Three-Way Tie In London After 7 Rounds
An amazing round seven in the London Chess Classic saw the lead change hands in spectacular fashion!
It was the turn of leader Hikaru Nakamura to sit out the round, but little could he have known that he would be caught and passed by not one, not two, but THREE rivals!
Luke McShane completed a clean sweep over his English compatriots by beating Nigel Short's King's Gambit. All three of McShane's wins have come with the black pieces which could be a crucial advantage if tie-breaks come into play.
Vladimir Kramnik swept aside a demoralised David Howell to join McShane on 12 points. One of his wins has come with the black pieces. Finally, to compound Nakamura's misery, Magnus Carlsen also won his game when Michael Adams blundered. All of Carlsen's wins have come with white.
Nigel Short tried a King's Gambit, but Luke McShane had all the fun
Vladimir Kramnik stayed in contention with a win against David Howell
Magnus Carlsen took full advantage of a slip from Mickey Adams
Lev Aronian's game with Vishy Anand failed to spark into life
The standings after seven rounds:
| Name | Elo | Played | Score |
| Luke McShane | 2671 | 6 | 12 |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 2800 | 6 | 12 |
| Magnus Carlsen | 2826 | 6 | 12 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 2758 | 6 | 11 |
| Vishy Anand | 2811 | 6 | 7 |
| Lev Aronian | 2802 | 6 | 7 |
| Nigel Short | 2698 | 6 | 4 |
| Michael Adams | 2734 | 7 | 3 |
| David Howell | 2633 | 7 | 3 |
The pairings for round eight on Sunday:
| Vishy Anand |
v | Magnus Carlsen |
| David Howell | v | Levon Aronian |
| Luke McShane |
v | Vladimir Kramnik |
| Hikaru Nakamura |
v | Nigel Short |
The pairings for the final round on Monday:
| Luke McShane |
v | Vishy Anand |
| Hikaru Nakamura |
v | Michael Adams |
| Nigel Short |
v | Magnus Carlsen |
| Vladimir Kramnik |
v | Levon Aronian |
Michael Adams will have a bye in round 8, and David Howell will have a bye in the final round.
Sunday's games start at 14:00 local time (UTC). The final round starts 2 hours earlier at 12:00.
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.
