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2015 Grand Chess Tour / 2015 London Classic 67. ... Nxc5 68. Bd5! is very difficult to meet


for Black.


68. Ke5 Nfe2 69. f6 a5 70. a4 Kf7 71. Bd5+


71. ... Kf8? In the commentary room a cheer went up


from a posse of watching Norwegians as Nakamura chose the wrong move. After 71. ... Kg6! it is by no means clear that Carlsen can win. A tragedy for Hikaru as he has defended incredibly well to here. Now analysis engines were telling us that Magnus had only one way to win. But would he find it?


72. Ke4!! He would. 72. Kd6? is a mistake as it frees


the e2-knight from its defensive duties and allows 72. ... Nc3!; 72. c6 Nxc6+ 73. Bxc6 Kf7 74. Bd5+ Ke8 and White can’t win.


72. ... Nc2 After 72. ... Ke8 73. Ke3 completes the job


of paralyzing the knights: 73. ... Kf8 74. Bc4 Ke8 75. Bxe2 Ne6 76. Bh5+ Kd8 77. c6 wins.


With his victory in London, World Champion Magnus Carlsen also tops the 2015 Grand Chess Tour. Hikaru finds the best defense. The alternative


line is hopeless: 66. ... Nxf5+ 67. Kxf6 Nd4 68. c6 Nxc6 69. Bxc6+ Kd8 70. Ke6 Nd3 71. Bd6.


67. Kxf6! Carlsen turns on the afterburners, with just


two minutes (plus 30 second increments) left to think. He gives up the piece to clear the forward path of the f-pawn and also paralyze the two knights. But he would also have to reckon with a myriad other possibilities.


67. ... Nxf4 At A Glance


73. c6 Nc3+ 74. Ke5 Nxa4 75. Bb3! A very sweet move to win back a piece.


75. ... Nb6 76. Bxc2 a4 77. c7 Kf7 78. Bxa4, Black resigned.


See more about the Grand Chess Tour at grandchesstour.com.


London Chess Classic 2015


London Classic, final scores: 1st: Magnus Carlsen 5½; 2nd: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 5½; 3rd: Anish Giri 5½; 4th: Levon Aronian 5; 5th-7th: Alexander Grischuk, Fabiano Caruana, Michael Adams 4½; 8th: Hikaru Nakamura 4; 9th: Viswanathan Anand 3½; 10th: Veselin Topalov 2½. Rapidplay Play-off Semi-Final: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave beat Anish Giri 2-1 (after an Armageddon decider); Rapidplay Play-off Final:Magnus Carlsen beat Maxime Vachie-Lagrave 1½-½. Grand Chess Tour, leading final placings: 1 Carlsen 26, 2 Anish Giri 23, 3 Aronian 22, 4 Vachier-Lagrave 20, 5 Nakamura 19, 6 Topalov 18, etc.


London Classic Stats Round-Up: This was Carlsen’s fourth Classic victory, adding to his wins in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Other Classic winners have been Kramnik (2011), Hikaru Nakamura (2013, rapidplay k.o. format), Anand (2014). Carlsen’s first Classic victory in 2009 took him to the top of the rating list, where he has stayed ever since. His 2012 victory, with a Tournament Performance Rating (TPR) of 3021, took him over Garry Kasparov’s TPR.


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PHOTO: RAY MORRIS-HILL, WWW.RMHPHOTO.EU


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