London: The opponent was tough, from the same 2800 plus Club but the draw was short and easy. World Champion and NIIT MindChampion Viswanathan Anand and Levon Aronian of Armenia just belted out 25 moves before drawing their encounter in the 7th round of the London Chess Classic 2011 being played at the Olympia Conference Centre.
However the Classic after a all draw sixth round, once again came alive with Magnus Carlsen defeating Michael Adams, Vladimir Kramnik routing David Howell and Luke McShane busting Nigel Short. All the three winners are now jointly leading the nine player Category 20 event with 12 points each. A win here fetches 3 points while a draw garners just one point.
Overnight sole leader Hikaru Nakamura had a bye and assisted the commentary team and had to watch the others leap frogging over him as he stayed still on 11 points.
Anand and Aronian follow Nakamura with seven points each while Short is next with 4 points and Howell and Adams bring up the rear with 3 points each.
With just two more rounds remaining, Anand is out of contention for the title and on late Sunday evening will take on Carlsen with the White pieces. Anand incidentally will turn 43 today and would be hoping for a good result as a birthday present.
It was a Queen’s Gambit declined game between Aronian and Anand who played with the Black pieces. The variation opted by the players indicated very early that they were not averse for a ‘draw’ result and it was no surprise when they shook hands after repeating the moves.
Luke McShane has been the most impressive player in this tournament but has tough opponents in Anand and Kramnik in the last couple of rounds.
The race for the title is still wide open with Carlsen, Kramnik, McShane and Nakamura in contention. However Nakamura though one point behind the joint leaders has better prospects as he is pitted against both out of form British players, Adams and Short, where he will wield Whites in both games.
Round seven
Round 7: Saturday, December 10, 2011
Nigel Short 0-1Luke McShane
Vladimir Kramnik 1-0David Howell
Levon Aronian½-½Vishy Anand
Magnus Carlsen1-0Michael Adams
Hikaru Nakamura (bye) – assisting commentary
