Gukesh Starts Candidates Mission With Win

GMs Gukesh Dommaraju and Michael Adams picked up wins on the first day of the 2023 London Chess Classic, the 13th edition of an event that was first won by GM Magnus Carlsen back in 2009. GM Hans Niemann made a quiet draw after rushing in from Zagreb, while 14-year-old IM Shreyas Royal got off to a good start with a 54-move draw against GM Luke McShane.

The London Chess Classic continues with round two on Saturday, December 2, at 9:15 a.m. ET/15:15 CET/7:45 p.m. IST.

Round 1 Results

The return of the London Chess Classic is reason for celebration, even if this year's event isn't quite on the level of the glory days of old.

• London Chess Classic Returns
• Hans Niemann Show Is In Town
• Gukesh Chases Candidates Spot
• Adams Weaves His Webs
• Shreyas Royal: The Future Of English Chess?

London Chess Classic Returns

The London Chess Classic burst onto the chess scene in 2009 as the strongest chess event to be held in the U.K. in 25 years. Local heroes GMs Adams, Nigel Short, David Howell, and McShane took on international stars GMs Vladimir Kramnik, Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Ni Hua. Nineteen-year-old Carlsen won, and with that victory started 2010 as the official world number-one for the first time. 

A year later, and Ni Hua was replaced by the then-world champion GM Viswanathan Anand, and the London Chess Classic was not only the strongest chess event ever held in the U.K. but one of the world's top tournaments. Carlsen won again, then Kramnik took the 2011 title, before Carlsen picked up a third win in four years in 2012, when Women's number-one GM Judit Polgar joined the show.

Many years have flown by (since this pic was taken). Not like a second, although sometimes it seems like it.😉I wish you the best for the next 33, and the more to come! ☘
Happy (33rd) birthday, @MagnusCarlsen!🥂#ChessConnectsUs
📷Ray Morris-Hill (2012 London Chess Classic) pic.twitter.com/xNHKxmCMII

— Judit Polgar (@GMJuditPolgar) November 30, 2023

A year later, Nakamura won what became a 16-player rapid, with the format continually altered. The London Chess Classic had eight players, then nine, then 16, then six, then 10, then twice just four players, as it functioned as the knockout finals of the Grand Chess Tour.

The chain was broken by the pandemic in 2020, while in 2021 an England vs. The Rest of the World match featured just six players, though it's notable that one of the World's players, GM Nikita Vitiugov, now represents England.

The tournament wasn't held in 2022, but now Vitiugov plays in the 2023 edition, which is a 10-player classical event with a £15,000 ($19,000) top prize. The English contingent also includes two of the players who took part in the first Classic in 2009: Adams and McShane. 

The event is still organized by the charity Chess in Schools and Communities, though sadly, this time around, the event is being held in a small venue with no audience rather than in the large conference center packed with children, which we'd known in the past.  

The Hans Niemann Show Is In Town

Niemann starts the tournament as the fourth seed with a modest 2667 rating, but that's only because the December rating list came too late to register the 2693.8 live rating he's climbed to after a simply stunning 8/9 in the Tournament of Peace in Zagreb. Controversy followed, with three players in the event questioning a lack of anti-cheating measures other than a delay, but Niemann is used to living in a storm by now.

The very next day, after traveling from Zagreb to London and undergoing a pre-round scan along with all the players, he sat down opposite the always-aggressive French GM Jules Moussard. Niemann picked the most solid defense possible, the Berlin, but even there, Moussard tried to spice things up. 

18.h4! is a tricky move by Jules Moussard! #LondonChessClassic pic.twitter.com/JWkdb2X4yz

— chess24.com (@chess24com) December 1, 2023

18...Bxh4? 19.Rxe8+! and White would be close to winning, but after 18...Bxf4! the game fizzled out into a 31-move draw.

Niemann is enjoying himself, and it's hard to imagine there won't be more drama to come. 

https://t.co/uRHHpEmiUz pic.twitter.com/JX9azzR5KL

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) December 1, 2023

Gukesh Chases Candidates Spot

The other big story before the event was qualification for the 2024 Candidates tournament in Toronto. After the Sinquefield Cup ended the day before, GM Wesley So found himself leading the race to qualify by rating, but GM Anish Giri holds a perilous lead in the FIDE Circuit race. Seventeen-year-old Indian prodigy Gukesh can overhaul Giri if he wins outright first in London, though that might not be the end of the story.

Interesting Round Robin in India with potentially huge implications for the FIDE Circuit and the FIDE Rating spot for the candidates. But zero info so far on the participants. Would love to know, who is playing there... 🤔https://t.co/y1pv4nlRO2 pic.twitter.com/9Kv7iZLPmn

— Paul Meyer-Dunker (@Meyer_Dunker) November 29, 2023

For now, however, all Gukesh can do is focus on London, and he got off to a perfect start with a convincing win over four-time Polish Champion GM Mateusz Bartel. Giri felt he was going to be in for a long day when Bartel played the French and the novelty 10...Nb6!?.

Good morning, Anish.🤦🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/Oa8QjtYqI2

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) December 1, 2023

It was a tough game for Black.

Giri summed up the game:

Life is not about result, it's about an adventure. Though, this time it was not especially entertaining.

— GMMatibar (@GMMatibar) December 1, 2023

Bartel had questions.

Is buying your courses brings luck?

— GMMatibar (@GMMatibar) December 1, 2023

 Adams Weaves His Webs

The veteran of the tournament is 52-year-old Adams, though as his recent victory in the World Senior Championship showed, he's lost little of his spider-like ability to trap and slowly overwhelm his opponents. In this case, 22-year-old GM Amin Tabatabaei was made to pay a very high price for one rash pawn move. 

While looking at our Game of the Day, GM Rafael Leitao comments:

"Adams is the co-author of an excellent book I read recently titled Think Like a Super GM. In this book, the GM, who is one of my favorite chess players in history and with whom I had the honor of playing twice, shows his decision-making process. One of the pieces of advice he gives that is useful for players of all levels is not to complicate a position that is already very favorable. He follows his own advice in the game we're analyzing. At times the computer suggests a sharper, possibly better move, but Adams prefers to control the game without adventures."

Shreyas Royal: The Future Of English Chess?

The remaining two games were vying with each other to see which would last longer. The first to flinch was the heavyweight struggle between Vitiugov and GM Andrei Volokitin, which was eventually drawn on move 44 after an equal game, except for one fleeting chance.

The other game saw the only non-GM in the field, 14-year-old Royal, face his first big test. McShane has been labeled the world's strongest amateur and has a peak rating of over 2700. The 2438-rated Royal could be forgiven for some trepidation, but he played the Sicilian and then held his own in a very complex middlegame. McShane is famous for grinding out wins in the longest games imaginable, but this time, he limited himself to playing on only until move 54 before making a draw.

That means Royal is already on the score table, which is a good thing since he knows he's going to have a target on his back every day! 

Standings After Round 1

How to watch the 2023 London Chess Classic

You can keep up with all the games and results of the tournament on our live events platform by following this link.

The 2023 London Chess Classic is a 10-player classical all-play-all tournament taking place in London on December 1-10. The players compete for a £15,000 (~$19k) top prize, with games starting at 9:15 a.m. ET/15:15 CET/7:45 p.m. IST.

Previous Coverage

• Gukesh Heads Field In London As Classic Chess Event Returns In December