So and Caruana Off to Great Start in London Classic

Grand Chess Tour leader Wesley So and US Champion Fabiano Caruana are off to a good start at the London Chess Classic, the final stop of the 2016 tour. Wesley began with a win over fellow American Hikaru Nakamura. This gave So a live rating over 2800, the 12th player in history to achieve the milestone.

[pgn] [Event "London Chess Classic"] [Date "2016.12.09"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2794"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:27:31"] [BlackClock "0:30:06"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Be3 c5 8. Rc1 O-O 9. Qd2 e5 10. d5 Nd7 11. c4 f5 12. Bg5 Nf6 13. Ne2 Nxe4 14. Bxd8 Nxd2 15. Be7 Rf7 16. Bxc5 Nxf1 17. Rxf1 b6 18. Bb4 Ba6 19. f4 Rc8 20. fxe5 Bxe5 21. Rf3 Bxc4 22. Re3 Bg7 23. Nf4 Rd7 24. a4 Bh6 25. g3 Bxf4 26. gxf4 Rxd5 27. Re7 Rd4 28. Bd2 Kf8 29. Bb4 Re8 0-1 [/pgn]

On his facebook fan page, So wrote about the importance of the moment for him: "Supposed to be working on my match for tomorrow BUT I wanted to publicly Praise my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today I passed the 2800 chess rating barrier and for most of my life I never even imagined a small fish like me could ever do that. Thank you Lord for such kindness to me. I work hard and try to discipline myself but I know that alone can't account for this success. Without YOU I am nothing." Nakamura rebounded with a win of his own over Anand in round three.

[pgn] [Event "London Chess Classic"] [Date "2016.12.11"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] [WhiteClock "1:01:34"] [BlackClock "1:04:41"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Bb4 7. e3 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. Nd2 Nxg3 11. hxg3 c6 12. a3 Ba5 13. Bd3 Kf8 14. Qc2 Nf6 15. O-O-O Kg7 16. Kb1 Be6 17. Nb3 Bb6 18. f4 Bg4 19. Rde1 Qd6 20. Rhf1 Rae8 21. Nc5 Re7 22. Qd2 Rhe8 23. fxg5 hxg5 24. e4 Nxe4 25. N5xe4 dxe4 26. Rxe4 Rxe4 27. Nxe4 Qg6 28. Nf6 Qxf6 29. Rxf6 Kxf6 30. Qc3 Bd7 31. d5+ Re5 32. Be4 g4 33. dxc6 bxc6 34. Bxc6 Bxc6 35. Qxc6+ Kg5 36. Qd7 Re3 37. Qxf7 Rxg3 38. Qd5+ Kh4 39. a4 Bf2 40. Qd8+ Kh5 41. Qe8+ Kg5 42. Qe5+ Kg6 43. Qf4 1-0 [/pgn]

Nakamura turned 29 on the day of his loss to So while Anand also "celebrated" his birthday on a losing day. Caruana began with 2/3 and a round two victory over Veselin Topalov. Caruana's current live rating is 2825, less than 15 points shy of Magnus Carlsen. Can you find his winning move in this critical position? Black to Move  Show Solution

[pgn] [Event "London Chess Classic"] [Date "2016.12.10"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2823"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:01:49"] [BlackClock "0:00:22"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. h4 Qb6 8. Na3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nb4 10. h5 h6 11. Bd2 a6 12. Bc3 Nec6 13. Rh3 O-O-O 14. Kf1 Kb8 15. Qd2 f6 16. exf6 gxf6 17. Rg3 Be8 18. Nh4 Bd6 19. Rg7 e5 20. dxe5 fxe5 21. Ng6 Bxg6 22. hxg6 e4 23. Rf7 Rhg8 24. g7 Ka7 25. Qxh6 Nd3 26. Bxd3 exd3 27. Re1 Bc5 28. Re6 Rc8 29. Qg5 Bd4 30. Re1 Bxc3 31. bxc3 Qb2 32. Nb1 Rce8 33. Qd2 Rxe1+ 34. Qxe1 d4 35. Nd2 dxc3 36. Nc4 Re8 37. Rxb7+ Qxb7 38. Qxe8 Qb1+ 0-1[/pgn]

 For more information, visit the London Classic and Grand Chess Tour Official Websites. Also follow Grand Chess Tour for live updates from WGM Tatev Abrahamyan.