The London Chess Classic 2012 starts on Saturday

by ChessBase
11/28/2012 – Reminder: in just three days we will see the start of this premium event which this year features a stronger line-up and an average rating higher than any previous chess tournament held in the UK. The event is staged by Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK registered charity whose mission is to deliver chess to primary schools in UK inner cities. Reports and info.

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News Release

27 November 2012 – The 4th London Chess Classic runs from 1-10 December 2012 at the Olympia Conference Centre, Kensington London W14 8UX. The official website is www.londonchessclassic.com.


Press conference at last year's Classic, with: David Howell, Luke McShane, Michael Adams, Levon Aronian,
Vishy Anand, Malcolm Pein, Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura, Nigel Short

This year’s line-up is stronger than ever, with an average rating higher than any previous chess tournament held in the UK. Heading the list are world champion Vishy Anand, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and the top two players on the world rating list, Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian.


How tall they are! World Champions: Kramnik, Anand, with Kramnik's daughter Daria

Playing for the first time is the world’s best ever woman player Judit Polgar. Completing the line-up are US champion Hikaru Nakamura and three leading players from Britain, Luke McShane, Michael Adams and Gawain Jones.

On 30 November at 14:00 GMT (09:00 EST) there will be a press conference at the venue, followed by a London Classic Stars versus the Twittersphere exhibition match played via Twitter, allowing the world’s chessplayers to test their mettle against Carlsen, Anand and co. The press conference will be streamed live via the net: questions are welcome and may be sent in advance to director@londonchessclassic or in real-time via the official Twitter feed, which is @LondonClassic. (Please use the hashtag #londonchess in your tweets.)

The opening ceremony for the Classic will take place at 13:45 GMT on December 1st, with play beginning at 14:00 GMT (09:00 EST). Play will be streamed live via the official website. Live play, timetable, course details and tickets are available here.


The London Chess Classic is a festival of the world’s most enduring game, which is staged by Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK registered charity whose mission is to deliver chess to primary schools in UK inner cities. Recent articles in top British broadsheets bear this out.

Chess makes a dramatic comeback in primary schools

Chess is making a dramatic comeback in primary schools – thirty years after it all but disappeared completely from the state school scene. In the past two years, a total of 175 schools – including those serving some of the most deprived areas of the country – have reintroduced the game to the curriculum. Now the charity behind its revival, Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC), is optimistic the take-up will spread to 1,000 state schools within the next three years.

Academics are agreed the game is a major stimulant for improving pupils’ concentration and believe it can also be used in other subject areas – such as maths – to improve skills.They could not have put it better than ten-year-old Olivia Kenwright, as she took a break from playing the game during a timetabled lesson. “It's like the brain thing she said. “It’s a really good game. It’s really good for helping out with other subjects.”

Chess returns to the timetable: Schools reintroduce game in attempt to improve children's brainpower

Schools are reintroducing chess lessons in an attempt to boost children’s brainpower. Three decades after it was virtually wiped out in state schools, the game is making a dramatic comeback. In just two years, 175 primary schools across England and Wales have introduced formal teaching in chess. It follows research suggesting the ‘game of kings’ brings a range of educational benefits including improved concentration and memory. The charity spearheading the revival, Chess in Schools and Communities CSC, said its aim was to expose as many children as possible to the benefits of the game. It added that the initiative was also beginning to produce a new generation of potential chess champions.


Tournament Information

The 2012 London Chess Classic will take place in the Olympia Conference Centre from Saturday, December 1st until Monday, December 10th. Games start each day in general at 14:00h London time, except for round four (16:00h) and the final round (12:00h). Time controls are classical forty moves in two hours, then twenty moves in one hour and thirty minutes for the rest of the game. A win is counted as three points, a draw as one, and a loss zero. Tiebreaks: 1) number of wins, 2) number of wins with black, 3) result of the individual game between the tied players. In the unlikely event that there is still a tie then: 4) 2 x 15'+2" games, and if necessary 5) Armageddon game: 6'+2" vs 5'+2" with draw odds for black. If there is a tie involving more than two players then the Rapid games will be conducted as a double round all play all.

There are nine players, including the three top-ranked in the world, make for a rating average of 2751. The player rested during each round will provide commentary on the games in progress.

Name Title
Country
Rating
W-rank
Born
Carlsen, Magnus Super-Grandmaster
NOR
2848
1
30.11.1990
Aronian, Levon Super-Grandmaster
ARM
2815
2
06.10.1982
Kramnik, Vladimir Ex-World Champion
RUS
2795
3
25.06.1975
Anand, Viswanathan World Champion
IND
2775
6
11.12.1969
Nakamura, Hikaru Super-Grandmaster, US Nr. two
USA
2755
13
09.12.1987
McShane, Luke Super-Grandmaster
ENG
2710
29
07.01.1984
Adams, Michael Super-Grandmaster
ENG
2710
32
17.11.1971
Polgar, Judit Super-GM, strongest female ever
HUN
2705
43
23.07.1976
Jones,Gawain Grandmaster
ENG
2644
112
11.12.1987

Pairings

Round 1: Saturday, Dec. 1st, 2012, 14:00h
Luke McShane
  Magnus Carlsen
Levon Aronian
  Hikaru Nakamura
Vladimir Kramnik
  Judit Polgar
Gawain Jones
  Michael Adams
Vishy Anand (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 2: Sunday, Dec. 2nd, 2012, 14:00h
Judit Polgar
  Gawain Jones 
Hikaru Nakamura
  Vladimir Kramnik
Magnus Carlsen
  Levon Aronian
Vishy Anand
  Luke McShane 
Michael Adams (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 3: Monday, Dec. 3rd, 2012, 14:00h
Levon Aronian
  Vishy Anand
Vladimir Kramnik
  Magnus Carlsen
Gawain Jones
  Hikaru Nakamura
Michael Adams
  Judit Polgar
Luke McShane (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 4: Tuesday, Dec. 4th, 2012, 16:00h
Hikaru Nakamura
  Michael Adams
Magnus Carlsen
  Gawain Jones
Vishy Anand
  Vladimir Kramnik
Luke McShane
  Levon Aronian
Judit Polgar (bye) – assisting commentary
Wednesday, Dec. 5th, 2012 Rest day
Round 5: Thursday, Dec. 6th, 2012, 14:00h
Vladimir Kramnik
  Luke McShane
Gawain Jones
  Vishy Anand
Michael Adams
  Magnus Carlsen
Judit Polgar
  Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 6: Friday, Dec. 7th, 2012, 14:00h
Magnus Carlsen
  Judit Polgar
Vishy Anand
  Michael Adams
Luke McShane
  Gawain Jones 
Levon Aronian
  Vladimir Kramnik
Hikaru Nakamura (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 7: Saturday, Dec. 8th, 2012, 14:00h
Gawain Jones 
  Levon Aronian
Michael Adams 
  Luke McShane
Judit Polgar
  Vishy Anand
Hikaru Nakamura
  Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 8: Sunday, Dec. 9th, 2012, 14:00h
Vishy Anand
  Hikaru Nakamura
Luke McShane
  Judit Polgar
Levon Aronian
  Michael Adams
Vladimir Kramnik
  Gawain Jones 
Magnus Carlsen (bye) – assisting commentary
Round 9: Monday, Dec. 10th, 2012, 12:00h
Michael Adams
  Vladimir Kramnik
Judit Polgar
  Levon Aronian 
Hikaru Nakamura
  Luke McShane
Magnus Carlsen
  Vishy Anand
Gawain Jones (bye) – assisting commentary

The games – except for rounds four and nine – start at 2 p.m. or 14:00h British time = 15:00h CET, 17:00h Moscow, 7:30 p.m. Chennai, 22:00h Beijing, 01:00 a.m. Melbourne, 03:00 a.m. Auckland, 6 a.m. San José, 9 a.m. New York. You can check your location here. Naturally the games will be covered live on the official web site (below) and on Playchess. The games of round four begin two hours later, those of the final round two hours earlier.


Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. Or you can get our latest Fritz 13 program, which includes six months free premium membership to Playchess.


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