Wesley So Wins London Chess Classic 2016 and Grand Chess Tour 2016 Titles

It’s a proud moment for Wesley So. He ends the year on a high note.

This, after Wesley So drew his final round game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, while his closest contender for the London title, Fabiano Caruana, settled for draws as well against Anish Giri.

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 9 Results

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/london-2016-round-9-results.csv”]

Interesting to note that Veselin Topalov finally scored a win against Levon Aronian in Round 9. He’s not going home scoreless after all, although at the bottom of the ranking nonetheless.

Replay all Round 9 games below:[replay]

Wesley So Leads London Chess Classic 2016 with 1 Round to go

Wesley So is the clear winner of the Grand Chess Tour 2016 with one round to go, but is unsure yet if he wins the London leg.

All games were drawn in the penultimate Round 8, except, of course, no surprise there — the Topalov game.

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 8 Results

#WhiteResultBlack
1Caruana, Fabiano½-½So, Wesley
2Kramnik, Vladimir½-½Giri, Anish
3Nakamura, Hikaru½-½Aronian, Levon
4Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime½-½Adams, Michael
5Topalov, Veselin0-1Anand, Viswanathan

Replay all Round 8 games below:[replay]

London Chess Classic 2016 Ranking After Round 7

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 7 Results

#WhiteResultBlack
1So, Wesley½-½Kramnik, Vladimir
2Nakamura, Hikaru1-0Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
3Aronian, Levon½-½Anand, Viswanathan
4Giri, Anish½-½Topalov, Veselin
5Adams, Michael½-½Caruana, Fabiano

Replay all the Round 7 games below:[replay]

London Chess Classic 2016 Ranking After Round 7

#NameFEDRatingScore
1So, WesleyUSA27945
2Caruana, FabianoUSA2823
3Kramnik, VladimirRUS28094
4Nakamura, HikaruUSA27794
5Aronian, LevonARM2785
6Anand, ViswanathanIND2779
7Giri, AnishNED2771
8Vachier-Lagrave, MaximeFRA28043
9Adams, MichaelENG27483
10Topalov, VeselinBUL27601

Replay all the games in London Chess Classic 2016.

So, Caruana, MVL win in Round 6 – London Chess Classic 2016

GM Veselin Topalov appears to have made losing a habit in the first 6 rounds of London Chess Classic 2016. This is his fifth loss in 6 games. He is now out of the top 20 in the live ratings list.

His latest tragedy in the 6th round came from the tournament leader, Wesley So. Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won their games as well against Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian, respectively.

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 6 Results

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/london-2016-round-6-results.csv”]

Replay the games of Round 6 below: [replay]

Wesley So Still Leads London Chess Classic 2016 After 5 Rounds

We’re beyond halfway the tournament, with 5 rounds completed out of the scheduled 9.

In Round 5, only the English Mickey Adams won against Veselin Topalov:[replay]

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 5 Results

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/london-2016-round-5-results.csv”]

Topalov can’t seem to get his groove going in this tournament as he scored ½ only out of 5 games. This is a total opposite of his performance during the Sinquefield Cup.

Two in a row for Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura wins anew in Round 4 of the London Chess Classic 2016, the fourth and final leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, against Veselin Topalov.

This is the only decisive game of the round, all the rest were drawn.

Wesley So failed to capitalize on his 1-pawn advantage against his nemesis, Anish Giri, to settle for draws.

See the summary of the results of Round 4 in the following table:

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/london-2016-round-4-results.csv”]

Replay the games of Round 4 below: [replay]

Nakamura Wins in Round 3, London Chess Classic 2016

Hikaru Nakamura had a loss for his birthday against Wesley So in Round 1, but he was able to deliver a loss for his opponent in Round 3 against Viswanthan Anand, who was also celebrating his birthday on that day. It seems to be a bad luck to be playing in the London Chess Classic on your birthday.

The rest of the games were drawn.

Here are the results of the third round of the London Chess Classic 2016:

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/london-2016-round-3-results.csv”]

Replay all the Round 3 games below:[replay]

Ranking after Round 3 follows:

[csvtable file=”http://chesshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/london-2016-ranking-after-round-3.csv”]

Replay all the games played so far in the London Chess Classic 2016.

Wesley So Leads London Chess Classic at the end of Round 2

It was another action-packed Round 2 in the London Chess Classic 2016, as 3 of the 5 matches were again decisive:[replay]

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 2 Results

WhiteResultBlack
So, Wesley1-0Adams, Michael
Anand, Viswanathan1-0Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Kramnik, Vladimir½-½Aronian, Levon
Giri, Anish½-½Nakamura, Hikaru
Topalov, Veselin0-1Caruana, Fabiano

Wesley So wins anew in Round 2 against England’s very own, Michael Adams. This two-in-a-row outstanding performance catapulted his Live Ratings to break the 2800 barrier for the first time:

Live Chess Ratings as of December 10, 2016

London Chess Classic kicks off to some action

The London Chess Classic 2016, the fourth and final leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2016, kicked off to some action, when three of the five games in Round 1 were decided.

London Chess Classic 2016 Round 1 Results

WhiteResultBlack
Kramnik, Vladimir1-0Topalov, Veselin
Aronian, Levon1-0Adams, Michael
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime½-½Giri, Anish
Caruana, Fabiano½-½Anand, Viswanathan
Nakamura, Hikaru0-1So, Wesley

Hikaru Nakamura made a bad move as early as his 13th move with 13. Ne2 against Wesley So. The latter obliged and capitalized on the advantage and eventually won the game.

Replay all Round 1 games below:[replay]

Replay all the games played so far in London Chess Classic 2016.