London Classic

Michael Adams described his victory at last month’s London Chess Classic as ‘probably my best ever result’. Rated fourth in the world in his prime, Adams has won countless tournaments, but was delighted that, at the age of 52, he could still triumph against a much younger field. The top seed was the Indian teenager Gukesh, who reached the world top ten earlier this year.

Adams scored two early wins in his trademark positional style against Amin Tabatabaei from Iran and Mateusz Bartel from Poland. But he got a lucky break in the sixth round, where the French grandmaster Jules Moussard’s exemplary play unravelled after a moment of carelessness. White’s bishop outshines its counterpart on f6, and Moussard decided it was time to strike.

Jules Moussard-Michael Adams

London Chess Classic, December 2023

(See left diagram)

31 Bxf7+! Rxf7 Ruefully, Moussard told me the next day that 32 f4 was his original intention here. That move wins, and for a player of his calibre, the following calculation is straightforward: 32…Qg4 33 Rb8+ Rf8 34 Qd5+ Kh7 35 Rxf8 and White easily escapes the checks, e.g.