Chess (#985)

Vladimir Kramnik cranked out a clinical first place at the London Classic. The Russian GM and former world champion had a 2932 performance with a 16 point score (+4=4), to pip Hikaru Nakamura (+4,=3,-1), who came second with 15.

Carlsen never got into top gear but he was able to pull third place (+3,=5). Under normal scoring, Carlsen would have tied for second-third with Naka. Luke McShane was fourth with (+3,=4,-1), commendable for an amateur.

Fifth-sixth was shared by Anand and Aronyan who both won one, lost one and drew the rest. Rather disappointing for the world no:2 and no:3. In the next rating list, Kramnik’s performance may pull him into the top three and Anand might drop to no:4. Carlsen stays well ahead of the next three players in the “ultra” 2800 league. He gains rating even here and should land around the 2835 mark in the next list. At Dortmund and in London, Kramnik played better than he had in the past several years. His London performance was vintage. He massacred the bottom trio and was rock-solid against the rest.

 

Naka bid fair to round off the year in style in terms of results. But it was a very shaky performance from the American GM, except for fighting spirit. He managed three wins from lost positions against Anand, Aronyan and Adams (a triple A performance as the wags called it) and suffered a trademark loss to Carlsen. The doubts that surfaced about the world champion’s form in Moscow, when he drew 9 games straight at the Tal Memorial, were reinforced here by his lacklustre performance. The title match with Boris Gelfand is due in May so he does have time to get things in order. It’s true that Anand seemed to be avoiding theoretically critical lines in both events. But he was also unable to push for advantage in middlegames and he terminated quite a few games ”early”, in positions where he could have played on.

In contrast, Naka was rewarded for a never-say-die spirit. The diagram, BLACK TO PLAY, (Nakamura Vs Adams, London 2011) features a turning point in a very volatile position. Black’s clearly superior but it’s wild.

30...f3. The engines say 30 – b3 wins after 31.c6 Ra7 32.Bc3 Qd6 33.Qxb3 Qxc6 31.d5 fxg2+ 32.Nxg2 Bf3 33.Kg1 Rc8 34.c6 Rb5 35.Nf4 Bc5+ 36.Be3 Bxe3+?. Throughout the past several moves, b3 has been a very strong idea. But Adams has also chosen good lines. Here he slips — he could continue 36...Qb6! 37.Bxc5 Rxc5 38.Qd4 R5xc6! finishing off.

37.Rxe3 Qb6 38.Rfe1 b3? 39.Qc3! Suddenly Black is lost. 39...Rf8 40.Ne6! b2 41.c7! Now 41...b1Q 42.Qxf6+! Rxf6 43.c8Q+ mates. So 1–0.

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Devangshu Dattais an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player