London Chess Classic FIDE Open

[IM Jack Rudd]

...e4 is thematic in these sorts of King's Indian positions, and yeah, even when it doesn't work, the opponent can easily go wrong.

[IM Jack Rudd]

Well, that was 29 moves of chess.

Weird way that one played out. One of those games where both players really need a win, and neither is willing to take any risks to do so.

[Jonathan Rogers]

This event looks like being quite the recovery from Smirin! Presumably he will now play for sole first?

[LawrenceCooper]

This event looks like being quite the recovery from Smirin! Presumably he will now play for sole first?

Yes, it looks like the two leaders can play each other and the four on six can all be paired. I'm nervously waiting for the final round pairings to see how many of my 4NCL team have a norm chance in the last round.

[LawrenceCooper]

Top pairings for Round 9 on 2024/12/07 at 1000

Bo. White Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Black Rtg
1 GM Smirin, Ilya 2574 6½ 6½ GM Sadhwani, Raunak 2677
2 GM Stefansson, Vignir Vatnar 2530 6 6 GM Korneev, Oleg 2459
3 IM Ghasi, Ameet K 2503 6 6 IM Wadsworth, Matthew J 2461
4 FM Czopor, Maciej 2383 5½ 5½ GM Petrov, Martin 2548
5 IM Thorfinnsson, Bjorn 2370 5½ 5½ GM Tan, Justin Hy 2510
6 GM Zhang, Pengxiang 2567 5 5½ IM Harvey, Marcus R 2491

[ThomasEvans]

Yes, it looks like the two leaders can play each other and the four on six can all be paired. I'm nervously waiting for the final round pairings to see how many of my 4NCL team have a norm chance in the last round.

By my maths (presuming the ratings on chess-results are all FIDE ratings and no nationals have creeped in):
Marcus Harvey - win as black vs Zhang for a GM norm
Matthew Wadsworth - win as black vs Ghasi for a GM norm
Maciej Czopor - turn up for an IM norm, no route to a GM norm

Other chances:
Li Wenxiang - turn up for an IM norm
Koby Kalavannan - win as white vs Hera for an IM norm

Norms lost through pairings:
Olivia Smith - needed to beat a 2218+ for a WIM norm, paired against a 2017
Sofiia Tashkinova - misses out on a WIM norm on titles of opponents (a draw is enough for TPR)

[LawrenceCooper]

Yes, it looks like the two leaders can play each other and the four on six can all be paired. I'm nervously waiting for the final round pairings to see how many of my 4NCL team have a norm chance in the last round.

By my maths (presuming the ratings on chess-results are all FIDE ratings and no nationals have creeped in):
Marcus Harvey - win as black vs Zhang for a GM norm
Matthew Wadsworth - win as black vs Ghasi for a GM norm
Maciej Czopor - turn up for an IM norm, no route to a GM norm

Other chances:
Li Wenxiang - turn up for an IM norm
Koby Kalavannan - win as white vs Hera for an IM norm

Norms lost through pairings:
Olivia Smith - needed to beat a 2218+ for a WIM norm, paired against a 2017
Sofiia Tashkinova - misses out on a WIM norm on titles of opponents (a draw is enough for TPR)

Thanks for the info, I thought that was the case for the three Wood Green players, for Maciej it will be his third norm and title.

[LawrenceCooper]

Board 1 has concluded in six moves, just before board 3 started.

[IM Jack Rudd]

5½/9 and a gain of over 40 rating points. I'd have settled for that at the start of the tournament.

[Joey Stewart]

Board 1 has concluded in six moves, just before board 3 started.

They were lucky that this game was overshadowed by the world championship - I see a lot of people in chats making negative comments towards ding and gukesh for getting too many draws (even though they are actually contesting each game) so couldn't imagine how much venom would be dished out for a 6 move draw!

[Nick Burrows]

5½/9 and a gain of over 40 rating points. I'd have settled for that at the start of the tournament.

Congratulations Jack - well played!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Thanks for the info, I thought that was the case for the three Wood Green players, for Maciej it will be his third norm and title.

Congratulations to Maciej Czopor.

Has the result for Aaravamudhan Balaji against Alexandr Fier in the final round been reported wrong, or does Lichess have moves missing? Maybe a loss on time?

[Jonathan Rogers]

5½/9 and a gain of over 40 rating points. I'd have settled for that at the start of the tournament.

Congratulations Jack - well played!

well quite - well done and thanks as ever for the entertainment.

[Jonathan Rogers]

No norms gained today then but the pairings were not helpful. I mean - one would have to be a very strong GM already in order to expect to beat Ameet with Black.

[Mick Norris]

Board 1 has concluded in six moves, just before board 3 started.

Sensible result for both players