Gukesh Escapes As Bartel, Tabatabaei, Volokitin Score 1st Wins

GM Gukesh Dommaraju pulled off a great escape against GM Nikita Vitiugov to retain the lead after round two of the 2023 London Chess Classic, with co-leader GM Michael Adams also drawing after a fierce fight with GM Hans Niemann. That let GM Andrei Volokitin catch them with a win over IM Shreyas Royal, while GMs Mateusz Bartel and Amin Tabatabaei both bounced back with wins after losing in round one.

The London Chess Classic continues with round three on Sunday, December 3, at 9:15 a.m. ET/15:15 CET/7:45 p.m. IST.

London Chess Classic Round 2 Results

Round two of the London Chess Classic felt like a vindication of the organizers' anti-draw approach of inviting fighting players and letting chaos ensue. The two draws were thrillers, while the remaining games were decisive, with Polish GM Bartel's victory over French GM Jules Moussard the pick of the crop. 

Bartel 1 - 0 Moussard 

Bartel had come in for criticism for his life choices in his round-one loss to Gukesh from some quarters (read: GM Anish Giri), but that didn't stop him from going all-out for the attack in round two. Another Polish GM, Kacper Piorun paraphrased Giri's "how to lose in three easy steps" from the day before to describe Bartel's win.

How to win a nice game in English opening

(a) play g4 if you can, because why not
(b) put bishop on b2
(c) just go for mate

So simple 😎 #LondonChessClassic https://t.co/jtMxHqr7fw

— Kacper Piorun (@kacparov91) December 2, 2023

That is our Game of the Day, with analysis by GM Rafael Leitao below.

Bartel also managed to land a blow off the board.

Well, there is not so much I could teach you, but my potential course "get an inferior position and have fun" might spice your chess up.

— GMMatibar (@GMMatibar) December 2, 2023

It was a good day for comebacks, with Tabatabaei also getting over his loss in round one to Adams, by defeating another English GM, Luke McShane.  

Tabatabaei 1 - 0 McShane

Just when a sharp struggle seemed destined to fizzle out into a draw, the Iranian GM created a passed pawn and, one or two inaccuracies later, the pawn had become an unstoppable juggernaut that left McShane with no choice but to resign. He must have wondered just how things had gotten so out of hand.

The third win was also sudden, but it contained some useful lessons for the youngest participant in the tournament.

Volokitin 1 - 0 Royal

In fact, the two lessons for 14-year-old Royal were combined. One is not to underestimate a strong grandmaster in time trouble, since at the critical moment Volokitin was down to under a minute while his opponent still had 10 minutes to spare. The other is the chess version of Murphy's Law coined by English GM John Nunn: LPDO, or Loose Pieces Drop Off. In this case the loose piece was the undefended rook on b6, which seemed in no immediate danger, until Royal played 29...Qd7?.

The draws made by the leaders going into the round are certainly no less interesting than the wins. 

Niemann ½ - ½ Adams

After a quiet Berlin in round one, in round two Niemann found himself playing a hyper-sharp English variation where he'd actually beaten GM Ding Liren in the Champions Chess Tour in 2022—but with the black pieces! With White, the computer claimed he was on the ropes, but the U.S. star played fast and confidently, while Adams struggled to navigate huge complications. In the end he managed, with some questions asked about the draw he took in the final position.

It seems Black is still better, but given the wild ride up to this point and a 42-minute deficit on the clock, it was understandable Adams decided to call it a day. Note that in the final position, the bishop on h1 isn't as trapped as it seems, since 35.Bf3!? is playable because of the pin on the e-file.

It was quite a game.

Last, but certainly not least, we had the clash between the two rating favorites of the event, Vitiugov and Gukesh. It didn't disappoint.

Vitiugov ½ - ½ Gukesh

When Vitiugov brought his bishop out to f4 on move six, he had already achieved the moral victory of playing the London System, or something very similar, in London. It very nearly became a chess victory as well, since after surviving heavy pressure for 38 moves, Gukesh cracked with 39...Bf7?, just before he would get an extra 30 minutes to think at move 40.

It looked visually questionable to remove the bishop from the key battleground on the a- and b-files, but if we learned anything from what followed, it's that same-colored bishop endgames are extremely tricky. Fortunately, there are always gurus on hand to help.

Published a lot of opening courses already. Thinking to start branching out and do one on the same color bishop endgames next!

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) December 2, 2023

Vitiugov looked to have done everything right, until 52.Kg7? undid hours of hard work and let Gukesh fans breathe a sigh of relief. After 52...h5! it turned out Black was just in time to save the game.

That thriller keeps Gukesh in a share of the lead, while Vitiugov and Niemann are the only players to have drawn both of their games so far.  

Standings After Round 2

How to watch the 2023 London Chess Classic

You can keep up with all the games and results of the tournament on our live events platform by following this link.

The 2023 London Chess Classic is a 10-player classical all-play-all tournament taking place in London during December 1-10. The players compete for a £15,000 (~$19,000) top prize, with games starting at 9:15 a.m. ET/15:15 CET/7:45 p.m. IST.

Previous Coverage

• Round 1: Gukesh Starts Candidates Mission With Win
• Gukesh Heads Field In London As Classic Chess Event Returns In December