3rd London Chess Classic 2011 (Preview)
2800 club comes to London
IM Malcolm Pein - Wednesday 16th November 2011
Malcolm Pein looks forward to the London Chess Classic which he directs where four players rated over 2800 are competing.
World Champion Viswanathan Anand comes to London. Photo © | http://www.russiachess.org
The '2800 Club' are coming to London for the 3rd London Chess Classic in what will be a historic tournament. For the first time, there are four players rated over 2800 on the FIDE rating list and Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik will all play in London.
The tournament runs from December 3-12 at the Olympia Conference Centre in Kensington and will be a nine player, nine round all play all.
The line up has an average rating of, 2748, a UK record.
Magnus Carlsen Norway 2826
Vishy Anand India 2811
Levon Aronian Armenia 2802
Vladimir Kramnik Russia 2800
Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758
Michael Adams England 2734
Nigel Short England 2698
Luke McShane England 2671
David Howell England 2633
Tickets are available from www.londonchessclassic.com Ticket holders gain access to the auditorium and the commentary room where each day, one of the players will be contributing as the tournament format gives each player one free day. The commentary line up is IM Lawrence Trent, GM Stephen Gordon, GM Danny King, GM Chris Ward and GM Stuart Conquest. I plan to have the commentary aired via telegraph.co.uk/chess
The event is organised by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities and admission is free to all under 16s accompanied by an adult. There are also five days of schools coaching which is free of charge to all participants. On Saturday 10thDecember, CSC will stage the 2ndICC English Junior Rapidplay for all children of school age.
Today's puzzle is another fine finish from Gawain Jones who played all nine rounds for England at the European Team Championships, scoring 6/9 for a 2700 plus performance.
G Jones - M Agopov
Sicilian Rossolimo
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.h3 0-0 8.c3 f6 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nf7 11.Qc2 Qb6 12.Nc3 d6 13.b3 Ng5 14.Nxg5 fxg5 15.Na4 Qa6
(Perhaps 15...Qxd4 because if 16.Bb2 Qb4 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qxc6 Bb7 19.Qc7 Rxf2! 20.Kxf2 Qd4+ 21.Kg3 Qe5+ forces perpetual)
16.Bb2 Rf7 17.d5 Bxb2 18.Nxb2! Bb7 19.Qd2 Raf8 20.f3 Qb5 21.Rad1 cxd5 22.exd5 Rc8!?
(22...h6 23.Nc4 coming to e3 gives White the edge)
23.Qxg5 Rc2 24.Nc4 Qc5+ 25.Ne3 e5 26.Kh1
Black has left his king undefended
26...Rc3 27.Ng4 Kg7
M Agopov
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Gawain Jones
White to play and win
28.Rxe5! dxe5 29.Qxe5+ Kf8 30.Re1 1-0
Qh8 mate is the threat and 30...Rg7 allows 31.Qe8 mate. If 30...Kg8 31.Nh6 mate.
