High Excitement In London

The first round of the London Chess Classic lived up to expectations, with all games producing high drama in very different ways.

The biggest upset was the surprise victory by Luke McShane against Magnus Carlsen.  McShane took advantage of an uncharacteristic slip from the Norwegian to bring home the full point in fine style.

Luke wins against Magnus.  The force is strong with this one...

Nigel Short fared less well with the white pieces against Vladimir Kramnik.  Short deliberately avoided heavy opening theory, but soon found himself with an inferior position.  Kramnik didn't need to be asked twice, and crashed through the centre with his pawns to take victory.

The highest rated of the English players, Michael Adams, had a very nice win against the lowest rated, David Howell.  A fluent attack ended the game, and Howell was generous enough to let him complete the final checkmate in mid-board.

Hey Mickey! You're so fine! England's #1 had a winning start in round one

For a long time it looked for all the world that all the first round games would end decisively.  World Champion Vishy Anand had squeezed Hikaru Nakamura until none of the commentators gave the American any chance of saving the game.  Yet somehow, against the odds, Nakamura found a way to keep the champion out and earn a vital draw with the black pieces.

Back to the wall: Nakamura hangs on to shut-out the champ

Round 2 games start 2 hours later tomorrow, at 16:00 local time (GMT) Look out for more live coverage on Chess.com, and at the excellent official site.

All pictures courtesy of Ray Morris-Hill.