Join us for a very special 10th London Chess Classic from December 11-17, 2018.
The exciting finale of the Grand Chess Tour being fought out at the London Chess Classic, in a knockout format for the first time and with $300,000 at stake.
The semi-final battles, which will feature the 4 top players from the Grand Chess Tour qualifying events in Paris, Leuven and St. Louis, will be hosted by the pioneering artificial intelligence company, DeepMind, at Google’s London headquarters. Then the action moves to the London Chess Classic’s traditional venue, Kensington Olympia, for the final.
| DATES | December 11 – 17, 2018 |
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| LOCATION | Google's London Headquarters and Kensington Olympia |
| FORMAT | 4-Player Knockout |
| PRIZE FUND | $300, 000 |
| PHOTOS | For event photos, visit our Flickr page. |
| TICKETS | https: //tickets.londonchessclassic.com |
| Event Page | https://www.londonchessclassic.com |
The semi-finals will take place at the Head Office of Google UK (Six Pancras Square, Kings Cross, London N1C 4AG, UK) and entrance to these games will be by invitation only. The finals will take place at The Olympia Conference Centre (Hammersmith Rd, Hammersmith, London W14 8UX, UK) and members of the public will be able to purchase tickets to attend as spectators.
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Semi-Final pairings
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Semi-Final 1
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Fabiano Caruana |
Hikaru Nakamura |
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Semi-Final 2
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Levon Aronian |
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |
Schedule of Events
| DATE | TIME* | EVENT | VENUE |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 11 | 14.00 | Semi-Finals Classic Game 1 | Google Head Office |
| December 12 | 14.00 | Semi-Finals Classic Game 2 | Google Head Office |
| December 13 | 14.00 | Semi-Finals Rapid & Blitz & Playoffs (If Required) | Google Head Office |
| 14.00 | Rapid Game 1 | ||
| 15.30 | Rapid Game 2 | ||
| 17.00 | Blitz Game 1 | ||
| 17.30 | Blitz Game 2 | ||
| 18.00 | Blitz Game 3 | ||
| 18.30 | Blitz Game 4 | ||
| 19.15 | Rapid Playoff Game 1 (if required) | ||
| 20.00 | Rapid Playoff Game 2 (if required) | ||
| 20.45 | Armageddon Playoff Game (if required) | ||
| December 14 | Rest Day | N/A | |
| December 15 | 14.00 | Finals Classic Game 1 | London Olympia |
| December 16 | 14.00 | Finals Classic Game 2 | London Olympia |
| December 17 | 14.00 | Finals Rapid & Blitz, Playoffs (If Required), and Closing Presentation |
London Olympia |
| 14.00 | Rapid Game 1 | ||
| 15.30 | Rapid Game 2 | ||
| 17.00 | Blitz Game 1 | ||
| 17.30 | Blitz Game 2 | ||
| 18.00 | Blitz Game 3 | ||
| 18.30 | Blitz Game 4 | ||
| 19.15 | Rapid Playoff Game 1 (if required) | ||
| 20.00 | Rapid Playoff Game 2 (if required) | ||
| 20.45 | Armageddon Playoff Game (if required) |
Point Breakdown
Points are allocated to each game within the respective matches as follows:
- 6 points for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss in the 2 Classic games.
- 4 points for a win, 2 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss in the 2 Rapid games; and
- 2 point for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss in the 4 Blitz games.
Prize Fund
| Place | PRIZE |
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| 1st | $ 120, 000 |
| 2nd | $ 80, 000 |
| 3rd | $ 60, 000 |
| 4th | $ 40, 000 |
| Total Prize Fund | $300, 000 |
Regulations
Regulations for the 2018 GCT Finals
Arbiters
The Chief Arbiter is IA Anastasia Sorokina and the Deputy Chief Arbiter is IA Laurent Freyd. They will also officiate at the Pro-Biz tournament.