The 2016 edition of the London Chess Classic, has been won by American Grandmaster Wesley So. Having taken a grip on the tournament early on, he secured victory with a solid draw with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the final round.
As for the round itself, Veselin Topalov was the winner of the day, finally coming out of the doldrums and earning himself a point. His game versus Levon Aronian, saw the Bulgarian (who had only one-point on the board up to this stage) turning the tables on his opponent with the Black pieces. In the Symmetrical English, White had the better of things early on, and Black felt it necessary to sacrifice knight for three pawns in order to achieve some counter-play. Whether this was sound or not is unclear, but the computers didn’t like it very much. However, chess is not so straight-forward, especially human chess. Black certainly obtained (or, was allowed to obtain) some good play from it.
Aronian will possibly rue declining what seems to have been a safe pawn on his 29th move, Bxa6 looks perfectly payable. Was the Armenian wary of it? Or did he just decide not to allow the opening of the a-file? Answers on a postcard, but it didn’t work out for him, Topalov advanced the pawn and White had some considerations. 32…Qc6(!) put things in perspective and saw Black with pressure along the c-file and towards White’s rook, which had mutated into a mere blockading piece on a4. This was not all there was to it, however, with Black deciding to opt for 34…Qd7 instead of …Qc7, inexplicably un-doubling Queen and rook along the c-file. This allowed White to solve his issues.
Black played the strong 32…Qc6, pressuring the badly placed Ra4 and Nc3 as shown.
Contary to the phrase ‘never look a gift-horse in the mouth’, Aronian went on to give Black far too much play with his central pawns, which began to advance down the board. So potent were they, that Topalov was soon getting his piece back in order to get one off the board. This left Black a pawn up in a very strong position. From here, Topalov showed that despite his poor showing in this tournament, he is still a very potent player, who can never be under-estimated. It took a long time coming, but this was a very nice game from him and he converted his advantage very strongly. Unfortunately, it is a little too late for him in this tournament, he finishes on a rather surprising 2/9.
The final round of a tournament can often be a rather quiet affair, and that was the case for the remainder of the games, really. Tournament leader, Wesley So, also took up the Symmetrical English, but unlike Aronian, got at least something from it. He ended up sharing the point with opponent Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The two repeated a line that they had played against each other in the Leuven leg of the Chess Grand Tour in June, until Vachier-Lagrave varied with 12…fxe6 (…Bxe6 had been played in the previous game). This didn’t really produce much, Black was left with an isolated pawn, but there was nothing that White could do to get at it and the players just went through the motions, really, before agreeing a draw on move 35. A rather satisfying result for So, however, who secured the tournament victory with it and that was the objective in this round.
It is not very often we see a Queen’s Gambit Accepted, but Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana debated it in their game. Unfortunately, it was not a lengthy debate, and though the game lasted for 58-moves, a draw could probably have been agreed at about halfway through. The position became too simplified to really produce anything, especially at this level. Michael Adams and Hikaru Nakamura were not up for it in this round. Out came the Berlin, which saw around 18 moves of theory, then some exchanges and shuffling before the players agreed a draw on move 30. Anand-Kramnik was over even quicker, the players played a few new moves in a Queen’s Gambit Declined, before repeating for a 24-move draw.
London Chess Classic, Final Standings:
- So — 6.0
- Caruana — 5.5
- Kramnik, Anand, Nakamura — 5.0
- Giri — 4.5
- Aronian, Vachier-Lagrave, Adams — 4.0
- Topalov — 2.0
Chess Grand Tour
Along with his victory in this tournament, So has also claimed the Chess Grand Tour 2016 title. This was made up of four events, Paris CGT, Your Next Move (Leuven), the Siquefield Cup (Saint Louis), and London Chess Classic. So achieved a very comprehensive victory, with 36 Chess Grand Tour points. His nearest rival, Hikaru Nakamura (also of the United States) finished on 24.5 points, with Fabiano Caruana making it a clean sweep of the top 3 places for America on 23.75 points.
Chess Grand Tour, Final Standings:
- So — 36
- Nakamura — 24.5
- Caruana — 23.75
- Aronian, Anand — 21.75
- Vachier-Lagrave — 17.5
- Giri — 12.5
- Topalov — 10.75
The 2017 Chess Grand Tour, will be made up of the following five events:
- Paris CGT (rapid & blitz) — June 18th-26th
- Your Next Move (rapid & Blitz) — June 26th-July 3rd
- Sinquefield Cup (classical) — July 31st-August 12th
- Saint Louis Rapid (rapid & blitz) — August 13th-20th
- London Chess Classic (classical) — date to be announced.
[pgn height=auto layout=horizontal showmoves=figurine initialgame=first initialHalfmove=]
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2016.12.18”]
[Round “9.5”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A37”]
[WhiteElo “2785”]
[BlackElo “2760”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “106”]
[EventDate “2016.12.09”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 c5 {The Symmetrical English — a solid, but not overly
ambitious choice I think it’s fair to say.} 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6.
O-O e6 7. e3 Nge7 8. d4 O-O 9. Re1 {This is a bit of an obscure line. More
popular, here, are moves such as b2-b3 and d4-d5.} a6 {Straight into new
territory, here, Topalov looks to expand rapidly on the Queenside, a well
known theme in this opening.} 10. Bd2 Rb8 {…cxd4 was also viable, here, but
it tempts exchanges and is a bit drawy, Topalov maintains the tension and
sticks to his plan.} (10… cxd4 11. exd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Ne4 Bxb2 14.
Rb1 Bg7 {=}) 11. Rc1 b6 12. Ne2 e5 13. Bc3 h6 {Black’s approach is one of
limitation first and foremost, this is the danger White faces when playing the
more ‘reserved’ types of opening, such as the Symmetrical English or Reti. If
one does not have concrete intent, things can quickly become passive.} 14. d5
Nb4 15. Ra1 (15. Bxb4 cxb4 16. Qb3 a5 17. a3 bxa3 18. Qxa3 Qc7 {is about equal.
White will most likely continue Nc3, with the Knight on its way to b5. However,
Black has this covered and will probably seek to mute White on the Queenside
by means of …Qc5.}) 15… b5 {An interesting decision by Topalov, committing
himself to a line which sees him sacrifice his Nb4 for a few pawns and
activity.} (15… e4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nd2 Nd3 18. Rf1 f5 {is equal, with
White having a few options, here, Qb3, Qc2, f3, b3 are all playable. The Nd3
is not so intimidating and is not a long term prospect for Black.}) 16. a3 bxc4
17. axb4 cxb4 18. Bd2 Nxd5 {Computer evaluations don’t like things for Black,
here, but they should be largely ignored as even with the advancements that
have been seen over recent times, they still have their flaws and don’t tend
to get positional sacrifices until something concrete appears. In my opinion,
things are certainly not as horrid as the +1.00 I am seeing.} 19. Qc1 c3 {
I think Topalov is committed to this, …Qc7 is also possible, but I think it
is much too slow for the situation.} (19… Qc7 20. Nxe5 Nxe3 21. Bxe3 dxe5 22.
Bxh6 Bxh6 23. Qxh6 {and White just looks much better here.}) 20. bxc3 b3 21.
Qb1 {Slightly inaccurate, this, as it gives Black a tempo with …Nf6 after
which the prospect of …Bf5 should not be taken lightly. Furthermore, however,
had the Queen gone straight to b2, White would have c3-c4 as a possibility,
but now that would lose to …b3-b2. This seems a very small difference, but
those decide chess games.} (21. Qb2 Nf6 (21… Qc7 {may be more advisable} 22.
Nc1 (22. Nfd4 {is interesting} Nb6 {(not …exd4?? when Bxd5 is winning)} 23.
Nxb3 Nc4 24. Qc2 Rxb3 25. Qxb3 Nxd2 {does not see Black with enough for his
investments.}) 22… Be6 23. Nxb3 Nf6 24. Ra3 Qc4 25. Rb1 Bf5 {does not seem
enough for Black, after} 26. Be1 Bxb1 27. Qxb1 Ne4 28. Qc2 {and White is
better although there is lots of chess still to be played.}) 22. c4 Ne4 23. Ba5
{and White is clearly better, here and threatening to become active very
quickly, when he is simply a pawn up.}) 21… Nf6 22. Qb2 Qc7 23. c4 {giving
the pawn up in order to free his position and get active. White has thrown
Black something of a bone with his last few moves.} Qxc4 24. Nc3 Be6 25. Rec1
Nd7 26. e4 {There is nothing wrong with this move in principle, it was always
going to be on its way — but Ra4 or Bf1 were perhaps a bit more appropriate,
here.} Nc5 27. Bf1 Qb4 (27… Nd3 28. Bxd3 {this is quite obligatory, anything
else seems to work out for Black.} Qxd3 29. Be3 Rfc8 {and Black looks to be
doing fine, here.}) 28. Be3 Rfc8 29. Nd2 {Was Aronian wary of Bxa6? It seems a
pretty safe pawn. I think it’s more a case that he didn’t want the
complication of opening the a-file. However, when all else is considered,
chess often comes down to playing the best move and he may regret rejecting
this pawn.} (29. Bxa6 Nxa6 30. Rxa6 Ra8 31. Rb6 Qa3 32. Qxa3 Rxa3 33. Nb1 {
is good for White.}) 29… a5 {things are fairly tidy here now for Black and
this a-pawn is no small thing.} 30. Bxc5 Rxc5 31. Ra4 Qb7 {I don’t think
Topalov will have been feeling all that bad, here. His position holds quite
some potential.} 32. Bc4 Qc6 {! a very good move, putting pressure on the Nc3,
due to the bad position of the Ra4. The tables have turned, here and Black is
now in a very good place.} 33. Bd5 {Bxe6 would have been bad, after …fxe6,
White is not in a pleasant situation because of the Nc3 and Ra4.} Bxd5 34. exd5
Qd7 {A strange decision this, taking the Queen off of the c-file, …Qc7 was a
better choice.} 35. Ra3 a4 36. Nxa4 Rxd5 37. Nxb3 {Both sides have sorted out
their issues, here and the position is about equal.} e4 38. Qa2 Qf5 39. Re1
Rdb5 40. Rc1 d5 41. Nac5 d4 {Black is being allowed a bit too much scope with
these pawns.} 42. Ra7 d3 43. Rc7 h5 {Preparing …Bh6, when the bishop has a
lot of influence along the c1-h6 diagonal.} 44. Qa4 h4 45. Qxe4 {White decides
to give a piece back in order to take care of Black’s central pawns, but this
is not overly effective.} Qxe4 46. Nxe4 Rxb3 {so now, it is Black who is a
pawn up.} 47. gxh4 {?? an error, this pawn was very poisoned.} Bh6 {The first
part of Topalov’s plan, the second part is to move White’s knight on e4,
releasing his pawn.} 48. Rf1 R3b4 {Black is very much winning, here, White has
no good answer in this situation.} 49. f3 Rb2 {To the point, Rb1 would also
have been great. If Ng5 instead, Black could have simply taken on h4; Nc3
would have been met by …d3-d2; Nf6+ and Black simply plays …Kg7. White is
toast.} 50. Nf6+ Kg7 51. Ng4 d2 52. Rd7 {This stops nothing, due to …Re8 and
then …Re1, White has no control over the Queening threat.} Re8 53. Nf2 Re1 {
And here, Levon Aronian resigned. Veselin Topalov has not had a very good time
in this tournament, with only two points from nine games. However, what a
final game.} 0-1
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2016.12.18”]
[Round “9.4”]
[White “Adams, Michael”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C67”]
[WhiteElo “2748”]
[BlackElo “2779”]
[PlyCount “60”]
[EventDate “2016.12.09”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nf5 8.
Nf3 O-O 9. d4 d5 10. c3 Re8 11. Bd3 Bd6 12. Rxe8+ Qxe8 13. Qc2 g6 14. Nbd2 Bd7
{A new move at this stage.} 15. Nf1 b6 {This position has been seen a few
times before.} 16. Ng3 Nxg3 17. hxg3 {The game really begins, here.} f6 18. Bf4
Bxf4 19. gxf4 Qf7 20. Nh4 Kg7 21. g3 {Very solid and tentative play from both
players — neither gets up to much from here and they soon agree a draw.} Ne7
22. Re1 Re8 23. Re3 Nc8 24. Ng2 Nd6 25. Rxe8 Qxe8 26. Ne3 Be6 27. f5 Bf7 28.
fxg6 hxg6 29. Qe2 Be6 30. Ng2 c6 {and the players agreed a draw here.} 1/2-1/2
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2016.12.18”]
[Round “9.3”]
[White “Giri, Anish”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D27”]
[WhiteElo “2771”]
[BlackElo “2823”]
[PlyCount “116”]
[EventDate “2016.12.09”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. b3 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Bd7 9. Bb2 Nc6 10. Nf3 Be7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. Qe2 {One has to go
back to 1993 to find the last time this position occurred — Miles-Lin, at the
Lee Cup in Beijing.} Nb4 {Caruana varies from the game mentioned above, which
had continued 13…Qa5 and had seen White win in 36.} 14. a3 b5 15. axb4 bxc4
16. Nxc4 Bxb4 17. Ra1 {Rfd1 might have been wiser, here, making Black work a
little to activate his light-squared bishop. Instead, this move rather
provokes it.} Bb5 18. Nd4 Bxc4 19. bxc4 a5 {With rather effortless equality.}
20. Rfc1 Nd7 21. Nb3 Qg5 22. c5 Nxc5 23. Nxa5 Ne4 24. Nc6 Bc5 25. Nd4 (25. Ra6
Ra8 26. Rxa8 Rxa8 27. Qd3 Qd5 28. Qxd5 exd5 29. Bd4 {=}) 25… Bxd4 26. Bxd4 {
Play has resulted in a position that is rather safe for both and not very
exciting. At this level, there is not much potential from here unless there is
a mistake. This doesn’t happen and though the players play on for quite a
while, there is little event.} Rxc1+ 27. Rxc1 e5 28. Bb2 Rd8 29. Rd1 Rxd1+ 30.
Qxd1 h5 31. Qd3 Nf6 32. h3 e4 33. Qd8+ Kh7 34. Qe7 Qg6 35. Bxf6 gxf6 36. Qc5
Kg7 37. Qd5 f5 38. Qe5+ Qf6 39. Qg3+ Kh7 40. Kh2 Qe7 41. Qf4 Kg6 42. Kg3 Qd8
43. Qe5 Qg5+ 44. Kh2 Qd8 45. Qg3+ Kh7 46. Qf4 Kg6 47. Qe5 Qd2 48. Qg3+ Kh6 49.
Qf4+ Kg6 50. Qg3+ Kh6 51. Qh4 Qd6+ 52. Qf4+ Qxf4+ 53. exf4 Kg6 54. Kg1 Kg7 55.
Kf1 Kf6 56. Ke2 Ke6 57. Kd2 Kd6 58. Ke2 Ke6 {And the players agreed a draw,
here.} 1/2-1/2
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2016.12.18”]
[Round “9.2”]
[White “Anand, Viswanathan”]
[Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D37”]
[WhiteElo “2779”]
[BlackElo “2809”]
[PlyCount “48”]
[EventDate “2016.12.09”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 c5 8. dxc5
bxc5 9. O-O Nc6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 h6 12. h3 {A new move, e4 and Rc1 having
been tried before.} Be6 13. Bb5 Qb6 14. Qa4 Rfc8 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 a6 17.
Be2 Rd8 18. Bf3 Nd7 19. Bg3 Nf6 20. Rfd1 Rac8 21. Be5 Nd7 22. Bg3 Nf6 23. Be5
Nd7 24. Bg3 Nf6 {draw by repetition.} 1/2-1/2
[Event “London Chess Classic 2016”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2016.12.18”]
[Round “9.1”]
[White “So, Wesley”]
[Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “A04”]
[WhiteElo “2794”]
[BlackElo “2804”]
[PlyCount “69”]
[EventDate “2016.12.09”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Be2 d5 6. d4 cxd4 7. exd4 e4 8. Ne5
dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Qxd1+ 11. Kxd1 Ng4 12. e6 fxe6 {Varying from a game
that the two had played earlier in the year, during the ‘Your Next Move’
tournament in Leuven. That game had continued 12…Bxe6 and been won by White.}
13. Nxe4 Bd7 14. f3 Ne5 15. Bb3 {This is a fairly simple position, the only
imbalance being Black’s isolated pawn on e6.} Rd8 16. Bd2 Nd3 17. Kc2 Nb4+ 18.
Bxb4 Bxb4 19. Nc3 Ke7 20. Rhe1 Bxc3 21. Kxc3 Rc8+ 22. Kd2 Rhd8 23. Ke3 e5 24.
Rad1 Bc6 {Things are largely resolved, here, both have a fairly safe position
with no real weaknesses and the players just play on a little to show willing
before splitting the point.} 25. h4 h6 26. a3 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 Rf8 28. Rf1 Rf4 29.
g3 Rd4 30. Rd1 Rxd1 31. Bxd1 g5 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. f4 gxf4+ 34. gxf4 exf4+ 35.
Kxf4 {Game Drawn.} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
