London Chess Classic

RQ_ennis_chess

Anyone watching the London Chess Classic thats on across the water at the moment? The super rapidplay was on this weekend and the top boards were broadcast live. Some really interesting games especially considering the speed they are playing at.

L1m1tless

No surprise that Naka won it. What was the time control?

RQ_ennis_chess

25 minutes per game plus 10 second increment per move as far as I know. Yeah Nakamura scored 9.5 from 10 but did you see his game in round 4 against the young IM James Adair? Nakamura was black 1e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.h4 and now Naka made a strange blunder for a super GM 8....Nd7?? and found himself just a piece for a pawn down 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.h5 Bxc2 11.Qxc2 , some players might just resign here. Naka played on and actually won

Valmont

I saw IM James Adair play many games in York where I spent the last few years - he is the best player in Yorkshire and I'm pretty sure not too far off getting all of his GM norms.

RQ_ennis_chess

The Biz Pro Cup which finished earlier today was won by Giri and Vujatovic. I thought Mortazavi and Adams would do it but they were knocked out in the first round! Would be nice to see some real celebrities taking part, apart from Clive Woodward I dont think any non chessplayers would recognise the other business persons taking part though some are quite strong chessplayers.

Valmont

It was a great game between Adams and Caruana yesterday - very back and forth but Adams mopped the floor with him by the end. The commentators on chess24 are actually quite entertaining, especially Nigel Short. I'll be watching again later on.

RQ_ennis_chess

Caruana doesnt seem to be playing as well as he was a couple of months ago. He struggled in the blitz. I have a feeling Kramnik will win the Super Six.

Valmont

Kramnik and Giri seem most in form now. I enjoyed watching Nakamura's Evans gambit against Anand yesterday even though it ended in a draw. Nigel Short is a great commentator; he's not afraid to say what he thinks and I enjoy his off-colour jokes. Poor old David Howell has the presenting charisma of plank, though!

Valmont

So Vishy Anand has answered those people who thought he might retire after failing to beat Carlsen! I'm not sure it was a wise choice by Adams to give Anand the chance to play the Berlin given the extensive practice run he had with the opening against Carlsen only a few weeks ago. All in all an enjoyable tournament but as usual I would have hoped for a few more decisive games.

RQ_ennis_chess

Maybe a bit surprising but Adams seems to invariably play 1.e4. Thought it was a great tournament, surprised more Irish players dont travel over to play or spectate as its only a short hop away. Nice win for Gawain Jones in his match against Edouard!

Valmont

Another bit of intrigue is the fact that Adams was one of Carlsen's seconds for his championship match with Anand.