chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
West Kensington
West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includ ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The flagship event is a strong invitational
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
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
Norm, the Norm or NORM may refer to:
In academic disciplines
* Normativity, phenomenon of designating things as good or bad
* Norm (geology), an estimate of the idealised mineral content of a rock
* Norm (philosophy), a standard in normative e ...
and
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
seekers, junior events, amateur competitions,
simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
s, coaching, and lectures.
In 2015, the London Chess Classic was one of the three events that comprised the inaugural Grand Chess Tour, the other two being
Norway Chess
Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...
and the
Sinquefield Cup
The Sinquefield Cup is an annual, closed chess tournament hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
It was first held in 2012 as a four-player round-robin tournament. In 2015, it became part of the Grand Chess ...
.
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.
Winners
:
2009 Classic: 8–15 December
The inaugural 2009 edition was advertised as "the highest level chess tournament in London for 25 years", referring to 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
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
, plus the future World Champion and then-current number one in the live world rankings,
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
. The tournament was
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
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
The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC had over 30,000 subscribing members in 2005. It was the first Internet chess server and was the largest p ...
(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 a win, one for a
draw
Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn most commonly refer to:
* Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them
* Draw (tie), in a competition, where competitors achieve equal outcomes
* 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 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
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
Simpson's-in-the-Strand
Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in Strand, London, the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy Hotel, Savoy. Th ...
, where Carlsen received a trophy and a cheque for the first prize (25,000 Euros). A trophy and 10,000 Euros brilliancy prize was presented to
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
for his round five win against
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraInternational Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
Malcolm Pein
Malcolm Bernard Pein (born 14 August 1960) is a British chess player, chess organizer, author, and journalist. He holds the title of International Master.
Chess biography
Pein earned the title of International Master (IM) in 1986. Pein has been ...
, 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 was
Victor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
Bo ...
. The ceremonial opening move was made by
Evan Harris
Evan Leslie Harris (born 21 October 1965) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservati ...
, MP. Tournament partners included
Chessbase
ChessBase is a German company that develops and sells chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates an internet chess server for online chess. Founded in 1986, it maintains and sells large-scale databases containing the moves of recor ...
and the
Internet Chess Club
The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is a commercial Internet chess server devoted to the play and discussion of chess and chess variants. ICC had over 30,000 subscribing members in 2005. It was the first Internet chess server and was the largest p ...
. The main pre-tournament public relations event comprised a blindfold display at the
London Eye
The London Eye, originally the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and the most popular paid Tourist attractions in the ...
between
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
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
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
.
Participants
*
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
, number one in the live world rankings
*
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
, former world champion (2000–2007)
*
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraNigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
, former world championship finalist and English number one
* Michael Adams, former world knock-out championship finalist and English number two
*
Ni Hua
Ni Hua (born May 31, 1983 in Shanghai) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and the national team captain. He is three-time national champion. In 2003, he became China's Chess in China#GM and WGM Titles, 15th Grandmaster at the ...
, leading Chinese grandmaster
*
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
, English number three
* David Howell, British champion and English number four
Tournament table
:
Subsidiary events
Other tournaments organised during 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
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
for £410.
2010 Classic: 8–15 December
The 2010 edition was publicised as "The UK's strongest chess tournament ever". The prize fund was substantially increased from the previous year and world champion
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
replaced
Ni Hua
Ni Hua (born May 31, 1983 in Shanghai) is a Chinese chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and the national team captain. He is three-time national champion. In 2003, he became China's Chess in China#GM and WGM Titles, 15th Grandmaster at the ...
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 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
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
Bor ...
and
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
.
The tournament was won by
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
, cementing his return to the world number one spot in the rankings. Anand and
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
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 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
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
and
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
.
Participants
*
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
, world champion
*
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
, number two in the world rankings
*
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
, former world champion (2000–2007)
*
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraMichael Adams, British champion and English number one
*
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
, former world championship finalist and English number two
*
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
, English number three
* David Howell, English number four
Tournament table
:
Subsidiary events
Other tournaments organised during the festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round "FIDE Rated Open".
WIM
Wim is a Dutch masculine given name or a shortened form of Willem and may refer to:
* Wim Anderiesen (1903–1944), Dutch footballer
* Wim Aantjes (1923–2015), Dutch politician
* Wim Arras (born 1964), Flemish Belgian cyclist
* Wim Blockman ...
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.
2011 Classic: 3–12 December
The third edition once again featured the strongest chess tournament ever held in the UK. Organiser Malcolm Pein added a ninth player, the world number three Armenian Grandmaster
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
, 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.
Participants
*
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
, world champion and number two in the world rankings
*
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
, number one in the world rankings
*
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
, number three in the world rankings
*
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
, former world champion (2000–2007) and world number four
*
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraMichael Adams, British champion and English number one
*
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
, former world championship finalist and English number two
*
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
, English number three
* David Howell, English number four
Tournament table
:
Subsidiary events
Other tournaments organised during 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.
2012 Classic: 1–10 December
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 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;
Participants
*
Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...
, world champion
*
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
, number one in the world rankings
*
Levon Aronian
Levon Grigori Aronian (; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster who has represented the United States since 2021. A chess prodigy, he earned the title of grandmaster in 2000, at the age of 17. He is a former world rapid and blit ...
, number two in the world rankings
*
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
, former world champion (2000–2007) and world number three
*
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraJudit Polgar, highest ranked woman
* Michael Adams, English number two
*
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
, English number one
* Gawain Jones, British Champion and English number four
Tournament table
:
Subsidiary events
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 was the outright winner of the former with 7/9, while Armenian GM
Hrant Melkumyan
Hrant Slavayi Melkumyan (; born April 30, 1989, in Yerevan) is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and European Blitz Champion in 2011.
Chess career
He won the international Internet championship organized by the ICC chess Internet portal. In 2006, ...
(2649) and Dutch GM Robin van Kampen (2570) shared victory in the Open with 7½/9.
2013 Classic: 7–15 December
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 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 was carried out on 4 December 2013 at Ravenscroft Primary School in
Newham
The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...
, with the assistance of the pupils.
Group stage
:
:
:
:
Knockout stage
Subsidiary events
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 the Open with 7½/9.
2014 Classic: 6–14 December
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 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
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
, London Mayor
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
and
Kenneth Rogoff
Kenneth Saul Rogoff (born March 22, 1953) is an American economist and chess Grandmaster.
He is the Maurits C. Boas Chair of International Economics at Harvard University. During the Great Recession, Rogoff was an influential proponent of auste ...
, among others. Online commentators included Nigel Short, Danny King, Lawrence Trent, Chris Ward and David Howell. Analysis room commentary at the venue was provided by Julian Hodgson.
Tournament table
:
Subsidiary events
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 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
Vladislav Tkachiev (, born November 9, 1973 in Moscow) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani-French chess grandmaster.
Biography
In 1982, he moved to Kazakhstan with his parents and learnt to play chess a year later. A winner of the Kazakhstani Youth Ch ...
. 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
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
Daniel Naroditsky
Daniel Naroditsky (born November 9, 1995), often referred to as Danya, is an American chess grandmaster, author, and commentator.
Chess career
Born in San Mateo, California, Naroditsky learned chess at age six from his father. He was soon taki ...
,
Nicholas Pert
Nicholas G. Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster.
Chess career
Pert was the World Youth Chess Championship, World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Championships, British Ra ...
Vladislav Tkachiev
Vladislav Tkachiev (, born November 9, 1973 in Moscow) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani-French chess grandmaster.
Biography
In 1982, he moved to Kazakhstan with his parents and learnt to play chess a year later. A winner of the Kazakhstani Youth Ch ...
, 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 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.
2015 Classic: 4–13 December
In 2015, the London Chess Classic joined with
Norway Chess
Norway Chess is an annual closed chess tournament, typically taking place in the May to June time period every year. The first edition took place in the Stavanger area, Norway, from 7 May to 18 May 2013. The 2013 tournament had ten participants, in ...
and the
Sinquefield Cup
The Sinquefield Cup is an annual, closed chess tournament hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club in St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
It was first held in 2012 as a four-player round-robin tournament. In 2015, it became part of the Grand Chess ...
to form the Grand Chess Tour. Michael Adams was selected as the tournament wildcard and joins the other nine players already participating in the Grand Chess Tour.
Tournament table
:
First place play-off
Subsidiary events
British Knockout Championship: David Howell won by defeating
Nicholas Pert
Nicholas G. Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster.
Chess career
Pert was the World Youth Chess Championship, World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Championships, British Ra ...
in the final by a score of 4−2.
FIDE Open:
Benjamin Bok
Benjamin Bok (born 25 January 1995) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2014.
Bok was born in Lelystad. He studied finance at Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and played on the inter ...
Jonathan Hawkins
Jonathan Hawkins (born 1 May 1983) is an England, English chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster. He was the British Chess Championship, British Chess Champion in 2015, having outscored David Howell (chess player), David Howell, with whom he sha ...
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
9.5/10,
Hrant Melkumyan
Hrant Slavayi Melkumyan (; born April 30, 1989, in Yerevan) is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and European Blitz Champion in 2011.
Chess career
He won the international Internet championship organized by the ICC chess Internet portal. In 2006, ...
Nicholas Pert
Nicholas G. Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster.
Chess career
Pert was the World Youth Chess Championship, World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Championships, British Ra ...
Hikaru Nakamura
Christopher Hikaru NakamuraJosip Asik (CEO of
Chess Informant
Chess Informant () is a publishing company from Belgrade, Serbia, that periodically (since 2012, four volumes per year) produces volumes of a book entitled ''Chess Informant'', as well as the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', ''Encyclopaedia ...
) won.
2016 Classic: 9–18 December
All ratings listed below are from the December 2016 rating list.
Tournament table
:
Subsidiary events
British Knockout Championship:
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, columnist, coach and commentator who has been the FIDE Director for Chess Development since September 2022. Short earned the title of grandmaster at the ...
Étienne Bacrot
Étienne Bacrot (; born 22 January 1983) is a French chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy.
He competed at the World Chess Championship 2007, Candidates Matches in 2007 and won the Aeroflot Open in 2009. He pas ...
(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.
2017 Classic: 1–11 December
Tournament table
:
* Final blitz tie-break:
Fabiano Caruana
Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an Italian and American chess grandmaster who is the reigning four-time United States Chess Champion. With a peak rating of 2844, Caruana is the third-highest-rated player in history.
Born in Mia ...
def.
Ian Nepomniachtchi
Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...
, 2½–1½.
:
Subsidiary events
British Knockout Championship:
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
Hrant Melkumyan
Hrant Slavayi Melkumyan (; born April 30, 1989, in Yerevan) is an Armenian chess Grandmaster and European Blitz Champion in 2011.
Chess career
He won the international Internet championship organized by the ICC chess Internet portal. In 2006, ...
In 2018, the London Chess Classic served as the semifinals and finals for the top 4 players from the 2018 Grand Chess Tour.
The players played 2 classical games, 2 rapid games, and 4 blitz games. 6 points were awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in classical play. In the Rapid games, 4 points were awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In the Blitz games, 2 points were awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 point for a loss.
After seven consecutive draws that opened his final match with Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura clinched an event victory by defeating Vachier-Lagrave in the fourth and final blitz game.
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
Nicholas Pert
Nicholas G. Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster.
Chess career
Pert was the World Youth Chess Championship, World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Championships, British Ra ...
tied for first place with a score of 7½/9.
2019 Classic: 2–8 December
In 2019, the London Chess Classic once again served as the semifinals and finals for the top 4 players from the 2019 Grand Chess Tour.
The players played 2 classical games, 2 rapid games, and 4 blitz games. 6 points was awarded for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in classical play. In the rapid games, 4 points was awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 0 points for a loss. In the blitz games, 2 points was awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.
Vachier-Lagrave won the rapid playoff against Carlsen 1½–½ to advance to the final.
Subsidiary events
Subsidiary events included:
British Knockout Championship - Won by Michael Adams, defeating David Howell in the final by 6-4.
FIDE Open - Jointly won by Praggnanandhaa R and Anton Smirnov, both scoring 7½/9.
No-castling Exhibition Match - Gawain Jones drew a match 1-1 with
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
(2 decisive games). Promoted by former World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, this newly publicized chess variant disallowed the castling move, in order to encourage attacking play against a more vulnerable King.
2021 Classic: 3–12 December
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, with the international calendar being busy with the
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The win ...
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...
was happening in Dubai, it was held in the Cavendish Conference Centre in London, and featured a match between England and the Rest of the World.
The
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
Luke McShane
Luke James McShane (born 7 January 1984) is an English chess player. A chess prodigy, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2000, at the age of 16. McShane has become one of England's leading players and a member of the national t ...
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand (; born 24 June 1968) is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player.
A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, mak ...
Maxime Lagarde
Maxime Lagarde (born 16 March 1994) is a French grandmaster. He won the French Chess Championship in 2019.
Chess career
Born in 1994, Lagarde earned his international master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body ...
represented a Rest of the World team. After 6 rounds, the Rest of the World team won with 9½ points against England's 8½ points.
Subsidiary events
Subsidiary events included:
Pro-Biz Cup - Won by Michael Adams and Kameron Grose with 3/3.
12th British Rapidplay - Luke McShane, Gawain Jones 7/9,
Jon Speelman
Jonathan Simon Speelman (born 2 October 1956) is an English chess grandmaster and author.
Early life and education
Jonathan Simon Speelman was born on 2 October 1956 in Marylebone, London. He was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Worcest ...
, Michael Adams 5½, Ameet Ghasi 5 etc. (10 players). Jones won the playoff for first place, by a score of 2-0.Mark Crowther, TWIC 1414 /ref>