After having already lost three games, Michael Adams was clearly determined to keep things solid against Levon Aronian. In fact the game was the driest so far this week, with easy equality for Black and a totally symmetrical structure.
The pawn structure in Viswanathan Anand-Vladimir Kramnik was also rather symmetric, but here the tension was maintained due to the presence of many pieces on the board. Kramnik had an annoyingly active knight which induced the exchange sacrifice from Anand. Then Kramnik sought to activate the other knight rather than count material. The dust settled and there was complete equality.
Luke McShane tried to avoid mainstream theory with an early kingside fianchetto against the Sicilian Defence. A short tactical sequance led to all the queenside pawns being exchanged.
In the all-English tussle between David Howell and Nigel Short, a c3-Sicilian transposed to the French Defence, an opening with which Short has great experience. Howell maintained a nominally superior pawn structure, so Short pushed in the centre leading to pawn exchanges and ultimately a dead drawn endgame.
Not the most exciting round, by any means!
The sixth round:
White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 0.5-0.5 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 39 | Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4 |
Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 0.5-0.5 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 34 | Spanish Berlin |
Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 0.5-0.5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 31 | Sicilian 3.g3 |
David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 0.5-0.5 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 36 | French Tarrasch |
Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2826) sat out the sixth round whilst helping out with the live commentary.
Here is the table after six rounds (noting that some players have only played five games):
Rank | Name | Country | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total (3, 1, 0) | Total (standard) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | . | . | 1 | 11 | 4 |
2 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | . | . | . | 1 | 9 | 3½ |
3 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | ½ | ½ | * | . | . | ½ | 1 | 1 | . | 9 | 3½ |
4 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | ½ | ½ | . | * | ½ | . | . | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3½ |
5 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 0 | ½ | . | ½ | * | . | 1 | ½ | . | 6 | 2½ |
6 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 0 | . | ½ | . | . | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | 6 | 2½ |
7 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | . | . | 0 | . | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | ½ | 4 | 1½ |
8 | Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | . | . | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | ½ | 3 | 1½ |
9 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 0 | 0 | . | 0 | . | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 3 | 1½ |
Further statistics:
Position | Name | Country | Rating (1/11/2011) | World Ranking (1/11/2011) | Age | Games played | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 10 | 24 | 6 | 11 |
2 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1 | 21 | 5 | 9 |
3-4 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 74 | 27 | 5 | 9 |
3-4 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 4 | 36 | 5 | 9 |
5-6 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 3 | 29 | 5 | 6 |
5-6 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 2 | 41* | 5 | 6 |
7 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 48 | 46 | 5 | 4 |
8-9 | Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 17 | 40 | 6 | 3 |
8-9 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 139 | 21 | 6 | 3 |
There are 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw in London.
(*Anand will be 42 on the 11th of December).
The details of the earlier rounds follow on below.
First round:
White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 0.5-0.5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 45 | Catalan with ...dxc4 |
Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 0.5-0.5 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 42 | Chebanenko Slav |
Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1-0 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 40 | Spanish with d3 |
Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 0.5-0.5 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 49 | Sicilian Najdorf |
Second round:
White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 0-1 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 43 | Four Knights Rubinstein |
Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 1-0 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 54 | Queen's Gambit 3...Be7 |
Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 0.5-0.5 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 79 | Spanish Neo-Archangel |
David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 0.5-0.5 | Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 35 | Spanish Anti-Marshall |
Third round:
White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 1-0 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 60 | Queen's Indian Defence |
Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1-0 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 41 | Quiet Italian |
Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 0-1 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 61 | Spanish with d3 |
Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 0.5-0.5 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 65 | Slav Defence |
Fourth round:
White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 0-1 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 71 | French Tarrasch |
Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 0.5-0.5 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 55 | Nimzoindian with g3. |
David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 0-1 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 37 | Scotch Opening |
Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 0-1 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 49 | King's Indian Classical Bayonnet |
Fifth round:
White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 1-0 | Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 55 | Bogoljubov Defence |
Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 0.5-0.5 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 55 | Chebanenko Slav |
Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 1-0 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 38 | English Opening |
Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 0-1 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 62 | Sicilian Moscow Variation |
The playing schedule (local time):
Rounds 1 to 3, the 3rd to 5th of December at 2pm.
Round 4 on the 6th of December at 4pm.
(Rest day on the 7th of December)
Rounds 5-8, the 8th to the 11th of December at 2pm.
Round 9 will be on the 12th of December at 12 noon.
For Los Angeles subtract eight hours.
For New York subtract five hours.
For Paris and Madrid, add one hour.
For Moscow add three hours.
For Mumbai add five-and-a-half hours.
For Sydney add eleven hours.
More information from the official site: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/classic.htm