London Classic Round Six
After some pulsating chess and lots of decisive results so far, round six was a relatively quiet affair.
Hikaru Nakamura celebrated his 24th birthday today, but he was unable to mark the occasion with a win. In a critical battle with Luke McShane a draw was the final result.
As fate would have it, all of the other games also ended inconclusively so Hikaru Nakamura still leads with three rounds remaining.
It is Hikaru Nakamura's turn next to take his bye, so the other players will be hoping to make ground as the tournament heads towards its finale.
The standings after round six:
| Name | Elo | Played | Score |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 2758 | 6 | 11 |
| Magnus Carlsen | 2826 | 5 | 9 |
| Luke McShane | 2671 | 5 | 9 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 2800 | 5 | 9 |
| Lev Aronian | 2802 | 5 | 6 |
| Vishy Anand | 2811 | 5 | 6 |
| Nigel Short | 2698 | 5 | 4 |
| Michael Adams | 2734 | 6 | 3 |
| David Howell | 2633 | 6 | 3 |
The pairings for round seven on Saturday:
| Nigel Short |
v | Luke McShane |
| Vladimir Kramnik | v | David Howell |
| Levon Aronian |
v | Vishy Anand |
| Magnus Carlsen |
v | Michael Adams |
Hikaru Nakamura will have a bye. Games start at 14:00 local time (UTC).
The excellent official website has 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
- Rapid tie-breaks and 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.
All photos courtesy of Ray-Morris Hill at the official website.
