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 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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Carlsen beats McShane, cracks all time high rating

World number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway cracked all-time high ratings, defeating Luke McShane of England in the first round of the London Chess Classic at the Olympia here.

The rating for Carlsen stood at 2851.2 points in the unofficial live rating portals which means that the Norwegian has cracked the all-time high rating record of 2851 held by former world champion and his former trainer Gary Kasparov of Russia.

On what turned out to be a perfect opener, all the four games in the nine-players round robin tournament ended decisively and the biggest upset was recorded by Hikaru Nakamura of United States who defeated World number two Levon Aronian with black pieces.

With Nakamura calling the shots, Vladimir Kramnik turned out to be another winner of the day at the expense of world's top woman player Judit Polgar of Hungary. The all-decisive-games record was kept intact by a late-benefitting Michael Adams of England against compatriot Gawain Jones. World champion Vishwanathan Anand had a rest day in the opener as he drew number one in the official drawing of lots.

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Tal Chess Memorial Round 6: Kramnik Catches up With Morozevich for Joint Lead

Hikaru Nakamura
US Chess Champion 2012
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik caught up with leader Alexander Morozevich at the 7th Mikhail Tal Chess memorial in the sixth round with a second victory back-to-back. Hikaru Nakamura beat Alexander Morozevich as the latter got into time trouble. Kramnik beat Evgeny Tomashevsky. Meanwhile, Fabiano Caruana also beat Luke McShane. The other two games were drawn: Carlsen - Aronian and Grischuk - Radjabov.

Results of Round 6

1. Caruana - McShane 1-0

2. Kramnik - Tomashevsky 1-0

3. Morozevich - Nakamura 0-1

4. Carlsen - Aronian draw

5. Grischuk - Radjabov draw

Standings after Round 6

1-2. Kramnik, Morozevich - 4

3-5. Carlsen, Caruana, Radjabov - 3.5

6. Nakamura 3

7-8. Aronian, Grischuk - 2.5

9. McShane - 2

10.Tomashevsky - 1.5

Friday is a rest day at the Tal Chess Memorial

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Tal Chess Memorial Round 2 - Radjabov Leads; Caruana, Nakamura play 107-move Draw in Seven Hours!

Beautiful Pashkov House in Moscow

The Tal Chess Memorial second round saw fighting games all around even though there were three draws and only two decisive games. Teimour Radjabov pulled off his second victory in as many rounds by beating Luke McShane with the Black pieces. Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik also beat Alexander Grischuk. World Chess No. 1 Magnus Carlsen survived against Alexander Morozevich and managed to draw. Two other games that ended in tough draws included Evgeny Tomashevsky-Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana-Hikaru Nakamura. In fact, Caruana and Nakamura played for a full seven hours flat for a 107 moves squeezing out the last bit of chess to a fulfilling draw.

Results of Round 2

Kramnik – Grischuk 1-0
McShane – Radjabov 0-1
Caruana – Nakamura draw
Morozevich – Carlsen draw
Tomashevsky – Aronian draw

Standings after Round 2

1. Radjabov 2; 

2-4. Morozevich, Kramnik, Aronian 1,5; 

5-6. Carlsen, Grischuk 1; 

7-9. Nakamura, Tomashevsky, Caruana 0,5; 

10. McShane 0.

Round 3 pairings: 

Carlsen – Caruana, 

Grischuk – Morozevich, 

Radjabov – Kramnik, 

Aronian – McShane 

Nakamura – Tomashevsky.

The 7th Tal Chess Memorial is a 10-player round robin chess tournament that is taking place at the beautiful Pashkov House in Moscow from June 8 to 18. The prize fund is 100,000 euros. There will be two rest days on June 11 and 15. The time control offers 100 minutes for 40 moves, 50 minutes for extra 20 moves, and 15 minutes for finishing the game. There is a 30-second increment for every move from the starting of the game. Games start at India time 4.30 pm and you can watch them on the official website. Photos/text by Eteri Kublashvili (Tal Chess Memorial Official Website)

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Tal Chess Memorial Round 1 - How Aronian Beat Nakamura

The 7th Tal Chess Memorial began at Pashkov House in Moscow with four of the five chess games ending in decisive results! Alexander Morozevich beat Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk beat Luke McShane, Teimour Radjabov beat Evgeny Tomashevsky, and Levon Aronian beat Hikaru Nakamura! The only game that was drawn was played out between Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik. 

The Tal Chess Memorial is being held from June 7 to 18. Game days are 8-10, 12-14 and June 16-18 with breaks being on June 11 and 15. The live video broadcasts starts every day at India time 4.30 pm. The time control is as follows: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves of the game and 50 minutes for 20 moves with 15 minutes before the end of the game with an increment of 30 seconds for every move beginning from the first move. 

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Carlsen Chess Win in Last Round vs Nakamura @ Tal Chess Memorial 2011

On the eve of the 7th Tal Chess Memorial to be played in Moscow from June 7, we have two delightful tweets going around. These are by @MagnusCarlsen - Back in Moscow for the Tal Memorial. Excited to be fighting against the best in the world after a long break! and @GMHikaru - Farewell New York! Privet, Moscow!

The line-up at the event is a dream and could very well pass off as a mini-world chess championship round-robin tournament. You can read our previous post (Tal Chess Memorial With Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura, Kramnik Begins in Moscow June 7) about tournament details. For this report we have Magnus Carlsen's last round victory over Hikaru Nakamura in the 6th Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial in 2011. You can check out the game in our Chess King applet. Carlsen's win with Black over Nakamura had helped him tie for first with Levon Aronian who was already on fire by having played some amazing games at the event. Eventually, Magnus Carlsen won on tiebreak - thanks to this win over Nakamura. GM Nakamura has just won the US Chess Championship 2012 and would be looking to get even.

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Super Chess Radio Show The Full English Breakfast Episode 22

Give it to the British for fine humour and surreal chess... Now, you can add a must-listen chess radio show as well to the list. 

Folks, if you are not listening to the Full English Breakfast, there's something seriously wrong with your chess diet! Episode number 22 speaks about how to check draws in world chess championship matches, Hikaru Nakamura interview soundbites from the US Chess Championship, and Viswanathan Anand press conference from the World Chess Championship 2012! Use the flash player below to hear the show, or head to The Full English Breakfast website. You can watch a previous B&W post for the full video interview with Hikaru Nakamura conducted by Jennifer Shahade.
   

   
   
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Don't go to sleep tonight without listening to The Full English Breakfast Chess Radio Show number 22.

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Tal Chess Memorial With Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura, Kramnik Begins in Moscow June 7

Misha - Mikhai Tal

It's time to play strong chess in Moscow all over again from June 7 at the Mikhail Tal Chess Memorial beginning with - hold your breath - Magnus Carlsen,  Hikaru Nakamura,  Vladimir Kramnik, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Alexander Morozevich,  Fabiano Caruana,  Alexander Grischuk, Evgeny Tomashevsky and Luke McShane. 

The opening ceremony will be held on 7th June, at 18.00, in the playing venue at Pashkov House, st. Vozdvizhenka 3/5.

The Tal Chess Memorial is the first super chess event of the year after the recently concluded Anand-Gelfand World Chess Championship. It is also a major tournament before the upcoming Candidates Chess Tournament that would decide the next challenger for the reigning World Chess Champion Vishy Anand.

The organisers are going to try a unique plan to decide the drawing of lots. All the players will take part in a blitz chess tournament - with a separate prize fund - for deciding the starting seeding for the main tournament based on the blitz chess results. 

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian were the joint winners of the 2011 Tal Chess Memorial. Both had earned 5.5/9 points, but Magnus Carlsen had won the chess trophy on better tiebreak. 

Mikhail Tal was a Russian-Latvian chess grandmaster and the Mikhail Tal playing style was all about creativity, attacking, and daring combination play. Mikhail Tal - often known as Misha - was the eighth world chess champion.

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Great Chess Video of US Women's Chess Champion 2012 Irina Krush

Watch this post-game interview with the US Women's chess Champion 2012 IM Irina Krush. Krush went into a tiebreak with defending champion Anna Zatonskih at the US Women's Chess Championship recently. 

You can also watch the video of the US Men's Chess Champion 2012 Hikaru Nakamura here. 

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Swell Chess Video Interview with 2012 US Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura

The chess future is about Nakamura, Carlsen, and Karjakin! Nakamura looks out for pretty girls when he looks up from his chess board while playing...!
Gary Kasparov...!

You will find these and other interesting comments by the US Chess Champion 2012 Hikaru Nakamura in this great indepth interview with Jennifer Shahade. Surely a chess video not to be missed.

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Fireworks Chess Game - Nakamura Unleashes Evans Gambit in R1 2012 US Chess Championships

Top seed GM Hikaru Nakamura used the Evans Gambit in his first round chess game at the 2012 US Chess Championships that began in Saint Louis this week. Check out the great game with Chess King. 

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