London Chess Classic Prize-Giving
The players of the 2012 London Chess Classic received their prizes at a ceremony and dinner held at the historic Simpson's-in-the-Strand, where they played simultaneous games against the invited guests!
Magnus Carlsen set the highest ever chess rating during the tournament, beating Garry Kasparov's 13-year old record.
London is set for even more chess action next year when the 2013 Candidates take place in March 2013 in the city, with the winner challenging Vishy Anand for the world title in October/November 2013.
The eight players in the 2013 London candidates tournament are:
- Boris Gelfand (loser of the 2012 World Championship)
- The top 3 in the 2011 World Cup (Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Vassily Ivanchuk)
- The top 3 rated players not otherwise qualified (Magnus Carlsen, Lev Aronian, Vladimir Kramnik)
- A wildcard nominee from the original hosts Azerbaijan (Teimour Radjabov)
So this is not so much goodbye to London, more like "au revoir"!
Before then Magnus Carlsen, Lev Aronian, Vishy Anand and Hikaru Nakamura are among the GMs taking part in the 2013 Tata Steel tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, from 11-27 January 2013.
Many thanks to Ray Morris-Hill for the great photos below, and throughout the tournament!
Magnus Carlsen received €50,000 for first place
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Judit Polgar
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Lev Aronian, Luke McShane and Gawain Jones
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Vishy Anand with his wife Aruna
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The opulent surroundings of Simpson's-in-the-Strand
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Lev Aronian during the simultaneous display against the guests
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Gawain Jones
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Mickey Adams
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Magnus Carlsen
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Hikaru Nakamura
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