News
London Chess Classic Round 2

London Chess Classic Round 2

SonofPearl
| 52 | Chess Event Coverage

London Chess Classic 2012 logo.jpgRound two of the London Chess Classic pitted world #1 Magnus Carlsen against #2 Lev Aronian, and a dramatic 6-hour game ended in victory for the Norwegian.

So Aronian has made the worst possible start with 2 losses, while in contrast Carlsen has won his first 2 games and now has a gravity-defying live rating of 2855 Elo!

Despite lasting 6 hours, the Carlsen v Aronian clash was the first game to finish in another day of intense action!

Next to finish was the game between Judit Polgar and Gawain Jones.  For a long time it seemed that Judit had winning chances, but Gawain did well to escape with a draw.

in the other games Vladimir Kramnik kept pace with Magnus Carlsen by defeating Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces, and Luke McShane came within a whisker of beating the world champion Vishy Anand - the game ended in a draw after 108 moves!

Magnus Carlsen beat Lev Aronian. Caption competition, anyone?

London Chess Classic 2012 Round 2 Magnus Carlsen Lev Aronian.jpg
.
.
Gawain Jones escaped with a draw against Judit Polgar
London Chess Classic 2012 Round 2 Judit Polgar Gawain Jones.jpg
.
.
Vladimir Kramnik won with black against Hikaru Nakamura
London Chess Classic 2012 Round 2 Hikaru Nakamura Vladimir Kramnik.jpg
.
.
World champion Vishy Anand only just held on for a draw against Luke McShane
London Chess Classic 2012 Round 2 Vishy Anand Luke McShane.jpg

.

.

The standings after 2 rounds (3-1-0 scoring)

Name Fed Elo Gms Pts
Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2848 2 6
Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2795 2 6
Adams, Michael ENG 2710 1 3
Nakamura, Hikaru USA 2760 2 3
Anand, Viswanathan IND 2775 1 1
Polgar, Judit HUN 2705 2 1
McShane, Luke ENG 2713 2 1
Jones, Gawain C B ENG 2644 2 1
Aronian, Levon ARM 2815 2 0

.

The 2012 London Chess Classic runs from 1-10 December , with one rest day on the 5th December. Games start at 14:00 GMT, except round four (16:00), and the final round (12:00).

The time control is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for 20 moves, then 30 minutes to finish.  The 'Bilbao' style 3-1-0 scoring system is being used.

In the event of tied scores at the end of the competition, tie breaks are 1) # of wins 2) # of wins with black, 3) head-to-head result. If these mathematical tiebreakers are not enough, then there will be rapid tie-break games and if needed, a final sudden death game.

More information on all the London Chess Classic events is at the official website, including live games and video commentary.

Photos by Ray Morris-Hill.  Games via TWIC.

2012 London Chess Classic pairings shrink to fit.jpg
More from SonofPearl
Chess.com News Is Changing...

Chess.com News Is Changing...

Beijing To Host 5th 2012/13 Grand Prix

Beijing To Host 5th 2012/13 Grand Prix