The London Chess Classic is a chess festival held at the Olympia Conference Centre, West Kensington, London. The flagship event is a strong invitational tournament between some of the world's top grandmasters. A number of subsidiary events cover a wide range of chess activities, including tournaments suitable for norm and title seekers, junior events, amateur competitions, simultaneous exhibitions, coaching, and lectures.
In 2015, the London Chess Classic was one of the three events that comprised the inaugural Grand Chess Tour, the other two being Norway Chess and the Sinquefield Cup.
There was no event in 2020 and 2022. 2021 saw a match between England and the Rest of the World. In 2023 the London Chess Classic returned to the invitational format.
Winners {| class="sortable wikitable" ! # !! Year !! Winner |- |align="center"|1||2009|| |- |align="center"|2||2010|| |- |align="center"|3||2011|| |- |align="center"|4||2012|| |- |align="center"|5||2013|| |- |align="center"|6||2014|| |- |align="center"|7||2015||| |- |align="center"|8||2016|| |- |align="center"|9||2017|| |- |align="center"|10||2018|| |- |align="center"|11||2019|| |- |align="center"|12||2021||No individual event |- |align="center"|13||2023|| |- |align="center"|14||2024|| |- |align="center"|15||2025||
2009 Classic: 8–15 December The inaugural 2009 edition was advertised as "the highest level chess tournament in London for 25 years", referring to the Phillips & Drew Kings tournament held in 1984. It was held during the same time as the Chess World Cup 2009.
The field of eight grandmasters comprised the top four English players, and four international players, with top billing going to the former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, plus the future World Champion and then-current number one in the live world rankings, Magnus Carlsen. The tournament was FIDE Category 18, and had a prize fund of 100,000 Euros including daily best game prizes and a 10,000 Euro brilliancy prize for the game voted the best of the tournament. The games were broadcast live at a number of sites including Playchess and the Internet Chess Club (with live expert commentary provided by Chess.FM).
A major feature of the tournament was the use of a different scoring system, sometimes referred to as "Bilbao Rules"; players earn three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. "Sofia Rules" also applied, whereby the players could not agree a draw without the arbiter's permission, only to be given when there was deemed to be no purposeful play left in the position. With the added incentive of lucrative best game prizes, the intention was to maximise the potential for entertaining and decisive games. There were 17 draws and 11 decisive games.
The tournament was won by Magnus Carlsen, a victory that meant he would be world number one in the January 2010 FIDE world rankings list. Second place was taken by Vladimir Kramnik, and third place by David Howell, on tie-break from Michael Adams. The prizegiving took place at Simpson's-in-the-Strand, where Carlsen received a trophy and a cheque for the first prize (25,000 Euros). A trophy and 10,000 Euros brilliancy prize was presented to Luke McShane for his round five win against Hikaru Nakamura. The organisers announced that there would be another tournament in London in 2010.
The tournament organiser and director was International Master Malcolm Pein, manager of the London Chess Centre and the executive editor of CHESS magazine. The Festival Organiser was Adam Raoof, FIDE Organiser and Arbiter. The guest of honour was Victor Korchnoi. The ceremonial opening move was made by Evan Harris, MP. Tournament partners included Chessbase and the Internet Chess Club. The main pre-tournament public relations event comprised a blindfold display at the London Eye between Nigel Short and Luke McShane.
The tournament was simultaneous broadcast on London Chess Classic website, and the chess servers ICC, FICS and Playchess, as well as on Twitter.
Participants Magnus Carlsen, number one in the live world rankings Vladimir Kramnik, former world champion (2000–2007) Hikaru Nakamura, US champion Nigel Short, former world championship finalist and English number one Michael Adams, former world knock-out championship finalist and English number two Ni Hua, leading Chinese grandmaster Luke McShane, English number three David Howell, British champion and English number four
Tournament table {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ 1st London Chess Classic, 8–16 December 2009, London, England, Category XVIII (2696) ! !!Player !! Rating !!1!!2!!3!!4!!5!!6!!7!!8!!Points!!!!!!TPR |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left| | 2801|| ||3||1||1||3||3||1||1||13|| || || 2839 |- | 2 || align=left| | 2772||0|| ||1||1||3||3||1||3||12|| || || 2787 |- | 3 || align=left| | 2597||1||1|| ||1||1||3||1||1||9|| 1 || 1 || 2760 |- | 4 || align=left| | 2698||1||1||1|| ||3||1||1||1||9|| 1 || 0 || 2746 |- | 5 || align=left| | 2615||0||0||1||0|| ||0||3||3||7|| || || 2606 |- | 6 || align=left| | 2665||0||0||0||1||3|| ||1||1||6|| 1 || || 2599 |- | 7 || align=left| | 2715||1||1||1||1||0||1|| ||1||6|| 0 || || 2644 |- | 8 || align=left| | 2707||1||0||1||1||0||1||1|| ||5|| || || 2593
Subsidiary events Other tournaments organised during the festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round FIDE Rated Open, which were won by Arianne Caoili of Australia and Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway respectively, both with scores of 8/9.
Korchnoi gave two simultaneous displays during the event. To raise money for charity, one ticket to play him was auctioned on eBay for £410.
2010 Classic: 8–15 December The 2010 edition was publicised as "The UK's strongest chess tournament ever". The prize fund was substantially increased from the previous year and world champion Viswanathan Anand replaced Ni Hua in the list of participants. Coupled with the advances in rating of some of the competitors, the effect was to elevate the tournament's status to Category 21 on FIDE's scale, making it the strongest ever held in the United Kingdom.
The ceremonial first move was performed by the Indian High Commissioner, HE Mr Nalin Surie, and the format remained faithful to the previous year, adopting the three points for a win, one for a draw scoring system and 'Sofia Rules' in respect to agreed draws.
Live expert commentary was provided to an audience of up to 400 at the venue itself and was also put out as a live web transmission. Lawrence Trent, Stephen Gordon, Daniel King and Chris Ward formed the core of the commentary team, but there were numerous contributions from other distinguished players, including guests of honour, Viktor Korchnoi and Garry Kasparov.
The tournament was won by Magnus Carlsen, cementing his return to the world number one spot in the rankings. Anand and Luke McShane shared second place, and had the tournament been scored in the conventional way, then all three would have shared first place. The prize giving was once again held at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, Carlsen being presented with the trophy and a cheque for 50,000 Euros by his part-time trainer and mentor, Kasparov.
The tournament organiser and director was IM Malcolm Pein, manager of the London Chess Centre and the executive editor of CHESS magazine. The Festival Organiser was Adam Raoof, FIDE Organiser and Arbiter. The 2010 Festival won the English Chess Federation Congress of the Year Award. The tournament was simultaneously broadcast on London Chess Classic website, and the chess servers ICC, FICS and Playchess, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Participants Viswanathan Anand, world champion Magnus Carlsen, number two in the world rankings Vladimir Kramnik, former world champion (2000–2007) Hikaru Nakamura, US number one Michael Adams, British champion and English number one Nigel Short, former world championship finalist and English number two Luke McShane, English number three David Howell, English number four
Tournament table {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ 2nd London Chess Classic, 6–15 December 2010, London, England, Category XIX (2725) ! !! Player !! Rating !!1!!2!!3!!4!!5!!6!!7!!8!!Points!! !! !! !! !! TPR !! Place |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left| | 2802|| ||0||0||3||1||3||3||3||13|| || || || || 2816 || 1 |- | 2 || align=left| | 2804||3|| ||1||1||1||1||1||3||11|| 3 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2815 || 2–3 |- | 3 || align=left| | 2645||3||1|| ||1||1||1||1||3||11|| 3 || 1 || 2 || 1 || 2838 || 2–3 |- | 4 || align=left| | 2741||0||1||1|| ||3||1||1||3||10|| 4 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 2772 || 4 |- | 5 || align=left| | 2791||1||1||1||0|| ||1||3||3||10|| 4 || 1 || 2 || 0 || 2765 || 5 |- | 6 || align=left| | 2723||0||1||1||1||1|| ||3||1||8|| || || || || 2725 || 6 |- | 7 || align=left| | 2611||0||1||1||0||1||0|| ||1||4|| || || || || 2583 || 7 |- | 8 || align=left| | 2680||0||0||0||0||0||1||1|| ||2|| || || || || 2422 || 8
Subsidiary events Other tournaments organised during the festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round "FIDE Rated Open". WIM Arlette Van Weersel of The Netherlands won the former with 8/9, while GMs Gawain Jones and Simon Williams (both England) shared victory in the Open with 7½/9.
Korchnoi gave two simultaneous displays during the event and evening lectures were provided by GMs Jacob Aagaard and Boris Avrukh.
2011 Classic: 3–12 December The third edition once again featured the strongest chess tournament ever held in the UK. Organiser Malcolm Pein added a ninth player, the world number three Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian, ensuring that the world's top four players participated. With two extra rounds scheduled, play spanned two weekends and each day, one player sat out and joined the commentary team. Kramnik emerged the clear winner with 16 points.
Participants Viswanathan Anand, world champion and number two in the world rankings Magnus Carlsen, number one in the world rankings Levon Aronian, number three in the world rankings Vladimir Kramnik, former world champion (2000–2007) and world number four Hikaru Nakamura, US number one Michael Adams, British champion and English number one Nigel Short, former world championship finalist and English number two Luke McShane, English number three David Howell, English number fourCHESS magazine – Vol 76, August 2011, p 4
Tournament table {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ 3rd London Chess Classic, 3–12 December 2011, London, England, Category XX (2748) ! !! Player !! Rating !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! Points !! !! !! TPR |- |-style="background:#ccffcc;" | 1 || align=left| | 2800|| ||1||1||3||1||1||3||3||3||16|| || || 2935 |- | 2 || align=left| | 2758||1|| ||0||1||3||3||1||3||3||15|| || || 2888 |- | 3 || align=left| | 2826||1||3|| ||1||1||1||1||3||3||14|| || || 2879 |- | 4 || align=left| | 2671||0||1||1|| ||1||1||3||3||3||13|| || || 2853 |- | 5 || align=left| | 2811||1||0||1||1|| || 1 ||3||1||1||9|| 1 || 1 || 2740 |- | 6 || align=left| | 2802||1||0||1||1|| 1 || ||3||1||1||9|| 1 || 0 || 2741 |- | 7 || align=left| | 2698||0||1||1||0||0||0|| ||1||3||6|| || || 2613 |- | 8 || align=left| | 2633||0||0||0||0||1||1||1|| ||1||4|| || || 2570 |- | 9 || align=left| | 2734||0||0||0||0||1||1||0||1|| ||3|| || || 2499
Subsidiary events Other tournaments organised during the festival included the nine-round Women's Invitational competition and nine-round "FIDE Rated Open". IM Dagnė Čiukšytė (2327) of England and WIM Guliskhan Nakhbayeva (2227) of Kazakhstan shared victory in the former with 7½/9, while Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta (2640) was outright winner of the Open with 8/9.
2012 Classic: 1–10 December The format of the fourth edition closely followed that of the third. The winner was number one ranked Magnus Carlsen, whose performance also secured him the highest FIDE rating of all time. Scoring was done with Bilbao system, with 3 points awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss.