The London Chess Classic is the final leg of Grand Chess Tour 2017 contained of 5 tournaments played over the year and across the globe. London Chess Classic is the second tournament after the Sinquefield Cup played by classical time control, with the total prize fund of 300.000 US dollars.
Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2799) became the Winner of the London Chess Classic 2017 in the very intense finish of the tournament which came to the tiebreak match which determined the Champion.
9 rounds weren’t enough to determine the Winner of the final leg of the GCT 2017, since Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2799) and Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS, 2729) finished the event with the same score of 6 points out of nine games. Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2799) fought for the playoff in the last round where he needed a victory to catch up Nepomniachtchi Ian who finished his last game in a peaceful manner, draw. Fabiano Caruana overwhelmed Michael Adams (ENG, 2715) and proceeded his race for the top with the tiebreak match against Nepomniachtchi Ian.
First two games played by the rapid time control ended in a draw after very intense struggles, when Caruana sharped the things but didn’t manage to win the winning position in the 3rd game played by the blitz time control. And just before the spectators expected the Armageddon game to be the last and decisive, Nepomniachtchi got stuck in troubles and forced to resign. This victory crowned Fabiano Caruana as the Winner of the London Chess Classic 2017.
Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2837) reserved the third place at the event by winning in the last round the game played against Aronian Levon (ARM, 2805) which was enough to achieve 41 GCT points and became the Winner of the Grand Chess Tour 2017.
The London Chess Classic 2017 took place in Olympia Conference Center in London, England, from 1st-11th December. The event was played in 9 rounds, Robin round system, with time control 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from the move one.
London Chess Classic- Official Website
Grand Chess Tour 2017- Official Website
Simultaneously with the main event, the Olympia Conference Center hosted London Chess Conference, FIDE Open, Weekday tournaments, Superblitz tournament and Pro-Biz Cup.
The 5th edition of London Chess Conference took place from 2nd-3rd December and comprised of two days of interactive presentations, workshops and debates with a main theme- Scholastic Chess, using chess for educational purposes.The Conference brought together eighty activists and researchers from 24 countries during the first weekend of the London Chess Classic.
Main conclusions made during the debates and discussions are:
- Most attendees accepted that a distinction must be made between scholastic chess and competitive school chess that is mostly an after-school activity delivered by chess tutors or teachers with the goal of finding and nurturing chess talent. It was noted that whilst most research scarcely details the method and content of chess instruction, future studies must look at precisely how chess is taught and how it is connected to the school curriculum.
- Another flaw with existing research studies is in their design. One cannot prove a causal effect without having both an active and a passive control group. “Chess instruction is not a magic bullet but has a good placebo effect”, said Professor Fernand Gobet who has been warning against this flaw in the study design for fifteen years.
- While a centre for scholastic chess research would be a very useful resource, it is not likely to materialise in the near future. More practical would be the establishment of a Journal of Scholastic Chess. The consensus is to start with the creation of an international network of scholars and key activists engaged in networking and project building.
- The next step will be to create a map of knowledge on which to base a future research agenda. Progress on this front as well as on the CHAMPS (Chess and Mathematics in Primary Schools) Erasmus Plus project that was launched at the conference will be reported at our sixth edition during the London Chess Classic in December 2018.
The 5th London Chess Conference was sponsored by Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) and the European Chess Union (ECU). Erasmus Plus contributed towards CHAMPS project members attending the conference.
The event was organized by: Chess in Schools and Communities, European Chess Union, Erasmus Plus CHAMPS project.