London chess fans are about to enjoy a great treat. The London Chess Classic will run from the 10-14 December with a tremendous line-up: Viswanathan Anand, fresh from his title challenge against Magnus Carlsen in Sochi; former world champion Vladimir Kramnik; world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana; as well as grandmasters Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura and Britain’s no. 1, Michael Adams. The venue, as usual, is London’s Olympia (www.londonchessclassic.com).
London has been the scene of outstanding chess ever since the celebrated André Danican Philidor moved here during the late 18th century and dazzled London audiences with his displays of blindfold chess. Another frequent visitor to London was the Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen who himself came close to winning the world championship. One of his exploits from a London tournament is given in this week’s puzzle. Meanwhile, Everyman Chess have published a fine collection of Larsen’s best games, written by the prolific Cyrus Lakdawala.
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