70-521: The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre , West Kensington , London . The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cover a wide range of chess activities, including tournaments suitable for norm and title seekers, junior events, amateur competitions, simultaneous exhibitions , coaching, and lectures. In 2015,
140-601: A Ph.D. at a German university on "Russian foreign policy, especially its economic and business relations with Armenia on a state and individual level". She worked as a consultant for a global consultancy firm. From 2013 until her death in 2020, Caoili lived and worked in Armenia. Caoili died on 30 March 2020 of injuries from a car crash into a bridge pillar in Yerevan , Armenia . Arianne released an EP in 2018, "Hold On", consisting of five tracks, "To Find You" "Summer Days", "On
210-408: A dark square. This may be remembered by the phrases "light on the right" and "queen on her own color". In formal competition, the piece colors for every matchup are allocated to players by the organizers. In informal games, colors are decided either by mutual agreement, or randomly, for example by a coin toss, or by one player concealing a white pawn in one hand and a black pawn in the other and having
280-644: A role it assumed in 1948. The current World Champion is Ding Liren of China. The reigning Women's World Champion is Ju Wenjun from China. Other competitions for individuals include the World Junior Chess Championship , the European Individual Chess Championship , the tournaments for the World Championship qualification cycle , and the various national championships . Invitation-only tournaments regularly attract
350-511: A series of games between two players, or a team competition in which each player of one team plays one game against a player of the other team. Chess's international governing body is usually known by its French acronym FIDE (pronounced FEE-day) ( French : Fédération internationale des échecs), or International Chess Federation. FIDE's membership consists of the national chess organizations of over 180 countries; there are also several associate members, including various supra-national organizations,
420-505: A simple trap known as the Scholar's mate (see animated diagram) can be recorded: Variants of algebraic notation include long algebraic , in which both the departure and destination square are indicated; abbreviated algebraic , in which capture signs, check signs, and ranks of pawn captures may be omitted; and Figurine Algebraic Notation, used in chess publications for universal readability regardless of language. Portable Game Notation (PGN)
490-476: A wide variety of styles. The Staunton pattern is the most common, and is usually required for competition. Chess pieces are divided into two sets, usually light and dark colored, referred to as white and black , regardless of the actual color or design. The players of the sets are referred to as White and Black , respectively. Each set consists of sixteen pieces: one king , one queen , two rooks , two bishops , two knights , and eight pawns . The game
560-434: A win, one for a draw and none for a loss. "Sofia Rules" also applied, whereby the players could not agree a draw without the arbiter's permission, only to be given when there was deemed to be no purposeful play left in the position. With the added incentive of lucrative best game prizes, the intention was to maximise the potential for entertaining and decisive games. There were 17 draws and 11 decisive games. The tournament
630-399: Is a text-based file format for recording chess games, based on short form English algebraic notation with a small amount of markup . PGN files (suffix .pgn) can be processed by most chess software, as well as being easily readable by humans. Until about 1980, the majority of English language chess publications used descriptive notation , in which files are identified by the initial letter of
700-424: Is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance . It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to generically as "White" and "Black" , each control sixteen pieces : one king , one queen , two rooks , two bishops , two knights , and eight pawns . White moves first, followed by Black; then moves alternate. The object of
770-415: Is compulsory; a player may not skip a turn, even when having to move is detrimental . Each piece has its own way of moving. In the diagrams, crosses mark the squares to which the piece can move if there are no intervening piece(s) of either color (except the knight, which leaps over any intervening pieces). All pieces except the pawn can capture an enemy piece if it is on a square to which they could move if
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#1732854856681840-423: Is controlled using a chess clock that has two displays, one for each player's remaining time. Analog chess clocks have been largely replaced by digital clocks, which allow for time controls with increments . Time controls are also enforced in correspondence chess competitions. A typical time control is 50 days for every 10 moves. Historically, many different notation systems have been used to record chess moves;
910-399: Is not a permissible response to a check. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent; this occurs when the opponent's king is in check, and there is no legal way to get it out of check. It is never legal for a player to make a move that puts or leaves the player's own king in check. In casual games, it is common to announce "check" when putting the opponent's king in check, but this
980-411: Is not required by the rules of chess and is usually not done in tournaments. Once per game, each king can make a move known as castling . Castling consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook of the same color on the same rank, and then placing the rook on the square that the king crossed. Castling is permissible if the following conditions are met: Castling is still permitted if
1050-422: Is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks ) and eight columns (called files ). Although it does not affect game play, by convention the 64 squares alternate in color and are referred to as light and dark squares. Common colors for wooden chessboards are light and dark brown, while vinyl chessboards are commonly buff and green. To start the game, White's pieces are placed on
1120-484: Is recognized in FIDE-sanctioned events; game scores recorded in a different notation system may not be used as evidence in the event of a dispute. Chess is often played casually in public spaces such as parks and town squares. Contemporary chess is an organized sport with structured international and national leagues, tournaments, and congresses . Thousands of chess tournaments, matches, and festivals are held around
1190-436: Is the current World Champion. A huge body of chess theory has developed since the game's inception. Aspects of art are found in chess composition , and chess in its turn influenced Western culture and the arts , and has connections with other fields such as mathematics , computer science , and psychology . One of the goals of early computer scientists was to create a chess-playing machine . In 1997, Deep Blue became
1260-526: Is usually calculated as 1 point for each game won and one-half point for each game drawn. Variations such as "football scoring" (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw) may be used by tournament organizers, but ratings are always calculated on the basis of standard scoring. A player's score may be reported as total score out of games played (e.g. 5½/8), points for versus points against (e.g. 5½–2½), or by number of wins, losses and draws (e.g. +4−1=3). The term "match" refers not to an individual game, but to either
1330-817: The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA), International Committee of Chess for the Deaf (ICCD), and the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA). FIDE is recognized as a sports governing body by the International Olympic Committee , but chess has never been part of the Olympic Games . FIDE's most visible activity is organizing the World Chess Championship ,
1400-662: The London Chess Classic Women's Invitational tournament with a score of 8/9, two points ahead of the runner-up. In the same year, Caoili won the Oceania women's zonal tournament and as a result qualified to play in the Women's World Championship 2010 . However, she did not appear in the first round in this competition. Caoili played for the Philippines in the Women's Chess Olympiad in 1998 and 2000. She represented Australia in
1470-527: The Phillips & Drew Kings tournament held in 1984. It was held during the same time as the Chess World Cup 2009 . The field of eight grandmasters comprised the top four English players, and four international players, with top billing going to the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik , plus the future World Champion and then-current number one in the live world rankings, Magnus Carlsen . The tournament
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#17328548566811540-932: The Asian girls under 16 championship in Bagac , Philippines. The following year, she scored 5½ points out of 9 in the Conca Della Presolana tournament in Italy. Also in 2001, she was awarded the Woman FIDE Master and Woman International Master titles by FIDE . In the FIDE rating list of October 2002, Caoili achieved her peak rating of 2309. In 2002, Caoili finished 1st Equal at the Australian Masters International Tournament. In 2004 she transferred national federations to represent Australia. In 2009, she won
1610-536: The December 2016 rating list. British Knockout Championship : Nigel Short beat David Howell 3½-2½ in the final. FIDE Open : Étienne Bacrot (2689) and Sébastien Mazé (2608) shared first prize, scoring 7½/9. Super-Rapidplay : Valentina Gunina (2491) won first place and the prize of £5,000 with a score of 9/10. Gunina was ranked 33rd at the start, and clobbered a strong field of grandmasters. British Knockout Championship : Luke McShane beat David Howell in
1680-621: The FIDE Open after round 4 on 10 December. Scoring was 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. The €150,000 purse was distributed in this way: 1st – €50,000; 2nd – €25,000; 3rd–4th – €12,500; 5th–8th – €6,250; 9th–16th – €3,125. The participants of the Super 16 Rapid were banded according to their FIDE rapidplay rating, to create four pools of four players. Four preliminary groups were then constructed by randomly drawing one player from each pool, creating four groups of fairly equal standing. The draw
1750-718: The London Chess Classic was one of the three events that comprised the inaugural Grand Chess Tour , the other two being Norway Chess and the Sinquefield Cup . There was no event in 2020 and 2022. 2021 saw a match between England and the Rest of the World. In 2023 the London Chess Classic returned to the invitational format. The inaugural 2009 edition was advertised as "the highest level chess tournament in London for 25 years", referring to
1820-456: The Open with 7½/9. The tournament was once again organized and directed by IM Malcolm Pein. The world champion, Magnus Carlsen, declined his invitation due to the closeness of his world championship re-match with Viswanathan Anand. Anand indicated that he was able to play, no matter the outcome of his title match. The main tournament was a single round, all-play-all format, where the uneven colour split
1890-572: The end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, with millions of players worldwide. Organized chess arose in the 19th century. Chess competition today is governed internationally by FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs ; the International Chess Federation). The first universally recognized World Chess Champion , Wilhelm Steinitz , claimed his title in 1886; Ding Liren
1960-404: The end of the game, " 1–0 " means White won, " 0–1 " means Black won, and " ½–½ " indicates a draw. Chess moves can be annotated with punctuation marks and other symbols . For example: " ! " indicates a good move; " !! " an excellent move; " ? " a mistake; " ?? " a blunder; " !? " an interesting move that may not be best; or " ?! " a dubious move not easily refuted. For example, one variation of
2030-448: The enemy pawn's two-square advance; otherwise, the right to do so is forfeited. For example, in the animated diagram, the black pawn advances two squares from g7 to g5, and the white pawn on f5 can take it en passant on g6 (but only immediately after the black pawn's advance). When a pawn advances to its eighth rank , as part of the move, it is promoted and must be exchanged for the player's choice of queen, rook, bishop, or knight of
2100-497: The festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round "FIDE Rated Open". WIM Arlette Van Weersel of The Netherlands won the former with 8/9, while GMs Gawain Jones and Simon Williams (both England) shared victory in the Open with 7½/9. Korchnoi gave two simultaneous displays during the event and evening lectures were provided by GMs Jacob Aagaard and Boris Avrukh . The third edition once again featured
2170-470: The festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round "FIDE Rated Open". IM Dagnė Čiukšytė (2327) of England and WIM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (2227) of Kazakhstan shared victory in the former with 7½/9, while Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta (2640) was outright winner of the Open with 8/9. The format of the fourth edition closely followed that of the third. The winner was number one ranked Magnus Carlsen, whose performance also secured him
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2240-465: The festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round FIDE Rated Open, which were won by Arianne Caoili of Australia and Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway respectively, both with scores of 8/9. Korchnoi gave two simultaneous displays during the event. To raise money for charity, one ticket to play him was auctioned on eBay for £410. The 2010 edition was publicised as "The UK's strongest chess tournament ever". The prize fund
2310-501: The final by 6−8. FIDE Open : Gabriel Sargissian , Hrant Melkumyan and Sébastien Mazé shared first place, scoring 7½/9. In 2018, the London Chess Classic served as the semifinals and finals for the top 4 players from the 2018 Grand Chess Tour . Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) and shogi (Japanese chess). Chess
2380-664: The first computer to beat a reigning World Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov . Today's chess engines are significantly stronger than the best human players and have deeply influenced the development of chess theory; however, chess is not a solved game . The rules of chess are published by FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs; "International Chess Federation"), chess's world governing body, in its Handbook . Rules published by national governing bodies , or by unaffiliated chess organizations, commercial publishers, etc., may differ in some details. FIDE's rules were most recently revised in 2023. Chess sets come in
2450-423: The first rank in the following order, from left to right: rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook. Pawns are placed on each square of the second rank. Black's position mirrors White's, with equivalent pieces on every file. The board is oriented so that the right-hand corner nearest each player is a light square; as a result the white queen always starts on a light square, while the black queen starts on
2520-407: The first rank moves to e2"). For pawns, no letter initial is used; so e4 means "pawn moves to the square e4". If the piece makes a capture, "x" is usually inserted before the destination square. Thus Bxf3 means "bishop captures on f3". When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is used to identify the pawn making the capture, for example, exd5 (pawn on the e-file captures
2590-562: The format remained faithful to the previous year, adopting the three points for a win, one for a draw scoring system and 'Sofia Rules' in respect to agreed draws. Live expert commentary was provided to an audience of up to 400 at the venue itself and was also put out as a live web transmission. Lawrence Trent , Stephen Gordon , Daniel King and Chris Ward formed the core of the commentary team, but there were numerous contributions from other distinguished players, including guests of honour, Viktor Korchnoi and Garry Kasparov . The tournament
2660-436: The g-file, 5th rank" (that is, to the square g5). Different initials may be used for other languages. In chess literature, figurine algebraic notation (FAN) is frequently used to aid understanding independent of language. To resolve ambiguities, an additional letter or number is added to indicate the file or rank from which the piece moved (e.g. Ngf3 means "knight from the g-file moves to the square f3"; R1e2 means "rook on
2730-555: The game is to checkmate (threaten with inescapable capture) the enemy king. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw . The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga , in seventh-century India . After its introduction in Persia , it spread to the Arab world and then to Europe. The rules of chess as they are known today emerged in Europe at
2800-442: The highest FIDE rating of all time. Scoring was done with Bilbao system, with 3 points awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss. The line-up for the headlining Classic tournament contained two changes from the previous year and comprised; Other tournaments organised during the festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round "FIDE Rated Open". WGM Deimantė Daulytė (2212) of Lithuania
2870-414: The opponent choose. White moves first, after which players alternate turns, moving one piece per turn (except for castling , when two pieces are moved). A piece is moved to either an unoccupied square or one occupied by an opponent's piece, which is captured and removed from play. With the sole exception of en passant , all pieces capture by moving to the square that the opponent's piece occupies. Moving
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2940-442: The opponent has enough pieces left to deliver checkmate). The duration of a game ranges from long (or "classical") games, which can take up to seven hours (even longer if adjournments are permitted), to bullet chess (under 3 minutes per player for the entire game). Intermediate between these are rapid chess games, lasting between one and two hours per game, a popular time control in amateur weekend tournaments. Time
3010-427: The piece chosen is indicated after the move (for example, e1=Q or e1Q ). Castling is indicated by the special notations 0-0 (or O-O ) for kingside castling and 0-0-0 (or O-O-O ) for queenside castling. A move that places the opponent's king in check usually has the notation " + " added. There are no specific notations for discovered check or double check . Checkmate can be indicated by " # ". At
3080-443: The piece on d5). Ranks may be omitted if unambiguous, for example, exd (pawn on the e-file captures a piece somewhere on the d-file). A minority of publications use " : " to indicate a capture, and some omit the capture symbol altogether. In its most abbreviated form, exd5 may be rendered simply as ed . An en passant capture may optionally be marked with the notation " e.p. " If a pawn moves to its last rank, achieving promotion,
3150-538: The piece that occupies the first rank at the beginning of the game. In descriptive notation, the common opening move 1.e4 is rendered as "1.P-K4" ("pawn to king four"). Another system is ICCF numeric notation , recognized by the International Correspondence Chess Federation though its use is in decline. In tournament games, players are normally required to keep a score (record of the game). For this purpose, only algebraic notation
3220-429: The required piece is not available (e.g. a second queen) an inverted rook is sometimes used as a substitute, but this is not recognized in FIDE-sanctioned games. A game can be won in the following ways: There are several ways a game can end in a draw : In competition, chess games are played with a time control . If a player's time runs out before the game is completed, the game is automatically lost (provided
3290-402: The rook is under attack, or if the rook crosses an attacked square. When a pawn makes a two-step advance from its starting position and there is an opponent's pawn on a square next to the destination square on an adjacent file, then the opponent's pawn can capture it en passant ("in passing"), moving to the square the pawn passed over. This can be done only on the turn immediately following
3360-407: The same color. Usually, the pawn is chosen to be promoted to a queen, but in some cases, another piece is chosen; this is called underpromotion . In the animated diagram , the pawn on c7 can be advanced to the eighth rank and be promoted. There is no restriction on the piece promoted to, so it is possible to have more pieces of the same type than at the start of the game (e.g., two or more queens). If
3430-522: The same competition in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. Caoili was one of the celebrity dancers in the fifth Australian season of Dancing with the Stars . Her professional dance partner was Carmelo Pizzino and she finished as the series' runner-up behind Anthony Koutoufides . In an episode of the Australian TV show Deal or No Deal she won a car for the home competition entrant. From 2008, Caoili
3500-415: The square were unoccupied. Pieces are generally not permitted to move through squares occupied by pieces of either color, except for the knight and during castling. When a king is under immediate attack, it is said to be in check . A move in response to a check is legal only if it results in a position where the king is no longer in check. There are three ways to counter a check: Castling
3570-452: The standard system today is short-form algebraic notation . In this system, each square is uniquely identified by a set of coordinates, a – h for the files followed by 1 – 8 for the ranks. The usual format is The pieces are identified by their initials. In English, these are K (king), Q (queen), R (rook), B (bishop), and N (knight; N is used to avoid confusion with king). For example, Qg5 means "queen moves to
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#17328548566813640-469: The strongest chess tournament ever held in the UK. Organiser Malcolm Pein added a ninth player, the world number three Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian , ensuring that the world's top four players participated. With two extra rounds scheduled, play spanned two weekends and each day, one player sat out and joined the commentary team. Kramnik emerged the clear winner with 16 points. Other tournaments organised during
3710-887: The tournament wildcard and joins the other nine players already participating in the Grand Chess Tour. British Knockout Championship : David Howell won by defeating Nicholas Pert in the final by a score of 4−2. FIDE Open : Benjamin Bok 8/9, Evgeny Postny , Rinat Jumabayev , Eric Hansen , Jonathan Hawkins , Jahongir Vakhidov , Daniel Sadzikowski 7 ... (247 participants). Super Rapidplay Open : Luke McShane 9.5/10, Hrant Melkumyan 8.5, Aleksandr Lenderman , Eric Hansen , Nicholas Pert , Romain Édouard , Jon Ludvig Hammer , Sergey Grigoriants , Rinat Jumabayev , David Eggleston , Tamas Fodor Jr. 8 ... (368 participants). Pro-Biz Cup : Hikaru Nakamura and Josip Asik (CEO of Chess Informant ) won. All ratings listed below are from
3780-1053: The usual manner (one point for a win and a half-point for a draw). Grandmaster simultaneous displays were provided by David Howell and Vladislav Tkachiev . The Pro-Biz Cup event comprised 2-player teams (one professional chess player, partnered by a top business leader, taking alternate moves) in a knockout format. Elite Blitz: Michael Adams, Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Kramnik 17/30, Anish Giri 16, Viswanathan Anand 10, Fabiano Caruana 9 (6 players, double round robin). Super Rapidplay Open: Hikaru Nakamura 9½/10, Anish Giri 8½, Fabiano Caruana, Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Nigel Short , Aleksandr Lenderman , Eric Hansen , Daniel Naroditsky , Nicholas Pert , Alon Greenfeld , Simon Williams 8 ... (405 players). FIDE Open: Kamil Dragun , Bai Jinshi 7½/9, Vladislav Tkachiev , Bartosz Socko , Aleksandr Lenderman, Alexandr Fier , Alon Greenfeld, Jacek Stopa 7 ... (211 players). Challenge Match: Gawain Jones defeated Romain Edouard by 4–2. Final game 6
3850-448: The venue was provided by Julian Hodgson . With a shorter than usual main tournament, greater emphasis was placed on the additional festival events this year, with the elite players participating in the rapidplay and blitz tournaments. The Elite Blitz, like the main tournament, was scored using the 'three points for a win, one point for a draw' system. Adams was the winner, on tie-break from Nakamura and Kramnik. Other events were scored in
3920-459: The world every year catering to players of all levels. Tournaments with a small number of players may use the round-robin format, in which every player plays one game against every other player. For a large number of players, the Swiss system may be used, in which each player is paired against an opponent who has the same (or as similar as possible) score in each round. In either case, a player's score
3990-831: The world's strongest players. Examples include Spain's Linares event, Monte Carlo's Melody Amber tournament, the Dortmund Sparkassen meeting, Sofia's M-tel Masters , and Wijk aan Zee's Tata Steel tournament. Regular team chess events include the Chess Olympiad and the European Team Chess Championship . The World Chess Solving Championship and World Correspondence Chess Championships include both team and individual events; these are held independently of FIDE. Arianne Caoili Arianne Bo Caoili ( / ˈ æ r iː ɔː n k aʊ ˈ iː l iː / kah- WEE -lee ; 22 December 1986 – 30 March 2020)
4060-542: Was FIDE Category 18, and had a prize fund of 100,000 Euros including daily best game prizes and a 10,000 Euro brilliancy prize for the game voted the best of the tournament. The games were broadcast live at a number of sites including Playchess and the Internet Chess Club (with live expert commentary provided by Chess.FM). A major feature of the tournament was the use of a different scoring system, sometimes referred to as "Bilbao Rules"; players earn three points for
4130-536: Was Victor Korchnoi . The ceremonial opening move was made by Evan Harris , MP. Tournament partners included Chessbase and the Internet Chess Club . The main pre-tournament public relations event comprised a blindfold display at the London Eye between Nigel Short and Luke McShane. The tournament was simultaneous broadcast on London Chess Classic website, and the chess servers ICC , FICS and Playchess , as well as on Twitter . Other tournaments organised during
4200-645: Was IM Malcolm Pein, manager of the London Chess Centre and the executive editor of CHESS magazine . The Festival Organiser was Adam Raoof, FIDE Organiser and Arbiter. The 2010 Festival won the English Chess Federation Congress of the Year Award. The tournament was simultaneously broadcast on London Chess Classic website, and the chess servers ICC , FICS and Playchess , as well as on Twitter and Facebook . Other tournaments organised during
4270-596: Was a Filipino and Australian chess player. She held the FIDE title of Woman International Master , won the Oceania women's chess championship in 2009 and competed in seven Women's Chess Olympiads . Outside of chess, she was a financial consultant and singer, and served as an advisor to Armenian prime minister Karen Karapetyan . Born in Manila , Philippines , Caoili moved to Australia with her family in 1989. She began playing chess at six years old. On 22 December 2000, Caoili won
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#17328548566814340-505: Was carried out on 4 December 2013 at Ravenscroft Primary School in Newham , with the assistance of the pupils. Other tournaments taking place during the festival included the double round robin Women's Invitational and nine-round FIDE Rated Open. IM Dagnė Čiukšytė (2345) of England was the outright winner of the former with 7½/10, while Norway's Jon Ludvig Hammer (2612) triumphed in
4410-690: Was decided in favour of the winners of the Elite Blitz contest (see 'Subsidiary events' below). Sofia Rules and football-style scoring (three points for a win and one for a draw) were used to discourage draws. Anand was declared winner of the Elite tournament on tie-break, due to scoring the only win with the black pieces. Guest appearances were made by former world champion Garry Kasparov , London Mayor Boris Johnson and Kenneth Rogoff , among others. Online commentators included Nigel Short, Danny King, Lawrence Trent, Chris Ward and David Howell. Analysis room commentary at
4480-671: Was in a relationship with one of the world's top chess grandmasters, Levon Aronian . They first met in 1996, at the World Youth Chess Championships in Las Palmas , and became friends in 2006, being introduced by their mutual friend Alex Wohl . Aronian and Caoili became officially engaged in 2015 and were married on 30 September 2017 at the 13th-century Saghmosavank Monastery , with then Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his wife Rita Sargsyan in attendance. She spoke English and Tagalog fluently, and had studied for
4550-463: Was played at Heathfield School, Hampstead, on 15 December (otherwise held alongside the main tournament). Pro-Biz Cup: Anish Giri and Rajko Vujatovic (Bank of America, Merrill Lynch) defeated Vladimir Kramnik and Russell Picot (HSBC) in the final. In 2015, the London Chess Classic joined with Norway Chess and the Sinquefield Cup to form the Grand Chess Tour . Michael Adams was selected as
4620-415: Was presented to Luke McShane for his round five win against Hikaru Nakamura . The organisers announced that there would be another tournament in London in 2010. The tournament organiser and director was International Master Malcolm Pein , manager of the London Chess Centre and the executive editor of CHESS magazine . The Festival Organiser was Adam Raoof, FIDE Organiser and Arbiter. The guest of honour
4690-609: Was substantially increased from the previous year and world champion Viswanathan Anand replaced Ni Hua in the list of participants. Coupled with the advances in rating of some of the competitors, the effect was to elevate the tournament's status to Category 21 on FIDE's scale, making it the strongest ever held in the United Kingdom. The ceremonial first move was performed by the Indian High Commissioner, HE Mr Nalin Surie, and
4760-534: Was the outright winner of the former with 7/9, while Armenian GM Hrant Melkumyan (2649) and Dutch GM Robin van Kampen (2570) shared victory in the Open with 7½/9. The format of the 2013 London Chess Classic was a "Super 16 Rapid" tournament (25 minutes + 10 seconds per move). The sixteen players were split into four groups, with the top two from each group qualifying for the quarterfinal knockout stages. Invitations were accepted by fourteen players and further places were allocated to whichever two players were leading
4830-470: Was won by Magnus Carlsen , cementing his return to the world number one spot in the rankings. Anand and Luke McShane shared second place, and had the tournament been scored in the conventional way, then all three would have shared first place. The prize giving was once again held at Simpsons-in-the-Strand , Carlsen being presented with the trophy and a cheque for 50,000 Euros by his part-time trainer and mentor, Kasparov. The tournament organiser and director
4900-469: Was won by Magnus Carlsen, a victory that meant he would be world number one in the January 2010 FIDE world rankings list. Second place was taken by Vladimir Kramnik , and third place by David Howell , on tie-break from Michael Adams . The prizegiving took place at Simpson's-in-the-Strand , where Carlsen received a trophy and a cheque for the first prize (25,000 Euros). A trophy and 10,000 Euros brilliancy prize
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