London tournament announcement

[Carl Hibbard]

There is of course .... Rb6 which has blown my LCC 2010 invite

[John Moore]

Well I would have played Rb4 at some stage which forces the R back to the A file and play all the other stuff first.

[Carl Hibbard]

Tomorrow is going to be HUGE as with the three point system both Kramnik and Carlsen can win it!

[Alex Holowczak]

Tomorrow is going to be HUGE as with the three point system both Kramnik and Carlsen can win it!

With the 1/0.5/0 system, both Kramnik and Carlsen could win it. Adams and Howell just need to draw tomorrow to get 7 draws out of 7.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I'll hold my hands up - this has proven a bit more interesting than I expected after round 1

[Adam Raoof]

Carl Hibbard: Tomorrow is:

Round 7, Tue Dec 15th, 12:00

And the Open starts at 11am if you want to watch Hammer v Williams from the off!

There is of course .... Rb6 which has blown my LCC 2010 invite

we saved you a t-shirt

Adam

[Jonathan Bryant]

Tomorrow is going to be HUGE as with the three point system both Kramnik and Carlsen can win it!

With the 1/0.5/0 system, both Kramnik and Carlsen could win it.

True but with a traditional scoring system Carlsen would only need a draw to guarantee a share of first (and outright first should kramnik not win). With 3-1-0 if Kramnik wins and Carlsen draws then Magnus doesn't even get a share of first.

I have some reservations about 3-1-0 but it's simply not true to say it makes no difference. There are downsides but it's certainly left a more interesting last round than would have been the case under 1-0.5-0.

[Ola Winfridsson]

It's interesting to note that, at least at world class level, it doesn't really seem to make that much of a difference using the 3-1-0 scoring system (the only real difference is Luke McShane's position). Presumably this is due to the fact that, with or without Sofia style or similar rules regarding draw offers, the percentage of draws will generally be higher at this level in any event. Admittedly LCC is a rather short event.

Jonathan: It depends on what you mean by "difference". As far as I can see, the number of draws have stayed roughly same which perhaps was predictable. All games have been fighting games, but that would have been the case regardless of the scoring system, due to the rule restricting draw offers. Had the games Howell-Carlsen and Carlsen-Adams finished 0-1 and 1-0 as seemed likely in both cases, the 3-1-0 scoring system would have ensured first place for the Norwegian in the event of a draw tomorrow, whereas the situation would have remained unchanged with a normal 1-½-0 scoring.

[Anthony Higgs]

Magnus was very honest in the post-game analysis, admitting he had missed that had Mickey played 25...dxe3, his intended 26.Bd3 runs into 26...Bc5!! and White gets crushed e.g. 27. Bxc2 e2+ 28. Kg2 exf1=Q+ 29. Qxf1 Qc6+ 30. Kg3 Bd6+ 31. Bf4 Re3+ winning, as demonstrated by Malcolm Pein.

By the way one beautiful possibility discovered during the commentary session whilst the game was in progress was the following (all found though human endeavour rather than Fritz...)

26... Re5 27. exd4? Rxg5+ 28. Kh1 Qc6+ 29. Qf3 and now the fantastic 29...Rg3!! 30. Qxc6 Rxh3+ 31. Kg1 Bxd4+ 32. Rf2 Bxf2+ 33. Kf1 Rxc6 34. Kxf2 Rh1 35. Bf1 Rf6+ and wins.

I'd like to add my own praise to that of those who have commented before, the whole event was extremely professional and it was great to see schoolkids playing in the foyer before watching in the auditorium etc.

[Adam Raoof]

By the way one beautiful possibility discovered during the commentary session whilst the game was in progress
was the following (all found though human endeavour rather than Fritz...)
26... Re5 27. exd4? Rxg5+ 28. Kh1 Qc6+ 29. Qf3 and now the fantastic 29...Rg3!!

That was my contribution to the discussion [swells with pride]

[Carl Hibbard]

Carl Hibbard: Tomorrow is:

Round 7, Tue Dec 15th, 12:00

And the Open starts at 11am if you want to watch Hammer v Williams from the off!

There is of course .... Rb6 which has blown my LCC 2010 invite

we saved you a t-shirt

Adam

Thanks Adam, a bit annoyed I was not really well enough during my week off to attend

That was the plan, but there you go my weeks off are almost as rare as massive international chess tournaments

Still feeling s**t even now back at work

[Alex Holowczak]

True but with a traditional scoring system Carlsen would only need a draw to guarantee a share of first (and outright first should kramnik not win). With 3-1-0 if Kramnik wins and Carlsen draws then Magnus doesn't even get a share of first.

Well, I would argue that if Carlsen has beaten Kramnik over the board during the event, and the two players finish tied, then Carlsen deserves to win the tie-break in a 1/0.5/0 system.

[Carl Hibbard]

A big thanks goes out to:

David Clayton, Andy Howie, Steve Hughes and Stephen Connor

For the web site and the live games - you have no idea how much hard work the DGT boards and software are

[Matthew Turner]

No odds from Paddy Power today, but my predictions are three draws and a win for Mickey.

[Matthew Turner]

Is it just me, or is Magnus copying Anna Wang?