Caruana posts first win in London Chess Classic

Viswanathan Anand of India and Levon Aronian played out a 31-move draw in what turned out to be the first game to finish in two hours. The opening was a Ruy Lopez. It wasn’t quite the same as the line Aronian played with black in his first two games, but had more of a Marshall Gambit flavour. It had some interesting moments, with black obtaining satisfactory positional compensation for a pawn but gradually subsided to the usual result.

Caruana outwitted Karjakin in Evans Gambit. The game was a triumph for preparation and creative play by Caruana which caught his opponent on the hop. Karjakin, taken by surprise, seemed indecisive and made a number of sub-optimal moves. 

Maybe his fleeting opportunity at the end of the previous game was playing on his mind. He hinted at that after the game. Karjakin posed some empty threats but Caruana won in the Queen rook and minor pieces ending with Caruana having the bishop pair.