Magnus Carlsen - London Chess Classic - Simonsen

December 15th

After a tense fight today, I won the London Chess Classics with 13 points, ahead of V.Kramnik at 12 and Howell and Adams at 9. With classical score my result was 5 out of 7 which is enough to secure sole 1st place on the January 1st 2010 (official) FIDE rating list, ahead of Topalov, Anand and Kramnik! This has been a long term goal and I would like to thank my coach G.Kasparov for his help in reaching this goal now.

I would also like to thank my main sponsors SIMONSEN Lawfirm and investment bank Arctic Securities for their support and for making it possible to continue the cooperation with Kasparov in 2010!
I've asked my father to go into more detail on the persons and organisations that has contributed significantly on my way to the top spot in his own blog later this month.

My game today against former World Championship finalist Nigel Short was a Sicilian Dragon. I was quite satisfied with the opening. In the middle game I got an advantage but let it slip at some point. In the endgame I once again got an advantage but probably not enough to win. I tried and after 5,5 hours play I made an oversight and got into some real problems, but through accurate defence the game ended in a draw an hour later. As Kramink drew with Nakamura a draw was enough to secure sole 1st place.

The prize giving ceremony was held as a private dinner at Simpson's-in-the-Strand, a venue with rich chess traditions which include hosting the "Immortal game" played between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky in 1851. It has been a great experience to participate in such a well-organised event in London. Thank you!

Magnus Carlsen
London December 15th 2009  

December 14th  

England has been one of the strongest western chess nations for more than a century. In the current generation Michael Adams has been their no 1 for most of the last decade but was recently overtaken by Nigel Short. At his peak, Adams was no 4 in the world (several times from 2000 to 2002) and does not lose often.

The opening phase of the game today went as planned for me. Despite mobile pawns on both sides the position was a bit static when I decided to attack on the kingside. It was a bit risky as well as premature as I hadn't completed my development on the queen side. I soon regretted opening up the position as I had underestimated the strength of his rook invasion. Both of us missed that he could get a winning advantage at this point. He was getting short on time and instead he went for a slightly better endgame which I managed to hold to a draw without any problems.
I'm not satisfied with my play today, maybe all the long games and hard fights are taking its toll. 
Kramnik won against Short and is trailing just 1 point behind me going into the last round. None of the others can catch us. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable spectators is contributing to make London Chess Classics a great event. It was also very nice to see SIMONSEN represented at the playing venue today!

Tuesday I'm playing black against Short while Kranmik is black against Nakamura.

Magnus Carlsen
London December 14th 2009

December 13th  

The chess played throughout most of the world wasn?t common in China until late 20th century, but for a decade or two their most promising players have moved and taken permanent residence in Beijing for extensive chess training when not playing in tournaments. This has resulted in several women world champions, and both the men and women teams are among the favourites in the biannual Chess Olympiad.

Ni Hua is one of the four best Chinese players and is currently ranked no 60 in the world.
In our game today I chose a somewhat unusual variation in the Sicilian opening. It is probably objectively playable but quite risky. I had overlooked a strong queen move he made in the opening, and spent nearly an hour on the first 10 moves. Fortunately I found a way to consolidate my position, and close to the first time control (move 40) he started to make some inaccuracies. With his last two moves before the time control his position went from difficult to lost, and he resigned a few moves later.

A tough game, and three important points today.
Kramnik drew with Howell, Adams drew with Short, while McShane beat Nakamura.
After 5 rounds I'm in the lead with 11 points followed by Kramnik at 8 and McShane at 7. We are also the only players having won any game thus far.

In the last two rounds I'm facing the two top British players Adams and Short.
Monday I play white against Michel Adams against whom I scored well in the past.

Magnus Carlsen
London December 13th 2009

December 12th  

The best known US chess player ever is of course the late Bobby Fischer. Gata Kamsky, who moved from Russia to the US in the late 80's was the top rated player both before quitting chess to study law and after his comeback in 2004. My opponent today Hikaru Nakamura overtook him about a year ago and was ranked as no 24 in the world on the official list.

I got a promising position in a very complex early middle game. Then I chose to trade off several minor pieces too early due to overestimating my position after the simplifications. For a while I tried to take advantage of his isolated e-pawn, but my opponent defended well and close to the time control I was even slightly worse when he made a small mistake. In the queen ending a pawn down I had to go for a perpetual check and a draw.

Surprisingly all the other games ended draw and consequently the tournament situation is the same as I'm leading ahead of Kramnik with three rounds to go.

I haven't seen much of London yet except for a stroll and restaurant visits in the evening, but I sure like it over here. Sunday I'm playing the black pieces against Ni Hua, China.

Magnus Carlsen
London, December 12th 2009

December 10th

My opponent today was David Howell, the 4th ranked British player. I played black and was well prepared in the variation he chose against the Sicilian Defence. Despite not calculating well today I got a promising position. Facing some difficult challenges he went astray in the first time trouble and blundered an exchange (a rook for a knight).

The rest of the game I would like to forget as soon as possible. Despite an extra pawn and the exchange I struggled to make any progress due to his well coordinated pieces and strong defence. I missed a fairly easy winning combination at move 52. In the end I gave up two pawns to try to activate my king but did not make progress. In the end a draw was agreed after 6,5 hours play.

A disappointing result after the promising position I had around the first time control, but two wins and a draw still constitute an excellent start of the tournament when going into the free day.
Today Kramnik won against McShane and got the brilliancy prize of round 3 which I received for round 1 and 2.

Saturday I'm playing white against Nakamura, USA.

Magnus Carlsen
London, December 10th 2009  

December 9th

My opponent today was 25 year old Luke McShane, the British number 3. Having studied at Oxford followed by a career in the City, he is now a full time professional chess player, and clearly stronger than his current rating of 2615. My current official rating is 2801 and depending on the opposition I may win or lose 2-5 or lose 5-8 points in each game. Today victory would yield 2.6 points, and a draw or loss 2.4 and 7.4 rating loss respectively.

I played white and he chose the King Indian Defence against my 1.d4. I got a pleasant position in the early middle game but probably overestimated my possibilities. Despite his time trouble he continued to pose difficulties throughout most of the game. Well after the first time control I won a pawn and in the difficult endgame he went astray and resigned after 6 hours hard fight. It was a really tough game and I'm nearly as satisfied with today's victory as the one yesterday against Kramnik.

Kramnik beat Ni Hua and after two rounds I have a 6 points (3-1-0 scoring) followed by Kramnik and McShane at 3 points each. 19-year old David Howell is my opponent tomorrow, and I'll play black.

Magnus Carlsen
London, December 9th 2009.

December 8th 

The game against Kramnik today was quite important as we're ranked one and two in this tournament. A couple of hundred spectators followed the games in the auditorium.

I played 1.c4 and the English opening. The ambition was to obtain a complicated position but not necessarily an advantage out of the opening. Kramnik seems slightly uncomfortable in the kind of position that arose. I won a pawn after a tense middle game, but black had considerable compensation. At this point he made several inaccuracies and around the first time control his position went from being difficult to being lost. He resigned a few moves after the time control in face of mate or big material losses. That evens our internal score in classical chess (two victories each) and I've got a wonderful start to this tournament! 7th ranked Luke McShane won a marathon endgame against Nigel Short while the other two games ended with draw.

I commented on the game for a large audience and press after the game. I'm impressed by the interest in the tournament so far. Wednesday I'm playing white against co-leader McShane.

Magnus Carlsen,
London December 8th 2009.

December 7th

It has been two weeks since Tal Memorial and the Blitz World Championship. A new challenge is just around the corner with the London Chess Classics tournament starting tomorrow. My opponents are Kramnik, Russia, Nakamura, USA, Ni Hua from China as well as the top four ranked British players Short, Adams, McShane and Howell. Last week Kasparov visited Oslo for a few days. We had a good training session preparing for the London tournament.

It is my first visit to London and England and it feels good to be here. Today there was a press conference and I've given some interviews. This afternoon I got the chance to play tennis with 1987 Wimbledon winner Pat Cash. Great fun and interesting to pick up some good advice.

For the third time in a row in classical tournaments I picked start number one in the drawing of lots, resulting in four white games and three with the black pieces. Tomorrow I'll play white against second ranked Vladimir Kramnik in round 1, just like in Moscow in November.

Magnus Carlsen,
London, December 7th 2009.