Kramnik conquers London as Anand finishes fifth

CHENNAI: Magnus Carlsen of Norway was the hot favourite on form to win the London Classic Chess after seven rounds; Luke McShane of England had the best tiebreak; but it was the third joint leader Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, who provided the star turn towards the end of the tournament. The Russian took a cautious draw against Levon Aronian of Armenia in the last round on Monday and logged 16 points to finish clear first.

Hikaru Nakamura of US bounced back in the last round to rout tailender Michael Adams of England in the ninth and last round to collect 15 points for second place while Magnus Carlsen could churn out only a draw after 77 moves against Nigel Short of England and had to be content with the third place. Luke McShane of England (13 points) came fourth with a short draw against Viswanathan Anand, who finished fifth ahead of Levon Aronian on tiebreak.

On Sunday, Kramnik defeated Luke McShane in a long struggle and surged into sole lead with 15 points, two points clear of Carlsen in second place and three ahead of Hikaru Nakamura of US and Luke McShane. Anand and Carlsen drew after 33 moves in the penultimate round in a Queen’s Gambit declined. The text was followed in the first 17 moves and soon the position came down to a rook and knight ending. “Not your most exciting game ever,” said a commentator to the players. “It had its moments,” replied Anand.

Kramnik was the only one to win in the penultimate round. The Russian completed the English rout when he beat McShane. Twelve points against English GMs from seven games with three draws show how good Kramnik has been in converting opportunities.

David Howell completed his quota of eight games with a draw with Levon Aronian after a long struggle. Aronian tried Pirc defence and could not make any headway after 54 moves though he was a pawn up in a rook and minor piece ending.

Nakamura and Short met in English Opening. The pawns formed a solid line of defence across the board so that there was no breakthrough for either player. The position did not change much after 90 moves when the game was finally drawn.

In the FIDE open that was played alongside the Clasic, India enjoyed a good last round as top seed GM Abhijeet Gupta finished first with eight points from nine rounds. IM Sahaj Grover came second with 7.5 points while Arghyadip Das was joint third with seven points.

Classic final placings:

1. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 16,
2. Hikaru Nakamura (US) 15,
3. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) 14,
4. Luke McShane (England) 13,
5. Vishy Anand (Ind) 9,
6. Levon Aronian (Armenia) 9,
7. Nigel Short (England) 6,
8. David Howell (England) 4,
9. Michael Adams (England) 3

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar