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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Must-Watch Carlsen Chess Video: I have a Lot to Learn!

On Saturday, December 8th Magnus Carlsen broke Garry Kasparov's chess rating record of 2851.By drawing with Hikaru Nakamura at the London Chess Classic, the Norwegian player will be certain of an Elo of at least 2856 on the January 1 FIDE rating list. Here is a must-watch video produced by ChessVibes in which Carlsen talks about the game and about breaking the record.

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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 6: Anand Blunders against Adams

World Champion Viswanathan Anand fell prey to an inexplicable blunder in a perfectly balanced position and went down to Michael Adams of England in the sixth round of London Chess Classic at the Olympia in London.  After a fine victory in the previous round against Gawain Jones of England, the Indian ace survived some anxious moments in the middle game before equalising completely and just when the experts had given up declaring the game a 'sure-draw', Anand lost track, and lost in no time.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway stretched his lead to three points by defeating highest ranked woman Judit Polgar of Hungary. Under the soccer-like scoring system, Carlsen took his tally to a whopping 16 points out of a possible eighteen, and the world number one is sitting pretty with just two games to come for him.

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