Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

London Chess Classic (2015) The 7th London Chess Classic was played in London, England 4-13 December 2015. Rest day: 9 December. In the three-way rapid tiebreak, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave first defeated Anish Giri and then fell to Magnus Carlsen, who collected 12 Grand Chess Tour points (GP). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 GP 1 Carlsen 2834 * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½ 12 2 Giri 2784 ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5½ 10 3 Vachier-Lagrave 2773 ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 8 4 Aronian 2788 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5 7 5 Grischuk 2747 0 ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4½ 6 =6 Caruana 2787 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ ½ 4½ 4½ =6 Adams 2737 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ ½ 4½ 4½ 8 Nakamura 2793 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * 1 ½ 4 3 9 Anand 2796 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 * 1 3½ 2 10 Topalov 2803 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 * 2½ 1 Carlsen's victory at this event (LC) crowned him the winner of the Grand Chess Tour 2015, which also included Norway Chess (2015) (NC) and Sinquefield Cup (2015) (SC): NC SC LC GP Earnings 1 Carlsen 4 10 12 26 $215,000 2 Giri 7 6 10 23 $155,000 3 Aronian 2 13 7 22 $145,000 4 Vachier-Lagrave 5 7 8 20 $90,000 5 Nakamura 8 8 3 19 $95,000 6 Topalov 13 4 1 18 $105,000 7 Grischuk 3 5 6 14 $60,000 8 Anand 10 2 2 14 $80,000 9 Caruana 6 3 4½ 13½ $55,000 10 Adams - - 4½ 4½ $20,000 11 Hammer 1 - - 1 $15,000 12 So - 1 - 1 $15,000 Official site: https://www.londonchessclassic.com/... Official GCT site: https://grandchesstour.org/2015-tou... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/mag... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/a-mag... Chess24: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew... Previous edition: London Chess Classic (2014). Next: London Chess Classic (2016). Previous GCT event: Sinquefield Cup (2015)  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Vachier-Lagrave vs Carlsen ½-½ 28 2015 London Chess Classic B33 Sicilian 2. Caruana vs Aronian ½-½ 51 2015 London Chess Classic C78 Ruy Lopez 3. Topalov vs Giri 0-1 40 2015 London Chess Classic E60 King's Indian Defense 4. Anand vs Adams ½-½ 32 2015 London Chess Classic A20 English 5. Grischuk vs Nakamura ½-½ 38 2015 London Chess Classic C67 Ruy Lopez 6. Aronian vs Anand ½-½ 34 2015 London Chess Classic D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 7. Nakamura vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ 56 2015 London Chess Classic A48 King's Indian 8. Topalov vs Grischuk ½-½ 33 2015 London Chess Classic C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 9. Carlsen vs Caruana ½-½ 42 2015 London Chess Classic C67 Ruy Lopez 10. Giri vs Adams ½-½ 26 2015 London Chess Classic E37 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 11. Anand vs Carlsen ½-½ 56 2015 London Chess Classic C67 Ruy Lopez 12. Adams vs Aronian ½-½ 34 2015 London Chess Classic C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 13. Vachier-Lagrave vs Topalov 1-0 38 2015 London Chess Classic B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 14. Caruana vs Nakamura ½-½ 45 2015 London Chess Classic C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 15. Grischuk vs Giri ½-½ 47 2015 London Chess Classic C67 Ruy Lopez 16. Nakamura vs Anand 1-0 41 2015 London Chess Classic E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 17. Carlsen vs Adams ½-½ 78 2015 London Chess Classic A06 Reti Opening 18. Topalov vs Caruana ½-½ 83 2015 London Chess Classic C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 19. Grischuk vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ 43 2015 London Chess Classic B96 Sicilian, Najdorf 20. Giri vs Aronian ½-½ 33 2015 London Chess Classic A22 English 21. Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri ½-½ 31 2015 London Chess Classic C67 Ruy Lopez 22. Aronian vs Carlsen ½-½ 40 2015 London Chess Classic D41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch 23. Caruana vs Grischuk ½-½ 58 2015 London Chess Classic C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 24. Adams vs Nakamura ½-½ 56 2015 London Chess Classic C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 25. Anand vs Topalov 1-0 74 2015 London Chess Classic B90 Sicilian, Najdorf  page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 45    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 41 OF 41 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-19-15    Absentee: <BOSTER: < Sokrates: I- and only I - am responsible for my moves on the board>. If it is so clear like Mona Lisa Smile, why do we need the arbiters in tour?> To make sure you haven't roided up to make your pineal gland secrete an abnormal quantity of luck-enzyme. Dec-19-15    alexmagnus: < Jim Bartle: There may be no luck in chess but there is Michal Luch.> And David Lucky Also David Glueck (again David?) as well as Michael Glueck (although Glück can mean both luck and happiness... But is there happiness in chess?!) Dec-19-15    chancho: No luck, oh really? L Luck Dec-19-15    BOSTER: The arbitres ( 4 arbitres watching the game) should see how Naka had < castled > with <two hands > in round 3, World Cup in Baku. In this case he'd be eliminated, not Nepo. Dec-19-15    Gypsy: <<... in the most fair game of all: a game of chess.> Why is chess fairer than all other games or sports?> <Jim Bartle: No dice. No luck of the draw. No lucky bounces.> <tamar: No parquet floor> There are other games that share those characteristics, Jim, but that is my lesser point. My main point is this: A die or a ball are deterministic objects and they fully obey the laws of physics. Why should I view a mastery of these objects as being a matter of luck any more or less than mastery of the chess board? You view a die or coin as a fair source of randomness. But in my grad school years, I TA'd for a guy who could toss a fair coin heads several times in a row. (He could also do perfect shuffles while lecturing on the applications of group theory to statistics; and many other parlor tricks.) He smiled an "ow shucks" smile when we oohed and aahed and he floored us with his explanation: "I practiced last night." Or consider a soccer ball. You can pretty well figure its trajectory from its Reynold's number and initial conditions. The physics of its flight is that of Magnus effect (no, different Magnus). The amount of computation in fluid-dynamics number crunching is huge, but so is the amount of computation involved in evaluating a complex chess position. All in all, there seems to be two aspects of skill -- (1) computing or estimating effects of our action, (2) executing our action sufficiently accurately. My view is that if (1) does not allow completely perfect evaluation or if (2) does not permit perfect accuracy of action, we are in the realm where skill and luck combine. Dec-19-15    Shams: <BOSTER> <The arbitres ( 4 arbitres watching the game) should see how Naka had < castled > with <two hands > in round 3, World Cup in Baku. In this case he'd be eliminated, not Nepo.> Not true; the penalty would have been a warning and not a forfeit. Dec-19-15    Chessinfinite: Nice commentary by the GMs-next time maybe they should invite Daniel Gormally for his passive/ aggressive commentary! Dec-20-15    MissScarlett: Post-mortem with Aronian would be fun. Dec-20-15    Clemens Scheitz: <Gypsy>, no ifs or buts, my view is that all human undertakings are in the realm where skill and luck combine. Dec-20-15    Clemens Scheitz: ...and skill requires luck, but luck works in mysterious ways... Dec-20-15    BOSTER: <Shams: not a forfeit>. It was a blitz game. In blitz chess rules are different. According to the WBCA rules, a player who makes illegal move loses the game immediately. This is the game So vs Akobian, US Champ.2015. click for larger view It 's difficult to believe that black in this pos. can win in one move. "But Akobian played a winning move-he approached the arbiter and pointed out that So had been writing messages on a sheet of paper. Since So had already been warned twice for writing notes arbiter forfeited So." Dec-20-15    Shams: <BOSTER> Nakamura didn't make an illegal move, he made a legal move but he executed it wrongly. From what I've read that gets a warning. Dec-20-15    BOSTER: < Shams>.Thanks. Dec-20-15    Shams: <BOSTER> I found this but it's confusing: http://www.angelfire.com/games5/che... Dec-20-15    diceman: < Sokrates: I- and only I - am responsible for my moves on the board> True, but what about your opponent? (not in white/black order): In Grischuk/Giri, Gris missed his chances. In Grischuk/Aronian, Gris spotted his chances. In Grischuk/Carlsen, Gris missed his chances. <I- and only I - am responsible for my moves on the board> ...assumes you will be punished for a mistake. That's not necessarily the case, and where "luck" comes into play. Dec-20-15    Absentee: <diceman: <I- and only I - am responsible for my moves on the board> ...assumes you will be punished for a mistake. That's not necessarily the case, and where "luck" comes into play.> It's your opponent's skill that comes into play in that case. Dec-20-15    Absentee: <Shams: <BOSTER> I found this but it's confusing: http://www.angelfire.com/games5/che... I remember the discussion right after the game was played: it was confirmed that Nakamura would have been warned, not forfeited. I assume they were using FIDE's official rules, since it was the World Cup. Dec-20-15    BOSTER: According to Chess Life < it was noted by the appeal commitee that Naka had moved his rook first, also illegal under FIDE laws>. Dec-20-15    Absentee: <BOSTER: According to Chess Life < it was noted by the appeal commitee that Naka had moved his rook first, also illegal under FIDE laws>.> The question isn't whether it was legal or not, it is what penalty it would have entailed. Dec-20-15    schweigzwang: Sounds like the discussion of the London Chess Classic has run its course. It was SO dull! let's talk about Nakamura. Dec-20-15    epistle: He is always dull outside of chess Dec-20-15    eternaloptimist: Carlsen was really clutch & showed great nerves at the end of this tournament. He won 2 out of his last 3 classical games to get to the rapid tiebreak & win the tournament! Dec-21-15    Gypsy: <Clemens Scheitz: <Gypsy>, no ifs or buts, my view is that all human undertakings are in the realm where skill and luck combine.> <Clemens Scheitz: ...and skill requires luck, but luck works in mysterious ways...> Amen to all of that. Dec-26-15    rayoflight: Could you please put link of PGN for tie-break games? I cannot find them!!! Dec-26-15    zanzibar: <rayoflight> Google quickly comes up with: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/r... http://www.londonchessclassic.com/p... (direct pgn download) Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 41) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 41 OF 41 ·  Later Kibitzing> NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café. Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration. Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes! Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us Copyright 2001-2023, Chessgames Services LLC