Hikaru Nakamura was able to activate and more or less nullify White's opening. Although Kramnik had bishop against knight, this gave no real winning chances.
Michael Adams temporarily sacrificed a pawn for some positional pressure with only heavy pieces on the board. Anand played solidly, gave back the pawn and kept his queen active in the queen endgame, thus equalizing.
Levon Aronian played out the most double-edged game of the day with Luke McShane. Unusual complications eventually ending in perpetual check.
The first round:
| White | Country | Rating | Result | Black | Country | Rating | Moves | Opening details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 0.5-0.5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 45 | Catalan with ...dxc4 |
| Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 0.5-0.5 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 42 | Chebanenko Slav |
| Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1-0 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 40 | Spanish with d3 |
| Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 0.5-0.5 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 49 | Sicilian Najdorf |
Nigel Short (England, 2698) will be sitting out the first round whilst helping out with the live commentary.
Here is the list of participants with their points tally so far:
| Seed | Name | Country | Rating (1/11/2011) | World Ranking (1/11/2011) | Age | Games played | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1 | 21 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2811 | 2 | 41* | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2802 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2800 | 4 | 36 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2758 | 10 | 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Michael Adams | ENG | 2734 | 17 | 40 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Luke McShane | ENG | 2671 | 74 | 27 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | David Howell | ENG | 2633 | 139 | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2698 | 48 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
There are 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw in London.
*Anand will be 42 on the 11th of December.
The playing schedule (local time):
Rounds 1 to 3, the 3rd to 5th of December at 2pm.
Round 4 on the 6th of December at 4pm.
(Rest day on the 7th of December)
Rounds 5-8, the 8th to the 11th of December at 2pm.
Round 9 will be on the 12th of December at 12 noon.
For Los Angeles subtract eight hours.
For New York subtract five hours.
For Paris and Madrid, add one hour.
For Moscow add three hours.
For Mumbai add five-and-a-half hours.
For Sydney add eleven hours.
More information from the official site: http://www.londonchessclassic.com/classic.htm
