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Please note
that if winners
do not notify us
of their bank
details by
Friday midday
the 20th of
December the
payment will be
delayed until
the New Year.
Complete list of
winners
Please send your
details to |
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Press Release 6,
8 December
2019
-
China�s Ding Liren
secures the 2019
Grand Chess Tour
title with an
impressive win and a
trouble-free draw in
the Rapid games on
Day 6, winning with
an emphatic 15-5
scoreline
-
A confident Ding
talks of his
prospects in the
upcoming Candidates
tournament, saying,
�When I am in my
best shape, I can
compete with anyone
else�
-
Magnus wraps up
third-place playoff
match against Lev
Aronian, despite
blundering into a
surprise checkmate
in the first Rapid
game
Ding Liren
became the Grand Chess Tour
Champion for the first time,
triumphing over Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave at the
London Chess Classic to
clinch the title 15-5 and
take the winner�s prize of
$150,000.
The Chinese star
was never in trouble in the
Final, crossing the finish
line after just two Rapid
games on Sunday.
Read more ...
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Final Game 2,
7 December 2019
-
Ding Liren
opens up a clear 9-3 lead in the Grand Chess Tour Final
after a majestic rook swing and kingside attack sweeps
aside Maxime Vachier-Lagrave�s defences
-
Magnus
Carlsen pulls off a �harrowing escape� after being dead
lost against Lev Aronian, extending to 107 his unbeaten
run in classical games
Ding Liren
produced a brilliant attacking
game to pull ahead of Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave on Day 2 of the
Grand Chess Tour Final,
defeating the Frenchman in 50
moves after a slow build-up
exploded into life with a sudden
switch to a kingside onslaught.
The critical moment came when the Chinese star
once again played a courageous g-pawn advance in front of
his own king (33 g4!).
Read more ...
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Final Game 1, 6 December 2019
-
Ding Liren and Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave draw first Classical game of Grand Chess
Tour Final after spectacular tussle involving 4 queens
on the board
-
Magnus Carlsen overcomes
sterling resistance by Lev Aronian in third-place
playoff match
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave performed another act of
escapology to draw the first game of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour Final
against Ding Liren, surviving a death-defying four-queen ending after
appearing to be dead lost.
Ding came tantalisingly close to winning after
deploying a brilliant attacking concept � but the Frenchman survived
after Ding missed a couple of clear wins in the queen and pawn endgame.
Read more ...
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6 December 2019
Imagine there�s no castling, and no reams of opening theory. Would
that change how you play chess � and could it prevent a boring drawfest
in top-class Grandmaster games?
That�s the theory being
promoted by former World
Champion Vladimir Kramnik and
tested by Google DeepMind�s
AlphaZero in scores of self-play
games. Instead of picking up
your king, and then your rook,
and niftily playing hopscotch
with them, there�s a new game in
town.
All the other rules of normal chess apply, but there�s no more
playing it safe: Now the king will be engaged in hand-to-hand combat in
the middle of the board, and full-scale battle will take place not after
25 moves of Ruy Lopez theory, but right from move one.
Read more ...
Photo � Chessbase
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6 December 2019
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren go into Grand Chess Tour Final as
strong winners after defeating Magnus Carlsen and Lev Aronian,
respectively.
MVL�s dramatic Semi-Final win
over the World Champion widely
seen as epic battle, with The
Frenchman showing coolness under
fire in decisive Sicilian
Najdorf slugfest.
Magnus Carlsen disappointed but gracious in defeat, now faces Lev
Aronian in third-place playoff match.
The stage is set for a thrilling Grand Chess Tour Final between Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren starting Friday after the Frenchman
sensationally knocked out World Champion Magnus Carlsen in an epic
climax to their Semi-Final full of exciting rapid, blitz and playoff
games.
Read more ...
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6 December 2019
Luke McShane
and
Russell Picot took
first place in the
2019 Pro-Biz Cup,
finishing ahead of the formidable duo of
World Champion
Magnus Carlsen
and
Demis Hassabis,
the CEO of artificial intelligence company
Google DeepMind. After scores were tied in
three rounds of pairs chess, Picot won a
dramatic playoff game in single combat
against Hassabis.
The result underlines the strong relationship between the UK�s top
players and London�s financial sector, which has existed since the days
of the English Chess Explosion of the 1970s and 80s.
Picot is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the HSBC Pension Fund,
while McShane formerly worked as a trader in the City and has been
described as the �world�s strongest amateur player�.
Read more ...
More photos here.
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Re-Cap Day 3, 4 December 2019
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and
Ding Liren will meet in the finals after
defeating Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian
respectively. While Ding was dominant in his
match, Vachier-Lagrave had to go all the way
to tiebreaks to secure his spot.
Ding and Vachier-Lagrave will be competing for the
$150,000 first place prize and the title of Grand Chess Tour Champion,
while Carlsen and Aronian will battle it out for the third place
qualifying spot to the 2020 GCT in addition to a $60,000 prize.
Read more ...
Replay Day 3 Video Broadcast
Replay GCT Games
Play resumes in the GCT finals on
Friday 6 Dec at 16.00. Today is set aside for corporate activities
including the Pro-Biz Cup. Watch the live
action here.
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Round-up Day 2, 3 December 2019
An exciting day of Rapid & Blitz in
prospect after honours even in both Grand
Chess Tour Semi-Finals.
Magnus Carlsen uncorks 2nd opening surprise on MVL in 2 days, getting
slightly better of a draw with Black in a fashionable Open Ruy Lopez
variation.
First Ding Liren and then Lev Aronian falter, with both players
looking slightly under par.
Read more ...
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Round-up Day 1, 2 December 2019
Magnus Carlsen & Maxime Vachier-Lagrave duke it out to a fighting
draw in unconventional Najdorf in their opening Grand Chess Tour
Semi-Finals game.
The other GCT Semi-Final
sees Lev Aronian & Ding
Liren halve the point with
perpetual check in 28 moves.
David Howell draws first blood in British Knockout Semi-Finals,
turning around a lost position against Gawain Jones.
The first day of the Grand Chess Tour Semi-Finals saw a sharp battle
in the Sicilian Najdorf between Magnus Carlsen and Maxime-Vachier
Lagrave after the World Champion essayed an unusual opening plan (6 Bg5
and 7 f3) � a hybrid between an English Attack (6 Be3 and 7 f3) and a
Main Line Najdorf (6 Bg5).
Read more ...
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Press Release 3,
26 November 2019
-
Magnus Carlsen
hot favourite for
Grand Chess Tour Finals
at next week�s
London Chess Classic
after imperious 27/36
performance at Tata
Steel India Rapid &
Blitz;
-
Ding Liren
emerges as potentially
strongest challenger to
Magnus after beating
the World Champion twice in
blitz games in Kolkata;
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Vishy Anand
sensationally crashes
out after missing
brilliancy against
Magnus, giving
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
fourth qualifying place
for London;
-
Monday�s Semi-Final
matchup pits MVL against
Magnus, just days before
Frenchman faces another
tough test to qualify
for World Championship
Candidates at Jerusalem
FIDE Grand Prix;
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Book your
spectator tickets online
now for
London Olympia on
December 2-4
(Semi-Finals) & December
6-8 (Final) to avoid
disappointment.
The line-up for the
$350,000
Grand Chess Tour Finals
at the London Chess Classic,
starting next Monday, 2nd
December at Olympia, has
been revealed as
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
squeezed into the fourth
qualifying place after the
dramatic elimination of
Vishy Anand.
Read more ...
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Press Release, 28 November
2019
The five members of the multiple medal-winning England Open team �
Mickey Adams, David Howell,
Luke McShane, Gawain Jones and Nicholas Pert
� are the top seeds in this
year�s
British Knockout
Championship,
which runs from
November 30 to December 8 at
London Olympia,
alongside the Grand Chess
Tour Finals featuring World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
The five top seeds will
be joined in an eight-player
Knockout tournament by three
qualifiers.
Read more ...
All results and games are here.
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Press Release 2, 21 October 2019
Tickets are now available for the biggest-money chess showdown of 2019 � The $350,000 London Chess Classic: Grand Chess Tour Finals � and spectators will be flocking to see World Champion Magnus Carlsen back in action at London�s Olympia Conference Centre on December 2-8.
Magnus is
� sensationally � already
mathematically qualified for
the four-way Knockout after
setting a blistering pace in
the 2019
Grand Chess Tour. With
two qualifying events to go
� Superbet in Bucharest
(Nov. 6-10) & Tata Steel in
Kolkata (Nov. 22-26) � he is
way out in front with 54.5
points, well ahead of his
nearest rivals Ding Liren
(37.8) and Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave (36.8).
Who will join the World No. 1 in London for the
thrilling combined contest of Standard Play, Rapid and Blitz is still up
for grabs � also in the hunt are Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian and
Sergey Karjakin (all on 25.5).
Read more ...
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Press Release,
20 November
2019
There�s something special for everyone this year at the London
Chess Classic.
Simultaneous exhibitions by legendary GMs John Nunn and Jonathan Speelman, a �Game Changer� lecture by Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan � and
discounted tickets to a new play on the epic 1972 Spassky vs. Fischer match.
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Press Release,
14 November 2019
- CSC has partnered with Hampstead
Theatre ahead of new play opening �
Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer.
- Partnership offers London Chess Classic attendees and chess fans
a third off ticket prices in opening weeks.
- Gripping play explores the 1972 World Chess Championship, played
against the backdrop of the Cold War.
- Discount can be accessed by entering the code LCC2019 at
checkout on the
Hampstead Theatre website.
Chess in Schools and
Communities has
partnered with Hampstead
Theatre to offer
attendees of this year�s
London Chess Classic
discounted tickets to
the exciting chess play
coming to NW London.
The play runs at the
same time as the London
Chess Classic.
Ravens: Spassky
vs. Fischer depicts
the celebrated �Match of
The Century�.
Read more ...
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