London Chess Classic
Congratulations to Grandmaster Gawain Jones, winner of the 2024 XTX Markets London Chess Classic. Gawain finished on 5 points out of a possible 7, a full point ahead of the field. English players finished in the top three spots, with Michael Adams second and Nikita Vitiugov third. You can see all the results and the final crosstable here.
International Master and CEO of CSC, Malcolm Pein, said, “It was an incredible result for English chess to cap off an incredible week of world-class competition at a world-class venue. Congratulations to Grandmaster Gawain Jones who showed all his trademark creativity to fight off a strong challenge and win his first XTX Markets London Chess Classic. It is wonderful to have another English name to add to the list of winners that includes such greats as Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Ding Liren, and our own Michael Adams. London has hosted a huge international tournament that keeps England on the map in elite-level world chess.”
As well as the elite event, the London Chess Classic also featured a Super Blitz tournament, won by Alireza Firouzja, a blindfold tournament, won by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and the LCC Festival, a range of tournaments for players of all standards. For more details, please see the London Chess Classic website.
School Events
Eight hundred children from 40 primary schools across the UK attended the 2024 XTX Markets London Chess Classic for a day of chess activities including lessons, simultaneous displays and a tournament. They also got to meet the Grandmasters and some lucky ones got to make the ceremonial first move in the main event. The London Chess Classic typically has five days of school activity which showcase the benefits of teaching chess in school.
The Pro-Biz Cup
The Pro-Biz Cup is an annual event that runs alongside the London Chess Classic. It brings the best business minds and the world’s leading Grandmasters together in a fun tournament to raise money for Chess in Schools and Communities.
Businesses bid to play with their favourite players and the ones who bid the highest get the chance to team up with a Grandmaster in a three round pairs chess tournament. The amateur and grandmaster play as a team and will take it in turns to make moves in rapidplay games with each team allowed two one-minute time-outs per game to discuss strategy or perhaps just a killer move! The 2024 Pro-Biz Cup was won by Neil Dickenson and Mickey Adams.
