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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
(SPECIAL SCORING IN EFFECT: 3 POINTS PER WIN; 1 POINT PER DRAW)
London Chess Classic Tournament
Magnus Carlsen18(+5 -0 =3)[games]
Vladimir Kramnik16(+4 -0 =4)[games]
Hikaru Nakamura13(+3 -1 =4)[games]
Michael Adams13(+3 -1 =4)[games]
Viswanathan Anand9(+1 -1 =6)[games]
Levon Aronian8(+1 -2 =5)[games]
Judit Polgar6(+1 -4 =3)[games]
Luke McShane5(+1 -5 =2)[games]
Gawain Jones3(+0 -5 =3)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
London Chess Classic (2012)

The 4th London Chess Classic was a 9-player round robin held at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington, London, England, 1-10 December 2012, as part of the London Chess Classic Festival. Rest day: 5 December. The pairings were drawn on 6 November 2012 at the Sacred Heart Primary School in Liverpool. To discourage draws, the players received 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 more minutes for the next 20 moves, then 15 more minutes for the rest of the game, with 30 seconds added per move from move 61. Total prize fund: 160,000 euros, with 50,000 euros to the winner. Tournament director: Malcolm Pein.

Magnus Carlsen won with 18/24 and broke the 13-year-old rating record set by Garry Kasparov.

            Elo   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 Carlsen   2848  * 1 1 3 1 3 3 3 3  18
2 Kramnik   2795  1 * 3 1 1 1 3 3 3  16
3 Nakamura  2760  1 0 * 1 1 3 3 3 1  13
4 Adams     2710  0 1 1 * 3 1 3 1 3  13
5 Anand     2775  1 1 1 0 * 1 1 1 3   9
6 Aronian   2815  0 1 0 1 1 * 1 3 1   8
7 Polgar    2705  0 0 0 0 1 1 * 3 1   6
8 McShane   2713  0 0 0 1 1 0 0 * 3   5
9 Jones     2644  0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 *   3
Category: XXI (2752). Chief arbiter: Albert Vasse, assisted by David Sedgwick.

Official site: https://www.londonchessclassic.com/...
Regulations: https://www.londonchessclassic.com/...
Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/mag...
Chess King: http://chess-king.com/tag/london-ch...
ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/lcc-r...
TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew...

Previous: London Chess Classic (2011). Next: London Chess Classic (Knockout) (2013)

 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 36  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. McShane vs Carlsen 0-1622012London Chess ClassicC67 Ruy Lopez
2. Kramnik vs J Polgar 1-0402012London Chess ClassicA34 English, Symmetrical
3. Aronian vs Nakamura 0-1322012London Chess ClassicA30 English, Symmetrical
4. G Jones vs Adams 0-1912012London Chess ClassicE46 Nimzo-Indian
5. Carlsen vs Aronian 1-0592012London Chess ClassicC77 Ruy Lopez
6. Nakamura vs Kramnik 0-1872012London Chess ClassicC45 Scotch Game
7. J Polgar vs G Jones ½-½732012London Chess ClassicB78 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 10.castle long
8. Anand vs McShane ½-½1082012London Chess ClassicD10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
9. Kramnik vs Carlsen ½-½622012London Chess ClassicA37 English, Symmetrical
10. Adams vs J Polgar 1-0362012London Chess ClassicA07 King's Indian Attack
11. Aronian vs Anand ½-½512012London Chess ClassicD10 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
12. G Jones vs Nakamura ½-½802012London Chess ClassicD97 Grunfeld, Russian
13. Carlsen vs G Jones 1-0382012London Chess ClassicB53 Sicilian
14. McShane vs Aronian 0-1762012London Chess ClassicC78 Ruy Lopez
15. Anand vs Kramnik ½-½402012London Chess ClassicC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
16. Nakamura vs Adams ½-½692012London Chess ClassicD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
17. Adams vs Carlsen 0-1642012London Chess ClassicC78 Ruy Lopez
18. G Jones vs Anand 0-1292012London Chess ClassicD70 Neo-Grunfeld Defense
19. Kramnik vs McShane 1-0492012London Chess ClassicD15 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
20. J Polgar vs Nakamura 0-1472012London Chess ClassicC78 Ruy Lopez
21. Carlsen vs J Polgar 1-0532012London Chess ClassicA33 English, Symmetrical
22. Aronian vs Kramnik ½-½672012London Chess ClassicC67 Ruy Lopez
23. Anand vs Adams 0-1422012London Chess ClassicA29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto
24. McShane vs G Jones 1-0592012London Chess ClassicA37 English, Symmetrical
25. Nakamura vs Carlsen ½-½562012London Chess ClassicB30 Sicilian
 page 1 of 2; games 1-25 of 36  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 43 OF 53 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-10-12
Premium Chessgames Member		  FSR: <Bureaucrat> You are correct. Apparently I should learn to count.
Dec-10-12  Mr. Bojangles: <Dec-10-12 bonniekathosh: The london chess classic is hands down the best tournament right now. Has been great since it started. >

Tal is the best by a mile in terms of chess strength and coverage.

Dec-10-12  Kikoman: Congratulations Magnus Carlsen winning this super tournament and breaking the Kasparov all time high ratings. :)
Dec-10-12  Ezzy: <Check It Out:>

It's fantastic when you hear about someone having a chess trip of a lifetime, which included meeting some chessgames members.

Great reports. My favourite being, when you said you met <frogbert> and said - "NO we didn't discuss rating inflation." That gave me a good laugh.

Hope u all had an amazing time. I will have to visit the LCC one day.

Magnus the magnificent does it again. Another amazing supertournament win. He just can't stop winning!! Just shy of a 3000 performance. It's mindboggling the talent he has.

Kramnik was also incredible, and both he and Magnus were a class above the rest in this tournament.

Adams had one of his best tournaments for a long time. Seems like the recent invitation to the London Grand Prix got him sharp and well prepared for the LCC.

Nakamura played ok and deserves his place again next year.

Anand admits himself that he's not doing so well lately, BUT be sure he will be in the best shape he possibly can when defending his crown.

Aronian had a poor tournament by his standards (and rating) BUT don't we all. I'm sure he'll be 'in the zone' for his next tournament.

Judit started poorly and seemed to get stronger towards the end. She will be disappointed by her points score, but did finish 1 place better than expected.

Luke, after his great tournament last year, had a miserable tournament this year. But by far the worlds best amatuer who must be hindered by having a full time job other than chess.

Gawain's debut was as expected; To finish last. He feared no one, BUT was obviously outclassed in this field. His highlight could have been beating Magnus with a queen sacrifice, BUT it wasn't meant to be, and I'm sure Gawain will have learnt a tremendous amount from his first super tournament appearance.

I've once again thoroughly enjoyed this tournament, and the coverage. Games were incredibly hard fought and produced some amazing games.

Kudos to Carlsen! He is quite something!!

Dec-10-12  Blunderdome: <by far the worlds best amatuer>

Well, there's Vladimir Malakhov. Just off the top of my head, maybe others. McShane might be the best, but I wouldn't give him a "by far."

Dec-10-12  messachess: Did anyone else notice that <jessicafischerqueen> seems to be back to her feisty self (if, that is, she ever departed from it--seemed so in one series of posts.) This is a great relief, as I wouldn't know how to respond to another self. Just saying.
Dec-10-12  Rolfo: <Tal is the best by a mile in terms of chess strength and coverage.>

yes, the Russian organizers know how to do it

Dec-10-12  dumbgai: Does Morozevich consider himself a chess amateur? I don't know what his definition is, but it would probably make him the world's strongest.
Dec-10-12
Premium Chessgames Member		  alexmagnus: Malakhov is often mentioned as world's strongest amateur but apparently he considers himself a chess professional and a physics amateur and not other way around...
Dec-10-12  LucB: <CIO>, thanks again for all your reports, and have a safe trip home!

<parmetd>, those were swell photos you shared with us!

Lucky guys, all of you!

I'm completely jealous of this 'chess trip' idea. I've said it before on this site (and I'll say it again): this is what I want to do when I retire. Doesn't that sound great? ... Move to Europe for part of the year and follow a few chess tournaments. Oh yeah!

Well, as the Brits say: "Tata for now!" ... oh wait! that's the next big tourney in Holland, right?

:D

Dec-10-12  MindBreaker: Finally, Carlsen has scored 1 point agains Aronian and 1/2 against each Kramnik and Anand. Well Micky and Haka can still be considered close to high league. So, I am impressed, but not to the degree to call it extraordinary. This must change, we - the world chess fans, have a right to see sometime in the future competitions organized between Carlsen and Kramnik, Carlsen and Aronian, Kramink and Aronian, Anand and all this guys. Why not? Since Kasparov-Kramnik, and even before, chess championship has been somewhat unsettled.
Dec-10-12  John Abraham: Good tournament but the home favorites Jones and McShane were the punching bangs as always, Polgar was out of practice and had a bad tournament, Aronian at -1 not his usual self, and Anand at an even score continuing his uninspiring form after being world champion. Carlsen, Kramnik, Nakamura, and Adams had the best performances. Nakamura won a game against Aronian and Adams won a game against Anand. Both Nakamura and Adams won 3 games and lost 1, having a +2. The only undefeated players were Kramnik with +4 and Carlsen of course at +5.

The key to winning these tournaments is beating the small fish, drawing the big fish, and trying to squeeze the full point from opponents who are in the middle of the pack or in poor form. At least this is due to the football scoring system (3-1-0).

Dec-10-12  Tomlinsky: <JA: ...McShane were the punching bangs as always...>

As always? Mcshane was leading LCC 2011 with 2 rounds to go and finished 4th just 1 point behind Carlsen. Quite tasty for a punchbag.

Dec-10-12  mrbasso: Actually chess fans have no rights and all conclusions drawn from the result of a short tournament are nonsensical. Of course Jones was the punching bag but McShane is generally on the same level as Polgar and had a bad tournament as well.
Dec-10-12  LucB: Actually if you look closely, Carlsen and Jones had a 'similar' score...

+5 -0 =3 and ...

;)

Dec-10-12  Kaspablanca: The key game of this tournament that made Carlsen the winner; his win against Aronian.
Dec-10-12  Pravitel: <did you read what kramnik himself had to say on the topic of carlsen's psyche and personality? do you remember korchnoi's early observations about what it's like sitting opposite carlsen?>

I also remember Korchnoi suspecting of Karpov being under hypnosis, because he couldn't explain how such an frail man could be so mentally tough. And Kramnik's praises for Karpov's toughness. Infact he cited a game against Karpov in the early 90s as a eye-opener for him on the completely different resistant level of top players, when Karpov just kept finding all defensive resources as Kramnik expected resignation on any moment and eventually Karpov's tenacious defence saved the game. Indeed tenacity is one of Karpov's trademark qualities(according to for examble Kasparov, who might know a thing or two about that).

<if you think track records otb are important, do you realize the number of times carlsen has come from behind and performed "on demand" to win tournaments or even "revenge" losses or equal the score? (he did it 3 times against aronian in the 2007 match alone). how did kramnik do against shirov or against anand in 2008? was he able to recover? and karpov had a melt down on several levels in the first kasparov match, obviously. of course carlsen never tried anything even remotely similar to that marathon match - but still i'm 99% convinced that carlsen never will experience a breakdown like karpov experienced then. i can't prove it, but you can't disprove it either.>

Carlsen has also collapsed on the last round, as against Shirov in Linares, and lost the tournament victory. And it isn't as if Karpov didn't win on demand and come from behind from time to time in his career.

Karpov's difficulties on the latter part of the marathon match were hugely influenced by his frail physique. It is very much separate issue to psyhological strength. I don't doubt that Carlsen is in much better physical shape. So I don't see that as a valid point at all.

Practically every champion and a contender has stated that World Championship match is totally different level on everything else in the chess world, much much more tougher psychologically. Kramnik and Karpov have both shown their fortitude on the toughest of spots, Carlsen hasn't. Honestly I don't doubt that he is mentally stable and strong person, but until he shows it at a similar stage it is almost disrespectful to put him above those who actually have done it.

Your answer and the lack of valid concrete material on Carlsen's supposed mental strength comparing to Karpov and Kramnik just confirms my suspicion that it was very much fanboyism at work. You have your right for it, but I preserve my right to call you out on unsubstantified claims based only on your likings.

Dec-10-12
Premium Chessgames Member		  HeMateMe: <jessicafischerqueen: <Bureaucrat> sorry I was editing and reposting- your "timely and accurate post" I refer to is the one explaining why it is a waste of time to respond to anything <HeMateMe> says.>

Jessica, I don't want to get into some sort of long rant with you. I like your posts here, which are usually interesting and informative.

Please don't lump me in with anyone who thinks Magnus Carlsen winning this or any other tournament is a "worthless" achievement. I've never said anything of the sort.

What I HAVE said echoes the sentiments of FIDE and the world chess community. Match play is the best and most desired determinant to decide who is the world's best chess player.

Magnus Carlsen has not yet proven himself in this particular format, therefore he is not the world's best chessplayer.

He did have a chance to play in this particular format last year. I believe he was ranked number one in the world at the time. Yet, he still turned down this opportunity to compete for the world championship of chess. In my opinion, this demonstrates a flaw in his psyche that may hurt some of his chess results in the future. I think he was paranoid about losing, because he knew that Anand is still very consistent, very strong in match play. As much as I admire Magnus Carslen's chess games, I hate it when a player avoids another strong player. It makes me think less of them.

If you can't understand that my opinion echoes that of FIDE and a lot of other chessplayers, then you aren't following modern chess very closely.

Dec-10-12  Atking: <achieve> VK: "My form was close to optimal." Yes Magnus Carlsen wonderful perfomance should not shadow Vladimir Kramnik's one.

I will agree with him "an optimal" will means Vladimir won against Carlsen or/and Aronian. A feat whom he was not far. An amount of little luck could make a big difference. Anyway it was a wonderfull event with a great fighting spirit. I enjoyed the tournament (Thanks to the organizers) as well the games (Thanks to the players, with a special not to Jones Gawain who played courageously against these big names).

Dec-10-12  frogbert: pravitel, you failed to see my point: you can't judge psychological qualities from performance in selected chess games. stamina and resilience rely on lots of factors besides a person's psyche. and losing a last round chess game (once or twice) like carlsen did against shirov once doesn't really tell anything about carlsen's psyche. if you really think that's the case, then i'm having this discussion with the wrong person.

and if you think there's no connection between physical and psychological vulnerability (ref karpov), then there's a chapter about medicine you obviously haven't studied. heard about psychosomatic illnesses? i have personal experience with psychological factors' impact on somatic conditions; they materialize in numerous situations and this is established and accepted knowledge in medicine.

Dec-11-12  frogbert: while i didn't discuss rating inflation with check it out, i had a long and interesting chat with john nunn on the topic - initiated by nigel short's speculations about the cause of inflation in the vip room. :o)
Dec-11-12  Billy Vaughan: <Carlsen has also collapsed on the last round, as against Shirov in Linares, and lost the tournament victory.>

I think this is an ill-advised course of argument in light of how often Carlsen seems to pull off tournament victories in the last three rounds.

Dec-11-12  virginmind: bravo carlsen!
Dec-11-12  Helloween: I had more fun following this tourney than any in recent memory. The fact Kramnik played as he did and only got second is a testament to the quality of play here.
Dec-11-12  torreAC: Whats up next?
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