The fourth London Classic at Olympia, organised by the indefatigable Malcolm Pein, was the strongest of the series including, as it did, the reigning world champion, a former world champion and the current world ranked no. 1. In addition, the contest was graced by the strongest ever female player, Judith Polgar. Final scores, based on three points for a win, one for a draw and nothing for a loss, were as follows: Carlsen 18, Kramnik 16, Nakamura and Adams 13, Anand 9, Aronian 8, Polgar 6, McShane 5 and Jones 3.
Carlsen’s success was rewarded by his breaking of Kasparov’s all-time rating record of 2851. The new top ten in the 2013 world rankings are now as follows: Carlsen 2861, Kramnik 2810, Aronian 2802, Radjabov 2793, Caruana 2781, Karjakin 2780, Anand 2772, Topalov 2771, Nakamura 2769, Mamedyarov 2766.
The extracts and puzzle this week feature the top two players from the London Classic.
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