London Chess Classic

Very strong tournament.
Great win for Luke McShane over Angus McArlsen today;
Kramnik beat Short
Adams destroyed Howell
Nakamura escaped with a draw vs Anand

http://www.londonchessclassic.com/live/classic_dgt.htm

Naka's draw was the highlight of the round for me.

All the kibitzers were letting their silicon monsters spin away, and declaring that Anand definitely was, or definitely wasn't, going to win.

In the end, it was Sergey Shipov's level-headed analysis that had the right of it: http://www.chessintranslation.com/live-game/


Of course, I was glad to see Carlsen get toppled by an old geezer like McShane.

And I appreciate how Mickey Adams skirted around the Berlin Wall so effectively.

Didn't pay much attention to Short-Kramnik.


Edit: Here's a nested PGN of Vishy-Naka:

Luke's win v Angus is excellent.
Smashing psuedo Knight sacs.

I've found that it's really hard to take into account your opponents defensive resources when he's attacking you. 9 times out of time when I miss a move when I'm calculating it's pulling a heavy piece back to defend.

Yep, Luke played brilliantly there. Angus never knew what hit him - several times

Daniel King was toying with the idea of Anand getting the king up the h file and round the back to beat Naka, not sure if it would have worked.

Originally posted by Thabtos
I've found that it's really hard to take into account your opponents defensive resources when he's attacking you. 9 times out of time when I miss a move when I'm calculating it's pulling a heavy piece back to defend.

Must an Englishman playing a tournament in England play the English Opening? If so, seems to me his opponent should prepare for this.

Go Nakamura!!

Originally posted by ParShooter
Must an Englishman playing a tournament in England play the English Opening? If so, seems to me his opponent should prepare for this.

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Yes this should be the rules.

French players must play the French Defence
Spanish players have to play the Spanish Opening
Hungarian players have to play the Hungarian.

The lads from Denmark are going to have some interesting games.

Are there any American openings? Maybe the Morphy?

Originally posted by ParShooter
Are there any American openings? Maybe the Morphy?

What happens when a resident of Catalonia plays in Sicily?

Well, Kramnik has just failed to win with B + R vs R against McShane.
Would anyone here fancy their chances. I guess many of us have looked at it from time to time, but having to play it would you remember the process? Would you be able to defend it.

Meanwhile Anand has beaten Angus, after the Norwegian blundered. Good games again today.
Nakamura had prepared almopst his whole game against Howell, except for a critical moment when he allowed Howell to set up a fortress and no way through with Q vs R=B