Wesley So

The 2016 London Chess Classic, the final leg of the Chess Grand Tour, began on Friday and features all of the world’s top 10 apart from Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin. Wesley So leads the Grand Tour after three of the four rounds and with the World Champion absent, he is the favourite to win the overall prize money of $100,000 ($75,000 for the winner of the London Chess Classic). Hikaru Nakamura, the only person who can stop Wesley from taking first prize, was drawn with the white pieces against him in Round 1 and blundered with 13.Ne2?, giving So a comfortable victory which he followed up with another win in Round 2 after another blunder, this time from Michael Adams. As the only player with a 100% score after two of the nine rounds, So’s position as favourite is even stronger now than it was at the start. In beating Adams, So took his rating beyond 2800, only the 12th player in history to achieve the feat. A draw in Round 3 maintained his half-point lead at the top.

White: Hikaru Nakamura (2779)         Black: Wesley So (2794)  

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 1

   1.  d4  Nf6  2.  c4  g6  3.  Nc3  d5  4.  cxd5  Nxd5  5.  e4  Nxc3  6.  bxc3  Bg7 7.  Be3  c5  8.  Rc1  O-O  9.  Qd2  e5  10.  d5  Nd7  11.  c4  f5  12.  Bg5  Nf6 13.  Ne2  Nxe4  14.  Bxd8  Nxd2  15.  Be7  Rf7  16.  Bxc5  Nxf1  17.  Rxf1  b6 18.  Bb4  Ba6  19.  f4  Rc8  20.  fxe5  Bxe5  21.  Rf3  Bxc4  22.  Re3  Bg7 23.  Nf4  Rd7  24.  a4  Bh6  25.  g3  Bxf4  26.  gxf4  Rxd5  27.  Re7  Rd4 28.  Bd2  Kf8  29.  Bb4  Re8 White resigns   

How could we ever have doubted it? Surely it was written in the stars that Magnus Carlsen would retain his World Chess Championship title.  Perhaps he was toying with us by losing Game 8 then disappointing us all by drawing Game 12 meekly when everyone was expecting the grand finish. Was this a deliberate ploy to ensure that he retained his title via the tie breaks on his 26th birthday? Well, if people were denied a grand finish in the classical format, they got a spectacular one instead with the dénouement of the decisive fourth tie break game.

White: Magnus Carlsen (2853)            Black: Sergey Karjakin (2772)

World Chess Championship Tie Break 4  

   1.  e4  c5  2.  Nf3  d6  3.  d4  cd4  4.  Nd4  Nf6  5.  f3  e5  6.  Nb3  Be7 7.  c4  a5  8.  Be3  a4  9.  Nc1  O-O  10.  Nc3  Qa5  11.  Qd2  Na6 12.  Be2  Nc5  13.  O-O  Bd7  14.  Rb1  Rfc8  15.  b4  ab3  16.  ab3 Qd8  17.  Nd3  Ne6  18.  Nb4  Bc6  19.  Rfd1  h5  20.  Bf1  h4  21.  Qf2 Nd7  22.  g3  Ra3  23.  Bh3  Rca8  24.  Nc2  R3a6  25.  Nb4  Ra5 26.  Nc2  b6  27.  Rd2  Qc7  28.  Rbd1  Bf8  29.  gh4  Nf4  30.  Bf4  ef4 31.  Bd7  Qd7  32.  Nb4  Ra3  33.  Nc6  Qc6  34.  Nb5  Rb3  35.  Nd4 Qc4  36.  Nb3  Qb3  37.  Qe2  Be7  38.  Kg2  Qe6  39.  h5  Ra3 40.  Rd3  Ra2  41.  R3d2  Ra3  42.  Rd3  Ra7  43.  Rd5  Rc7 44.  Qd2  Qf6  45.  Rf5  Qh4  46.  Rc1  Ra7  47.  Qf4  Ra2  48.  Kh1 Qf2  49.  Rc8  Kh7  50.  Qh6  resigns   

The excitement that accompanied the final day of this enthralling match was not confined to the 600 spectators crowded into the Fulton Market Building in New York. As well as the millions following the game online, here is the reaction in Moscow’s Red Square……and remember this is in the middle of the night in late November! And the excitement among the spectators only increased when Karjakin opted for the Sicilian Defence in reply to Carlsen’s 1. e4,  suggesting that if he were to go down he would not go quietly. Eventually, however, Carlsen’s pressure told and the reaction of the spectators when the Champion played 50. Qh6 – gasps and then applause – finally made them realise that here was the grand finish they had hoped for but at the right moment.

There has been almost unanimous agreement that Carlsen has not been at his best and that Karjakin excelled most predictions by clinging on to within touching distance of winning the championship, and there can be no doubt that the match has grabbed the public’s attention. The poetic nature of Carlsen’s victory – a queen sacrifice to conclude the final game to win on his 26th birthday – was the perfect way to win a world championship.

                                         The Rubies                  4½-5½           The Pearls

                     Reg and Bob

Every year has its anniversaries but 2016 seems to have had more than its fair share: the death of Shakespeare, the Battle of Hastings, England winning the World Cup……and now we can add one more that appears to have been overlooked in all the hullaballoo. It is forty years since Reg Pidduck joined Broadstairs Chess Club and ten years later Bob Page played his first match. There will be another anniversary of sorts in two years’ time because it will then be twenty-five since they became Treasurer and Secretary respectively of the club. For now, the coincidence of forty and thirty years’ service seemed a good excuse for celebration and so the idea of an anniversary match was born.

Clockwise from the left: Viktor, Reg, John, Clive, John, Nick and David

Twenty players – sixteen from Broadstairs and four friends from local Thanet clubs – were divided into two teams, the Rubies, captained by Reg, and the Pearls, captained by Bob. Each team had equal grade totals and the draw was made on the night. A recipe for numerous mis-matches, I hear you say but not so because this match was run on a fiendish time handicap. With a two-hour limit, the least anyone could receive was ten minutes and when David Faldon (179) was drawn against Viktor Selyukov (73), that is precisely what he got with Viktor getting the remaining one hour fifty minutes. David would still have fancied his chances but the evening got off to a sensational start.

            The crucial game: Colin v Andy

Viktor won his game on time to give the Pearls a surprise 1-0 lead.  The Rubies soon fought back, however, when Viktor’s twelve year old son, Timofey (111) provided another shock, beating Ian Hames (160). Thereafter the lead swung to and fro as the Pearls’ 3-1 lead became a 4½-3½ defecit – Bob and Reg appropriately agreeing a draw in their match – with two games left. Clive Le Baigue looked likely to win against John Clarke in the all-Margate clash which would make the scores level with just Andy Flood’s game against Colin Gregory. Have a look at the position and see what you think. Typically, Andy said later that if he had known the score he would have offered Colin a draw. In the event, time told as is often the case, Colin made an error and Andy won. The match lasted the entire two hours, by no means a given with time handicaps, which was ideal and everyone then adjourned to the pub with a promise to repeat the match in thirty years’ time.