London Chess Classic 2012: Viswanathan Anand signs off with draw with Carlsen

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand finished his campaign with a draw against Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the ninth and final round of London Chess Classic here on Tuesday. Anand ended the tournament on nine points and had to content with a fifth place finish among nine contenders as Carlsen emerged as the clear winner on 18 points under the soccer-like scoring system in place here.

Vladimir Kramnik of Russia finished second after an easy draw as black against Michael Adams, who ended joint third. Kramnik scored 16 points in all, while Adams ended on 13 points along side Hikaru Nakamura of the United States. Nakamura was involved in the lone decisive game of the day. The American accounted for Brit Luke McShane.

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Magnus Carlsen Wins London Chess Classic 2012

World number 1 and highest rated chess player in history Magnus Carlsen, winner of the London Classic winner 2012: Detailed report to follow.

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2012 London Chess Classic 2012: Vishy Anand Escapes Hikaru Nakamura

LONDON: World champion Viswanathan Anand played out an exciting draw with Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in the eighth and penultimate round of the London Chess Classic, on Monday. After a steady draw with Judit Polgar of Hungary in the previous round, it was a nerve-wracking game in which fortunes fluctuated many a times and the draw was probably a good result from a sporting point of view as both Anand and Nakamura missed many opportunities.

On a day when tournament leader Magnus Carlsen of Norway had a bye, Russian Vladimir Kramnik capitalised on his opportunities and crushed Gawain Jones of England. In other games, English Michael Adams of England could not use his extra pawn to full use and split the point with Levon Aronian of Armenia, while Polgar scored her first victory at the expense of Luke McShane of England.

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2012 London Chess Classic Round 7: Anand Draws with Polgar

LONDON: World champion Viswanathan Anandplayed out a draw with Judit Polgar of Hungary to go out of contention in the London Chess Classic, now in progress. Having lost a game through a blunder in the previous round, Anand was apparently satisfied with the result as Polgar also played it safe after showing early aggression. For the first time in the tournament, all the four games were drawn leaving Norwegian Magnus Carlsen with a huge five points lead over Russian Vladimir Kramnik. Carlsen drew with American Hikaru Nakamura after an exciting game to take his tally to 17 points in the soccer-like scoring system in place here. The world number one has just one game left, against Anand, and in all likelihood, he is going to emerge as the winner.

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2012 London Chess Classic Round 5: Anand Beats Jones; Carlsen Leads

World champion Viswanathan Anand ended the winless draught by defeating Grandmaster Gawain Jones of England in the fifth round of London Chess Classic. Under pressure to score a victory, Anand outclassed Jones and finally recorded a win after 17 Classical Chess games. Magnus Carlsen of Norway continued with his top form to beat Michael Adams of England. Vladimir Kramnik accounted for Luke Mcshane to complete the English rout in the fifth round while American Hikaru Nakamura coasted to a win against the world’s best woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary.

The victory took Carlsen to an astonishing thirteen points from four games in the soccer-like scoring system in place here. Kramnik remains on the toes of the leader with eleven points in his kitty and the rest of the field is now far behind.

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2012 London Chess Classic Round 4: Anand Holds Kramnik to Draw; Carlsen Leads

World Champion Viswanathan Anand's hunt for an elusive victory continued as he was held by the former challenger Vladimir Kramnik of Russia for a draw in the fourth round of London Chess Classic on Tuesday. Wednesday was a rest day. The fifth round resumes on Thursday with the following pairings:

Vladimir Kramnik - Luke McShane
Gawain Jones - Vishy Anand
Mickey Adams - Magnus Carlsen
Judit Polgar - Hikaru Nakamura

Earlier, on Tuesday, another draw statistically meant that Anand hasn't won for 17 classical games in a row, including four matches in the last World Championship, the Final Masters tournament where he finished winless and three games in the Classic here.

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2012 London Chess Classic Round 3: Anand Allows Aronian to Escape with Draw

World Champion Viswanathan Anand and Dr J Bhagwati, High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. More great photos by talented photographer Ray Morris-Hill at his website.

World Champion Viswanathan Anand failed to capitalise on chances that came his way and played out a draw with tail-ender Levon Aronian of Armenia in the third round of the London Chess Classic on Tuesday. Hunting for his first victory in a Classical Chess game since the last World Championship in May earlier this year, Anand got a better position with an extra pawn against Aronian but his opponent fought valiantly to split the points in the end.

World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway played out a draw with co-leader Vladimir Kramnik of Russia while Michael Adams coasted to his second victory in as many games at the expense of top woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary.

In the other game of the day, debutant Englishman Gawain Jones shared the point with Hikaru Nakamura of United States.

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2012 London Chess Classic Round 2: Anand Escapes McShane with Draw

World champion Viswanathan Anand survived anxious moments before he salvaged a draw against Luke McShane of England in the second round of the London Chess Classic on Sunday. Having started with a bye, Anand had the advantage of playing white in the opener but the Indian ace could not find any real advantage and finally survived by the skin of the teeth to open his account.

World number one, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen registered himself as the highest-rated player ever in the history defeating second seed Levon Aronian of Armenia in a finely-crafted game.

Former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia made sure that Carlsen did not get a runaway lead in just two rounds and ground down Hikaru Nakamura of United States in a long drawn queen and pawns endgame. The other game between Judit Polgar of Hungary and Gawain Jones of England ended in an exciting draw.

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London Chess Grand Prix Round 1: Naka Loses to Gelfand; Others Draw

The London Chess Grand Prix has begun and the first day saw all exciting games even though there were draws except one. Here is the Round 1 Report by Grandmaster Robert Fontaine:

The first round of the World Chess Grand Prix in London started at 2 pm local time with the first move played by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Most of the games started smoothly and the Chinese player Wang Hao was playing very quickly the first 20 moves, with still 1h56 on his clock. His opponent, British number one Michael Adams who replaced GM Peter Svidler at the last minute. Adams took his time to fully equalize after exchanging the Queens. Adams was pushing the whole game, got a pawn up in a rook endgame but it was not enough to win. Draw. 

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Judit Polgar signs up for the 4th London Chess Classic 2012

World No. 1 Judit Polgar

Judit Polgar celebrates her 36th birthday today with the news that she’s confirmed her participation for the 4th London Chess Classic, at Kensington Olympia, 1-10 December, 2012, according to the official press release. Polgar now joins World No 1 Magnus Carlsen, World Champion Vishy Anand, World No 2 Levon Aronian, the defending champion Vladimir Kramnik, and the UK No 1 Mickey Adams as those that have so far confirmed their invitations to play in the year-ending elite chess spectacular in the Capital City.

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Anand, Carlsen Sign Up for Most Exciting Chess Event of 2012 - London Chess Classic from Dec 1

Photo © Ray Morris-Hill

Is the London Chess Classic going to be the most exciting chess event of 2012? World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen have both confirmed their entry for the fantastic event already.

World Champion 1st to sign-up for London Chess Classic
Fresh from yet another successful title defence, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, of India, became the first player to sign-up to play in the 4th London Chess Classic, at Kensington Olympia, 1-10 December, 2012. It is no secret that London is one of Anand’s favourite cities, and this will be his third successive appearance in the tournament.

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