London Chess Classic 2011
The 2011 London Chess Classic will take place from 3-12 December at the Olympia Conference Centre, London.
This relatively new addition to the chess calendar has already established itself as a firm favourite with fans and players alike.
This year sees the innovation of an odd number of participants in the Chess Classic, with one player each round receiving a bye and helping out in the commentary room!
The excellent line-up includes the top four ranked players in the world, the American talent Hikaru Nakamura, and four top English players.
| Name | Nat | Elo | Rank |
| Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1 |
| Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 2 |
| Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 3 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 4 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 10 |
| Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 17 |
| Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 48 |
| Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 74 |
| David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 139 |
The excellent official website will be providing live commentary on all the action.
The total prize fund is €160,000 (before tax), with the winner receiving €50,000. If there are any ties in the final scores, they will be broken for ranking purposes only (prize money will be shared) in this order:
- Number of games won
- Number of games won with black
- Result of direct encounter
- Armageddon game (first place tie only)
The "Sofia" anti-draw rules are in operation, and the 3-1-0 scoring system.
The time control is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, and then 15 minutes to a finish with a 30 second increment.
As usual, the main tournament will be the icing on the cake with many other tournaments and special events taking place. There will be a FIDE Open, a women's invitational, and many weekend, rapidplay and blitz competitions.
Viktor Korchnoi will be giving two simultaneous displays, Garry Kasparov will be signing copies of his latest book, and there will be a screening of the acclaimed film "Bobby Fischer Against The World".
London Classic vs. The World @londonclassic
The highest level game of chess ever played on Twitter will launch the 3rd London Chess Classic at Olympia.
The game will begin at 14.45 UK time 09.45 EST on Friday 2 December at the conclusion of the opening press conference which is being streamed LIVE.
All Twitter users will be challenged to a game against the nine grandmasters competing in the strongest tournament ever staged in the UK. The London Chess Classic line-up includes the world’s top four players; world champion Vishy Anand, world number one Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian ranked three, and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik. Prolific chess 'tweeter' Hikaru Nakamura will be making some moves, as will the four English GMs in the field; Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell.
The game can be followed on @londonclassic and moves should be sent with #lccvworld.
The live board will be viewable at www.londonchessclassic.com/live.lccvworld.htm or http://tinyurl.com/dyqjlww.
