 3 | Adams, Michael | 2710 | 3 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2982 | ||||||
| 4 | Nakamura, Hikaru | 2760 | 4 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | 5 | 2741 | |||||
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | 2815 | 4 | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 4 | 2686 | |||||
| 6 | Anand, Viswanathan | 2775 | 3 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 3 | 2775 | ||||||
| 7 | Jones, Gawain C B | 2644 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | 2 | 2565 | |||||
| 8 | McShane, Luke J | 2713 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1.5 | 2534 | |||||
| 9 | Polgar, Judit | 2705 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 2437 | |||||
| 9 players | |||||||||||||||
| 4th London CC Open London ENG Sat 1st Dec 2012 - Mon 10th Dec 2012
Leading Round 4 (of 9) Standings: |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Name | Ti | FED | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pts | TPR |
| 1 | Melkumyan, Hrant | GM | ARM | 2649 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 3062 |
| 2 | Zhou, Yang-Fan | IM | ENG | 2419 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.0 | 2991 |
| 3 | Van Kampen, Robin | GM | NED | 2570 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2599 |
| 4 | Hebden, Mark L | GM | ENG | 2547 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2604 |
| 5 | Hillarp Persson, Tiger | GM | SWE | 2546 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 2557 |
| 6 | Williams, Simon K | GM | ENG | 2515 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 2606 |
| 7 | Hawkins, Jonathan | IM | ENG | 2507 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 2613 |
| 8 | Schneider, Dmitry | IM | USA | 2477 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 2547 |
| 9 | Sadzikowski, Daniel | IM | POL | 2449 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 2530 |
| 10 | Hamitevici, Vladimir | IM | MDA | 2440 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 2559 |
| 11 | Bartholomew, John | IM | USA | 2427 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 2481 |
| 12 | Golubka, Petr | IM | UKR | 2418 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 2575 |
| 13 | D`Costa, Lorin A R | IM | ENG | 2417 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2519 |
| 14 | Hanley, Craig A | IM | ENG | 2412 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 2580 |
| 15 | Sarakauskas, Gediminas | IM | LTU | 2408 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2493 |
| 16 | Ferguson, Mark | IM | ENG | 2402 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2468 |
| 17 | Houska, Jovanka | IM | ENG | 2396 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 2444 |
| 18 | Gullaksen, Eirik | IM | NOR | 2384 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2464 |
| 19 | Rendle, Thomas E | IM | ENG | 2381 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5 | 2423 |
| 20 | Roberson, Peter T | FM | ENG | 2350 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5 | 2600 |
| 21 | Ledger, Dave J | FM | ENG | 2266 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 3.5 | 2566 |
| 22 | McKenna, Jason P | ENG | 2102 | ½ | 1 | 1 | + | 3.5 | 2355 | |
| 23 | Rowson, Jonathan | GM | SCO | 2586 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 3.0 | 2488 |
| 24 | Gundavaa, Bayarsaikhan | IM | MGL | 2530 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 2479 |
| 25 | Boruchovsky, Avital | IM | ISR | 2448 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2350 |
| 26 | Kiik, Kalle | IM | EST | 2437 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.0 | 2346 |
| 27 | Shaw, John | GM | SCO | 2435 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 2483 |
| 28 | Ansell, Simon T | IM | ENG | 2377 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 3.0 | 2517 |
| 29 | Weber, Tom | FM | LUX | 2372 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2411 |
| 30 | Kojima, Shinya | FM | JPN | 2340 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2395 |
| 31 | Zimmermann, Julian | FM | GER | 2299 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2374 |
| 32 | Rudd, Jack | IM | ENG | 2288 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 2285 |
| 33 | Arvola, Benjamin | FM | NOR | 2285 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 2467 |
| 34 | Dukaczewski, Piotr | IM | POL | 2274 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2351 |
| 35 | Roe, Simon J | ENG | 2265 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.0 | 2194 | |
| 36 | Stachanczyk, Jacek | POL | 2265 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2282 | |
| 37 | Player, Edmund C | ENG | 2248 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.0 | 2262 | |
| 38 | Kocwin, Bartosz | FM | POL | 2226 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 2332 |
| 39 | Berthier, Hugo | FRA | 2220 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.0 | 2400 | |
| 40 | Marusenko, Petr | IM | UKR | 2197 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | 2371 |
| 240 players | ||||||||||
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