LCC R4: Wins for Nakamura, Short and McShane, who now leads with Carlsen

Luke McShane and Magnus Carlsen are sharing the lead after four rounds at the London Chess Classic. McShane, who beat his compatriot David Howell with Black on Tuesday, even has the tiebreak advantage. Carlsen drew with Vladimir Kramnik. Vishy Anand finished his long streak of draws with a loss against Hikaru Nakamura while Nigel Short got his first three points thanks to a win against Mickey Adams. In this round Levon Aronian had his rest day. There's no round on Wednesday.

Carlsen and McShane lead with five rounds to go | Photos © John Saunders, all other photos in this report © Ray Morris-Hill for the official website

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The fourth round of the London Chess Classic started about 16.15 local time, or 17.15 CET. It was scheduled for two hours later than normal because of a Chess in Schools and Communities junior tournament, which was delayed a bit at the end.

However, for the spectators, and especially those in the USA, it was worth the waiting as they would witness another great round.

Let's start with what the organizers dubbed as the first US player to beat a reigning world champion for 19 years. They probably referred to a tweet by Mig Greengard, who thinks the last time was Kamsky over Kasparov at Dortmund 1992. Hikaru Nakamura beat Vishy Anand in a King's Indian that could easily have swung the other way.

[Event "3rd London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2011.12.03"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. b4 Ne8 ({Nakamura seems to have a clear preference over} 9... Nh5 {
which is the main line.}) 10. c5 f5 11. Nd2 Nf6 12. a4 ({It's interesting to
compare the current game with these examples:} 12. f3 {(the main line
according to Nakamura)} f4 13. Nc4 g5 14. a4 Ng6 15. Ba3 Rf7 16. b5 (16. a5 h5
17. b5 dxc5 18. b6 g4 19. bxc7 Rxc7 20. Nb5 g3 {Beliavsky,A (2662)-Nakamura,H
(2710)/Amsterdam 2009}) 16... dxc5 17. Bxc5 h5 18. a5 g4 19. b6 g3 20. Kh1 Bf8
21. d6 $146 axb6 22. Bg1 Nh4 $5 {Gelfand,B (2761)-Nakamura,H (2708)/Bursa 2010}
) 12... g5 (12... f4 13. Nc4 g5 14. Ba3 g4 15. cxd6 cxd6 16. b5 Ne8 17. Bxg4
Qc7 18. Be2 f3 19. b6 axb6 20. Nb5 fxe2 21. Qxe2 Qd8 {Kramnik,V (2780)
-Nakamura,H (2733)/Khanty Mansiysk 2010}) 13. Nc4 $146 (13. a5 f4 14. g4 h5 15.
h3 Rf7 16. f3 Ng6 17. Ba3 Bf8 18. Nc4 Rh7 19. Kg2 Be7 20. b5 Qf8 {Bunzmann,D
(2525)-Nataf,I (2596)/France 2007}) 13... h6 14. f3 f4 (14... Ng6 $5 {Aronian})
15. Ba3 {KID expert Dr John Nunn liked White's position here, because Black
would have to lose a tempo with ...h6-h5 sooner or later while White loses
less time with his dark-squared bishop, which often goes Be3-f2-g1 in such
positions. Nakamura later admitted that he was playing a known position a full
tempo down.} Ng6 16. b5 dxc5 17. Bxc5 Rf7 18. a5 h5 19. b6 g4 20. Nb5 cxb6 (
20... g3 21. bxc7 {and the black queen has to leave the d8-h4 diagonal.}) 21.
axb6 g3 22. Kh1 $5 {A defensive scheme invented by Korchnoi a long time ago.} (
22. Rxa7 Rb8 {was possible too but White shouldn't continue with} 23. Bd6 {
because of the typical} Nxe4 $1) 22... Bf8 ({The idea of Korchnoi's defense
goes something like} 22... Nxe4 23. fxe4 Qh4 24. Bg1 gxh2 25. Bf2 $18) 23. d6
a6 24. Nc7 Rb8 25. Na5 Kh8 ({Originally Nakamura was intending} 25... Nd7 26.
Bg1 Rf6 27. Nc4 gxh2 28. Bf2 h4 {and "I'm probably worse, but it's a position.
We're not computers." (Nakamura)}) 26. Bc4 Rg7 27. Ne6 (27. Be6 gxh2 (27... Nd7
28. Bg1 gxh2 29. Bf2 h4) 28. Nc4 h4 {"Basically it's just attack or I lose.
You just play." (Nakamura)}) 27... Bxe6 28. Bxe6 gxh2 29. Nc4 $2 {"A blunder."
(Nakamura)} (29. Bh3 $5) 29... Qe8 $1 {A very uncommon theme - suddenly Be6 is
hanging and Qe8-b5 threatened.} 30. Bd5 (30. Bf5 Qb5 {(Nakamura)}) 30... h4 {
"Everything just collapses. The pawn on d6 looks very strong but it isn't
going anywhere." (Nakamura)} 31. Rf2 h3 32. gxh3 Rc8 {Nakamura called this a
"very important move"} ({as after} 32... Nh5 {"White can play} 33. Rd2 {and I
didn't see a way to break through." Houdini quickly finds another double
attack:} Ng3+ $1 34. Kxh2 Qc8 $1 $19) 33. Ra5 Nh4 34. Kxh2 Nd7 35. Bb4 Rg3 36.
Qf1 Qh5 37. Ra3 a5 ({Nakamura showed} 37... Nxb6 38. Be6 Rxc4 39. Bxc4 Nxc4 40.
d7 {which is good for White, e.g.} Bxb4 ({an amazing Houdini line goes} 40...
Qg5 41. Bxf8 Ne3 42. Rxe3 fxe3 43. Bh6 $1 Qxh6 44. d8=Q+ Rg8 45. Qxg8+ Kxg8 46.
Qc4+ Kh7 47. Qf7+ Kh8) 41. d8=Q+ Kh7 42. Rd3 Ne3 43. Rd7+ Kg6 {and now Houdini
points out the accurate} 44. Qe8+ $1 {and wins.}) 38. Be1 (38. Bxa5 Bxd6 {with
the idea} 39. Nxd6 Rc1 $1 {(Nakamura)}) 38... Rxc4 $1 39. Bxc4 Bxd6 40. Rxa5 $2
{It's possible that only after this White is losing.} ({Houdini wants to go}
40. Rd3 Bc5 41. Be6 Nf6 42. Rc2 Rg1 {and says... 0.00!}) 40... Bc5 41. Be2 (41.
Rxc5 Nxc5 42. Be2 Ne6 {(Nakamura)}) 41... Bxb6 42. Rb5 Bd4 (42... Bxf2 43. Bxf2
Nxf3+ 44. Bxf3 Qxf3 {wouldn't have allowed 43.Rd5 but it's not clear whether
that can save White.}) 43. Bd1 (43. Rd5 $5) 43... Bxf2 44. Bxf2 Nxf3+ 45. Bxf3
Qxf3 46. Rb1 Rg6 47. Rxb7 Nf6 48. Rb8+ Kh7 49. Rb7+ Kh6 {Now e4 just falls.}
0-1

It's really live or die, and nothing in between, in Nakamura's KIDs! He explained his opening choice like this:

I didn't like the way I lost yesterday. I figured that if I lose at least I should give myself some chances. Vishy has only been playing 1.d4 for the last couple of years and he has very little experience with the King's Indian. I thought he wouldn't understand the structures as well as I did.

To the question whether this was his biggest single win, Nakamura answered

Probably overall it is. I had some better quality wins but certainly beating the World Champion... the first time you do that is something special.

Later that night he tweeted:

Live by the sword and die by the sword. Sometimes I wonder just how many of these games I can play in the KID before I die of a heart attack

Magnus Carlsen got some chances in an ending with opposite-coloured bishops and rooks against Vladimir Kramnik. The Russian wasn't happy at all with how he got out of the opening - the same in which he once beat Garry Kasparov in a blitz game.

[Event "3rd London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Kramnik, V."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E21"]
[WhiteElo "2826"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2011.12.03"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8.
cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Bxd5 exd5 11. Be3 Bxc3+ 12. Qxc3 Qa6 (12... Qg6 13.
O-O Nc6 14. Rfc1 Bh3 15. Qc2 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Qe6 17. f3 Rfe8 18. Kf2 Qh6 19. Qd3
Re7 20. Rc2 Rae8 21. Re1 Qh5 22. Kg1 Bf5 {0-1 Kasparov,G (2815)-Kramnik,V
(2780)/Moscow (blitz) 1998}) 13. Qd3 $146 (13. Rc1 Nc6 14. O-O Bh3 15. Nxc6
bxc6 16. Rfe1 Qxa2 17. Ra1 Qc4 18. Qxc4 dxc4 19. Bxa7 h5 {Kornev,A (2523)
-Kiriakov,P (2553)/Novokuznetsk 2008}) 13... Qxd3 {After the game Kramnik
wasn't sure about this - he didn't like the position he got in the game.} 14.
exd3 Bd7 15. Kd2 Nc6 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Bd4 Rfe8 (17... h5 {avoids the
immediate g3-g4 but White can even play for an attack with} 18. Rhg1 ({or} 18.
h3 {(Kramnik)})) 18. g4 {"Once I get this in it's pretty pleasant for White."
(Carlsen)} Re6 ({Kramnik didn't like} 18... h6 19. f4 Re7 20. Raf1 Rae8 21. Rf2
{"followed by Rg1 and start pushing pawns".}) 19. Rae1 Bd7 20. Rxe6 Bxe6 21. g5
a6 22. h4 Re8 ({At first Kramnik was planning} 22... Rc8 23. h5 Kf8 24. h6 g6 {
but here White always has the threat of walking his king to g7.}) 23. h5 (23.
f3 Bf5 24. h5 Re6 25. Rh4 $1 (25. Rc1 Rc6) 25... h6 26. Rf4 Bh7) 23... Bg4 24.
h6 gxh6 25. gxh6 $6 ({Both players agreed that White should have played} 25.
Rxh6 Re6 26. Rh4 Bf5 {and "I will suffer for a very long time here" (Kramnik).}
) 25... Re6 26. Be3 Kf8 27. Kc3 Rg6 28. Kd4 Bd7 29. Re1 Bc6 30. Kc5 Ke8 31. f4
$5 Bd7 ({Practically speaking} 31... Rxh6 32. f5 Rh5 33. Kd6 Kf8 (33... Rxf5 $2
34. Bg5+ Kf8 35. Bh6+ Kg8 36. Rg1+ Kh8 37. Bg7+ Kg8 38. Bf6+ Kf8 39. Be7+ Ke8
40. Rg8#) 34. Rg1 {cannot be recommended for Black although Houdini doesn't
see it after} d4 $1) 32. Bd4+ Re6 33. Rxe6+ Bxe6 (33... fxe6 34. Kd6 Bb5 35.
Kxe6 Bxd3 36. f5 Kf8 37. a4 {is difficult to play for Black, who would rather
do without his pawn on d5 here. (Kramnik)}) 34. Kb6 Bf5 35. Kxb7 Bxd3 36. Kc6
Ke7 37. Kxd5 Bb1 38. a3 Ba2+ 39. Ke4 Bb3 40. Kf5 Be6+ 41. Ke5 f6+ 42. Ke4 Bb3
43. Bc5+ Ke6 44. Kd4 a5 45. a4 Bxa4 46. Bb6 Kf5 47. Bxa5 Kxf4 48. Bd2+ Kg4 49.
b4 f5 50. Ke5 Bb5 ({Kramnik showed the spectators that} 50... f4 {was in fact
also possible, because} 51. Bxf4 Kh5 52. Kd6 Kg6 53. Kc5 Kf7 54. b5 Bxb5 55.
Kxb5 Kg8 {is a theoretical draw. Carlsen added that if the bishop had been a
knight, it would have been a draw too, as in another recent game between him
and Kramnik!}) 51. Bf4 Bd3 52. Be3 Bb5 53. Bf4 Bd3 54. Be3 Bb5 55. Bf4 1/2-1/2

Magnus Carlsen had to be satisfied with a draw against Vladimir Kramnik

This allowed Luke McShane to catch Carlsen in the standings.

With Black he beat David Howell, who suffered a case of chess blindness - in timetrouble he went for a tactical sequence that looked brilliant, until it turned out to be... incorrect.

[Event "3rd London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Howell, D."]
[Black "McShane, L."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2633"]
[BlackElo "2671"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2011.12.03"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bb4+ {This line was often played by the
late Tony Miles.} 5. c3 Bc5 {Now the best square for White's queen's knight is
taken by the pawn.} 6. Nxc6 (6. Be3 Bb6 7. Qg4 {is another known line and now}
Qf6 ({or} 7... g6)) 6... bxc6 7. Bd3 d6 8. O-O Ne7 9. Nd2 O-O 10. b4 Bb6 11. a4
a5 12. Nc4 axb4 $146 (12... Be6 13. Nxb6 cxb6 14. Qc2 Qc7 15. Rd1 Rad8 16. Rb1
h6 17. Bf4 Ng6 18. Be3 axb4 19. cxb4 Ne5 20. Be2 {Kotronias,V (2591)
-Mastrovasilis,A (2556)/Vrahati 2010}) 13. Nxb6 cxb6 14. cxb4 c5 15. Bb2 {"I
think that David played really well." (Aronian)} Be6 (15... Nc6 $6 16. b5 Nb4 (
16... Ne5 17. Be2) 17. Bc4 Be6 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Bc3) 16. Re1 ({Aronian
expected} 16. f4 f6 {and now e.g.} 17. Qh5 $5 Qe8 {and perhaps White should
just go for} 18. Qxe8 (18. Qh4 Rxa4 19. e5 Nf5 20. Bxf5 Bxf5 21. exf6 Qe3+ 22.
Kh1 Rxa1 23. Rxa1 gxf6) 18... Rfxe8 19. a5 $5) ({Howell said that after} 16. f4
f5 {he couldn't really find anything for White and he feared fxe4 followed by
d6-d5-d4 ideas.}) 16... f6 17. Qd2 Nc6 18. Bc3 Qc7 19. b5 {"Quite an important
moment; this is quite an ambitious move." (McShane)} Na5 20. Bc2 Rfd8 (20...
Nb3 21. Bxb3 Bxb3 22. a5) 21. Rab1 Kh8 22. Qf4 Ba2 23. Rb2 Bg8 24. Rbb1 {"The
knight on a5 looks like it's doing nothing but it threatens to run to e5
winning some tempi, or to b3 combined with ...c4 and the a4 pawn starts to
become loose." (McShane)} Qf7 25. h3 h6 26. Re3 Bh7 {"One of the ideas here is
to threaten d6-d5 in some positions.| (McShane)} 27. Rd1 Qe7 (27... d5 {
doesn't work here because of} 28. Bxa5 Rxa5 (28... bxa5 29. Rc3) 29. Bb3) 28.
Bxa5 $6 {"This is the start of a mistaken path. Anything would have been
better." (Howell)} Rxa5 29. Red3 $2 {"A horrible move." (Howell)} Qxe4 30. Rxd6
$2 {Part of a tactical sequence that's just incorrect.} Qxf4 31. Rxd8+ Bg8 32.
Bg6 Qc4 $1 $19 {The only move, but completely missed by Howell when he played
his 29th move. Both players were down to about a minute on the clock.} ({He
had expected} 32... Qc7 33. R1d7 Qxd7 34. Rxd7) 33. g3 Rxa4 34. Re1 f5 35. Re7
f4 36. gxf4 Qxf4 37. Bf7 Qg5+ 0-1

During the commentary Levon Aronian said about McShane:

Luke is very gifted positionally, and works really well during the game.

Nigel Short scored his first win in three London Chess Classics against Mickey Adams, thereby also avenging his British Championship tie-break defeat.

[Event "3rd London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Adams, Mi"]
[Black "Short, N."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2734"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[Annotator "ChessVibes"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[EventDate "2011.12.03"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 h6 $5 {"It avoids theory, and it puts pressure on
White. If you don't win the game, you're going to be ridiculed." :-) (Aronian)
Viktor Korchnoi's comment in the VIP room was: "Switch the game."} 4. Bd3 (4.
Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. c4 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O c5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bb1 Re8 11.
Qc2 Nf8 {Svidler,P (2739)-Nguyen,N (2637)/Khanty Mansiysk 2011}) 4... c5 5.
dxc5 Bxc5 6. Ngf3 ({Levon Aronian, Danny King and Lawrence Trent looked at
stuff like} 6. Qg4 Nf6 7. Qxg7 Rg8 8. Qxh6 Bxf2+ 9. Kf1 Nc6) 6... Nc6 7. O-O {
"This is why Adams is such a strong player. He's not trying to refute moves."
(Aronian)} Nge7 8. Qe2 $146 (8. c3 a5 9. Qe2 a4 10. Rb1 O-O 11. b4 axb3 12.
axb3 Ng6 13. Bc2 Nf4 14. Qe1 Qc7 15. b4 Be7 16. Nb3 Ra2 17. Nbd4 {Maslak,K
(2560)-Volkov,S (2597)/Irkutsk 2010}) 8... O-O 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. c3 dxe4 ({The
commentators went} 10... Ng6 11. Rd1 Qf6 {and now Aronian came up with} 12. Bc2
Rd8 {(neither player wants to release the e4-d5 tension)} 13. Qe1 Nge5 (13...
Nf4 14. e5 Nh3+ 15. Kf1) 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Nd4) 11. Qxe4 (11. Bxe4 {was "the
most natural" (Aronian).}) 11... Ng6 12. Bc4 ({Aronian expected} 12. Rd1 {e.g.}
Qe7 13. Bc2 e5) 12... Kh8 $5 {Ambitiously played, intending to push forward
his e- and f-pawns.} ({Aronian pointed out that} 12... Kh7 13. Re1 f5 14. Qe2
e5 {fails to} 15. Ng5+) 13. Qc2 Nce5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Be2 Qh4 16. g3 Qh3 {
Black can be satisfied with what he reached with his slightly extravagant
third move.} 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Ng4 19. Bxg4 Qxg4 20. Rad1 f6 21. Nd4 e5 22.
Nf5 (22. Nb5 $5) 22... Be6 23. e4 Rfd8 24. Ne3 Qg6 25. Kg2 b5 26. b3 a5 27. c4
bxc4 28. bxc4 Qh5 29. h4 Bd7 30. Rf2 Bc6 31. Nd5 Rab8 32. Qe2 Qg6 33. Qf3 Rd7
34. Kh2 Rdb7 35. Rdd2 a4 36. Qe3 Bd7 37. Qf3 Bg4 38. Qe3 Be6 39. Qf3 Rb1 40.
Ne3 Rc1 41. Rd6 Qf7 42. Rfd2 Rbb1 43. g4 $6 Kh7 44. h5 {This plan is easily
refuted.} Rc3 45. Kg2 Rxe3 $1 {Of course. White will lose both his pawns on
the kingside.} 46. Qxe3 Bxg4 47. Rb6 Ra1 48. Qc3 Re1 49. Rf2 Rxe4 50. c5 Bxh5 (
50... Qxh5 {looks even stronger.}) 51. Rb4 Bg6 52. Kh2 Qe6 53. Rg2 Bf5 54. Rb7
Bg4 55. Rf2 $6 ({More tenacious was} 55. c6 $1 f5 (55... Rc4 56. Qd3+ f5 57.
Re7 $1) 56. c7 Rc4 57. Rb6 $1) 55... f5 {From this point White lacks real
counterplay.} 56. Rb4 Rxb4 57. Qxb4 e4 58. Qd4 e3 59. Rf1 Qxa2+ 60. Kg3 Qe2 61.
Qf4 Qd2 62. Qe5 e2 63. Rg1 h5 64. c6 f4+ 65. Kh4 Qd8+ 66. Qg5 Qxg5+ 67. Kxg5 f3
68. c7 f2 69. Rxg4 f1=Q 70. c8=Q Qf6+ 71. Kxh5 Qh6# 0-1

Nigel Short washes away that nasty zero on the leaderboard with 3...h6 in a French...

...a move that prompted the legendary Viktor Korchnoi, here with Julian Hodgson in the VIP room, to say: "Switch the game!"

On Wednesday the players don't have a round. There is chess in Olympia, though, as the FIDE Open and the Women's International reach their fifth round. Besides, there's a Chessbase workshop, a Bobby Fischer Against the World screening and an astronomy lecture by Vishy Anand (!) and John Nunn.

Round 4 standings

Round 4 standings (classical)

London Chess Classic 2011 | Schedule & results