Despite narrow escapes in the final two rounds to top English duo Mickey Adams and Nigel Short, Magnus Carlsen held on to win the London Chess Classic at Kensington Olympia to round off an amazing year for the Norwegian teenager.

Carlsen, 19, finished unbeaten on 13 pts (using the soccer scoring-system 3-1-0) to take the title a point ahead of former world World Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia on 12 points. Kudos also to another 19-year-old ace in young British champion David Howell (a recent guest on Chess Talk - to listen for free, click here), who beat China's Ni Hua in the final round to not only be undefeated on 9 pts but also to take third place on tiebreak ahead of fellow countryman Mickey Adams.

Find below (and FREE for all to view!) all of Chess.FM's Game of the Day videos from the London Chess Classic. Also, at www.chessclub.com, you can also view all of Macauley Peterson's on-site videos from London.

And following his results at the final three tournaments of the year (Nanjing Grand Slam, Tal Memorial, and now the London Chess Classic), Carlsen rounds off the year on a high and will start 2010 by being the official (and youngest) world #1 with a rating of 2810 - making him in the process the first player from a western nation to reach the top in the FIDE rating list since Bobby Fischer in 1972.

So with Carlsen on the rise, 2010 is going to be a big year here on ICC and Chess.FM as we follow his progress, starting with Corus Wijk aan Zee. So why not join us here on ICC as Carlsen begins his quest now to become the youngest-ever World Champion!

Final standings

 London Chess Classic "On-site videos" by Macauley

 London Chess Classic "Game of the Day"

Date Rd Commentator Game FREE Tues, Dec 15 7  GM Larry Christiansen  GM Ni Hua vs. GM David Howell Mon, Dec 14 6  GM Larry Christiansen  GM Vladimir Kramnik vs. GM Nigel Short Sun, Dec 13 5  GM Jon Speelman  GM Hikaru Nakamura vs. GM Luke McShane Sat, Dec 12 4  IM Andrew Martin  GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Hikaru Nakamura Thur, Dec 10 3  GM Gawain Jones  GM Luke McShane vs. GM Vladimir Kramnik Wed, Dec 9 2  GM Joel Benjamin   GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Luke McShane Tues, Dec 8 1  GM Nick de Firmian   GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Vladimir Kramnik

 London Chess Classic "Trivia Winners"