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The London Chess Classic is a
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre,
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 and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. 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 concentr ...
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 A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
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 April 2015, the London Chess Classic (LCC) was named as one of the three events that would comprise the inaugural Grand Chess Tour. By linking 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, a prestigious grand-prix style 'tour' was created that would play host to nine of the world's elite players, as well as the wildcard nominee of each organizer. It was expected that future editions of the tour would be expanded to include other events that could meet the standard. The LCC 2015 event featured the nine participating players of the 2015 Grand Chess Tour plus wildcard pick, Michael Adams.


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 A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess 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 chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
. The tournament was
FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
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.John Black, Martin Cochran, Martin Ryan Gardner"Lessons Learned ...
(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 may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anythin ...
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 (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...
, and third place by David Howell, on tie-break from Michael Adams. The prizegiving took place at
Simpson's-in-the-Strand Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy. The restaurant has been "tempo ...
, 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 (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...
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 was
Victor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
. 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 Conservative ...
, MP. Tournament partners included Chessbase 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.John Black, Martin Cochran, Martin Ryan Gardner"Lessons Learned ...
. The main pre-tournament public relations event comprised a blindfold display at the
London Eye The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the Unite ...
between
Nigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in 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 is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
.


Participants

*
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
, number one in the live world rankings *
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Ch ...
, former world champion (2000–2007) *
Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraNigel Short Nigel David Short (born 1 June 1965) is an English chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in 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 and the national team captain. He is three-time national champion. In 2003, he became China's 15th Grandmaster at the age of 19. In April 2008, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzh ...
, 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. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
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 and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating ...
replaced
Ni Hua Ni Hua (born May 31, 1983 in Shanghai) is a Chinese chess grandmaster and the national team captain. He is three-time national champion. In 2003, he became China's 15th Grandmaster at the age of 19. In April 2008, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzh ...
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 ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...
and
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak Elo rating system, rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the hi ...
. The tournament was won by
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
, 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 Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy. The restaurant has been "tempo ...
, 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 is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
.


Participants

*
Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating ...
, world champion *
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
, number two in the world rankings *
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess 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 chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in 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 Arlette Van Weersel of The Netherlands won the former with 8/9, while GMs
Gawain Jones Gawain Christopher Bernard Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012 and 2017. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013, ...
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 ( hy, Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster, who currently plays for the United States Chess Federation. A chess prodigy, he earned the title ...
, 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 and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating ...
, world champion and number two in the world rankings *
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
, number one in the world rankings *
Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian ( hy, Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster, who currently plays for the United States Chess Federation. A chess prodigy, he earned the title ...
, number three in the world rankings *
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess 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 chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in 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 Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (born 20 June 1991) is a chess player from Kazakhstan. She received the FIDE titles of Woman Grandmaster (WGM) in 2012 and International Master (IM) in 2018. Nakhbayeva competed in the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2013–14 ...
(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 The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved c ...
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 and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating ...
, world champion *
Magnus Carlsen Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has ...
, number one in the world rankings *
Levon Aronian Levon Grigori Aronian ( hy, Լևոն Գրիգորի Արոնյան, Levon Grigori Aronyan; born 6 October 1982) is an Armenian chess grandmaster, who currently plays for the United States Chess Federation. A chess prodigy, he earned the title ...
, number two in the world rankings *
Vladimir Kramnik Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess 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 Gawain Christopher Bernard Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012 and 2017. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013, ...
, 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 Melkumyan ( hy, Հրանտ Մելքումյան; 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 ches ...
(2649) and Dutch GM
Robin van Kampen Robin van Kampen (born 14 November 1994) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. At the age of 14, he won the Dutch U20 Championship. He achieved his grandmaster (GM) title at the age of 16 years, 8 months and 17 days. Van Kampen has represented the Neth ...
(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 borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...
, 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 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak Elo rating system, rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the hi ...
, London Mayor
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
and
Kenneth Rogoff Kenneth Saul Rogoff (born March 22, 1953) is an American economist and chess Grandmaster. He is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and professor of economics at Harvard University. Early life Rogoff grew up in Rochester, New Yo ...
, 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 Julian Michael "Jules" Hodgson (born 25 July 1963 in London) is a British chess player, grandmaster, and former British chess champion. Biography He first came to the notice of the chess world for his achievements as a junior, whilst at Ha ...
.


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. 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 chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...
,
Aleksandr Lenderman Aleksandr "Alex" Lenderman (born September 23, 1989) is an American chess grandmaster. He won the 2005 World Under-16 Championship in Belfort with a score of 9/10 (+8 −0 =2), becoming the first American to win a gold medal at the World You ...
, Eric Hansen, Daniel Naroditsky,
Nicholas Pert Nicholas Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess grandmaster. Pert was the World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 2004. He has represented England at the highest level, including the 37th Ches ...
, Alon Greenfeld, Simon Williams 8 ... (405 players). FIDE Open: Kamil Dragun, Bai Jinshi 7½/9, Vladislav Tkachiev,
Bartosz Socko Bartosz is a Polish given name and a surname derived from Bartłomiej, the Polish cognate of Bartholomew. People with the given name * Bartosz Beda, Polish contemporary artist * Bartosz Bereszyński (born 1992), Polish footballer * Bartosz Bia ...
, Aleksandr Lenderman, Alexandr Fier, Alon Greenfeld, Jacek Stopa 7 ... (211 players). Challenge Match:
Gawain Jones Gawain Christopher Bernard Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012 and 2017. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013, ...
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 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 Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess grandmaster. Pert was the World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 2004. He has represented England at the highest level, including the 37th Ches ...
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 Jahongir Vakhidov (born 1995) is an Uzbekistani chess player who holds the title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster, which he was awarded in 2014. Vakhidov was joint winner of the Hastings International Chess Congress in 2013/14 and 2015/16. He ...
, Daniel Sadzikowski 7 ... (247 participants). Super Rapidplay Open:
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 Melkumyan ( hy, Հրանտ Մելքումյան; 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 ches ...
8.5,
Aleksandr Lenderman Aleksandr "Alex" Lenderman (born September 23, 1989) is an American chess grandmaster. He won the 2005 World Under-16 Championship in Belfort with a score of 9/10 (+8 −0 =2), becoming the first American to win a gold medal at the World You ...
, Eric Hansen,
Nicholas Pert Nicholas Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess grandmaster. Pert was the World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 2004. He has represented England at the highest level, including the 37th Ches ...
,
Romain Édouard Romain Édouard (born 28 November 1990) is a French chess grandmaster. Born in Poitiers, Édouard has been playing chess since the age of five, and joined his first tournament in 2001. He was trained by fellow French Grandmaster Olivier Renet du ...
, Jon Ludvig Hammer,
Sergey Grigoriants Sergey Mikhailovich Grigoriants (russian: Сергей Михайлович Григорьянц; born 2 November 1983) is a Russian chess player, who was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 2003. Chess career Grigoriants won the U14 sect ...
, Rinat Jumabayev, David Eggleston,
Tamas Fodor Tamas may refer to: * ''Tamas'' (philosophy), a concept of darkness and death in Hindu philosophy * Tamás (name), a given name in Hungarian (Thomas) * ''Tamas'' (film), a 1987 TV series/movie directed by Govind Nihalani * ''Tamas'' (novel), a 1 ...
8 ... (368 participants). Pro-Biz Cup:
Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraJosip Asik (CEO of
Chess Informant Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) is a publishing company from Belgrade (Serbia, former Yugoslavia) that periodically (since 2012, four volumes per year) produces a book entitled ''Chess Informant'', as well as the '' Encyclopaedia of Chess O ...
) 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 chess grandmaster, columnist, coach, and commentator, who is the vice-president of FIDE since October 2018. Short earned the Grandmaster title at the age of 19, and was ranked third in the ...
beat David Howell 3½-2½ in the final. FIDE Open:
Étienne Bacrot Étienne Bacrot (; born 22 January 1983) is a French chess grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy. He competed at the Candidates Matches in 2007 and won the Aeroflot Open in 2009. He passed 2700 FIDE rating in 2004 and in January 200 ...
(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 American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United St ...
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 ...
beat David Howell in the final by 6−8. FIDE Open:
Gabriel Sargissian Gabriel Eduardi Sargissian ( hy, Գաբրիել Էդուարդի Սարգսյան, ''Gabriel Eduardi Sargsyan''; born 3 September 1983) is an Armenian chess grandmaster. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the Chess Olympi ...
,
Hrant Melkumyan Hrant Melkumyan ( hy, Հրանտ Մելքումյան; 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 ches ...
and Sébastien Mazé shared first place, scoring 7½/9.


2018 Classic: 11–17 December

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.


Subsidiary events

British Knockout Championship:
Gawain Jones Gawain Christopher Bernard Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012 and 2017. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013, ...
beat
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 ...
in the final by 21−7. FIDE Open: Jules Moussard and
Nicholas Pert Nicholas Pert (born 22 January 1981) is an English chess grandmaster. Pert was the World Under-18 Chess Champion in 1998 and British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 2004. He has represented England at the highest level, including the 37th Ches ...
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 (chess player), Anton Smirnov, both scoring 7½/9. No-castling Exhibition Match -
Gawain Jones Gawain Christopher Bernard Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012 and 2017. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013, ...
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, with the international calendar being busy with the Candidates Tournament 2020–2021, Candidates Tournament and the FIDE Online Chess Olympiad 2020, FIDE Online Chess Olympiad, there was no London Chess Classic 2020. In 2021, the Chess Classic returned, but was not part of the Grand Chess Tour 2021. Taking place while the World Chess Championship 2021, 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 English Chess Federation, England team comprised Michael Adams,
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 ...
and
Gawain Jones Gawain Christopher Bernard Jones (born 11 December 1987) is an English chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 2007. He won the British Chess Championship in 2012 and 2017. He competed in the FIDE World Cup in 2013, ...
. Invited grandmasters Boris Gelfand, Nikita Vitiugov and Maxime Lagarde 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, 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>


References


External links


Official festival websiteTWIC reportsGuardian articleBBC News article
{{Chess tournaments Chess competitions Chess in London 2000s in London 2010s in London Olympia London International sports competitions in London Recurring sporting events established in 2009 2009 establishments in England