And I welcome you again to another episode of reports from Round 3 of the London Chess Classic. There is one huge game going on today as Anand and Carlsen lock up in a big clash of titans. But the first game today that is being posted is not theirs.

   Hikaru Nakamura, in his first game as White during this event, faces off against David Howell, in the Fianchetto Grunfeld.  Naka had control in time but not material, as he was down at one point in the game a Bishop, Knight, Rook, and two pawns.  After 25.Rxe5, black was down his Queen and you would've thought it was over at that point. Later on, Howell was under severe time pressure before the 2nd stage of time control but held on nicely for a well deserved Draw. At the time of the draw, after 42.Qc7, Naka had 1 hour and 12 minutes on his clock compared to Howell's 9 seconds!!!

   Here is the game:

   The next game that just finished is Short(W) vs. Adams(B), which went to 50 moves and the second time stage.  After 50.Qxg5 hxg5, both players agreed on the draw. Short was up 10 minutes at 42' - 52', and the Hotness meter read a limp one.

   Here is the game everyone:

   Would you expect anything less than an epic game from Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen? Well that is the wonderful treat that we got today. A 77 move grueling, headache filled marathon of a game that started at about 9:15 AM and just ended a minute or two ago at 2:59 PM! Just an amazing game with Anand coming out on top after a resignation by Magnus after 77.Rc2, after a Breyer Variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez. In the post game interview, Magnus looked worn out while Anand took control of the analysis computer and began firing away his moves and his plans. Mags cracked a smile or two but he was drained. What a game!!

   Here is that awesome game:

   This day's round ended in a totally agonizing, immensely long game as Luke McShane(W) duked it out with former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik(B). After 139 absolutely long moves, this game has finally come to an end.

   -Mark

Great Result for David. Talk about cutting it fine! :)

  Ok everyone, the games are all done and now here are the pairings and time schedule for Round 4 tomorrow. 

Round 4 Starts at 9 AM - 2 PM

In the Nakamura game, Howell only had 9 seconds left and Nakamura had over an hour - why do you suppose Nakamura agree to a draw rather than try to flag Howell?    Does having an increment on the time control just make it impossible at this level of play?