British Championship: Michael Adams wins the title

by ChessBase
8/6/2011 – It was a gripping final stage of the Darwin Strategic 98th British Championships. In round ten Nigel Short once again caught his main rival Michael Adams. In the final round both fell into some trouble with their games but managed to draw. This meant that there had to be a play-off for the title on Saturday, after the closing ceremony. Mickey Adams won it in the second game. Update.

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

The 98th Darwin Strategic British Championships took place in Ponds Forge, Sheffield, from July 26th to August 5th 2011. The games were held as seven hour sessions: 100 minutes for 40 moves followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from first move. The Championship is also hosting events for seniors, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400, British U16, U14, U13, U12, U11, U10, U9, U8, the Major Open, Five Day Open (a.m. and p.m.) Weekenders and Rapid Plays.

For most of the 98th British Championship it was a battle between the two top seeds, Michael Adams and Nigel Short. Before round ten "Mickey" was leading, but when he drew Nicholas Pert and Nigel beat Peter Wells the score was even.

Top standings after ten (of eleven) rounds

Rnk 
Name
Score
Rating
TPR W-We
1
GM Adams, Michael
8.0
2715
2748 +0.52
2
GM Short, Nigel D
8.0
2687
2753 +0.85
3
GM Jones, Gawain C B
7.5
2606
2669 +0.92
4
IM Hawkins, Jonathan
7.5
2457
2626 +2.24
5
GM Pert, Nicholas
7.0
2555
2535 +0.10


GM Nicholas Pert, rated 2555, drew Michael Adams in round ten


David Anderton, leader of the Seniors after nine rounds, chats with Championship
contender Nigel Short, before the start of round ten


We'll hold back on this one – you think of an appropriate caption

Addendum: here are some of the proposals sent in by our readers:

  • "...then I sacricficed a pawn and got a huge lead in development" (Thomas);
  • "The pies where this big when I was a lad in Bolton" (Bryan Whitby);
  • "Yes, I saw it too. It's this big. We need to find a crocodile hunter" (Volker Kraft);
  • "The size of the problems with FIDE is this big" (Paul Hopwood);
  • "I came this close to beating Mickey Adams in the playoff matches"
  • "I once caught a sea bishop this size"; (David Scarian).


A sea bishop, the inspiration for Nigel's narrative and gesture?

The stage was set for an exciting final round, with many different outcomes possible. As it turned out both title contenders ran into serious problems and at one time it looked as if both might lose (Nigel, it must be said, seemed to have accepted an inferior position, Lasker style, to provoke his opponent into over-reaching).


Top boards, spectators, players in the other championships in round eleven


Michael Adams vs IM Yang-Fan Zhou, GM Steven Gordon vs Nigel Short


The spectators: enthralled by the dramatic finish


Nigel Short tried to provoke errors by his opponent

[Event "98th ch-GBR"] [Site "Sheffield ENG"] [Date "2011.08.05"] [Round "11"] [White "Gordon,S"] [Black "Short,N"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2533"] [BlackElo "2687"] [EventDate "2011.07.25"] [ECO "A40"] 1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Ne5 3. e4 e6 4. dxe6 dxe6 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. f4 Nc6 7. c3 Bc5 8. Nf3 a5 9. a4 Nh6 10. Bd3 f6 11. Ke2 Ke7 12. Na3 Bd7 13. Nc4 Nf7 14. h4 h5 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. Nxe3 b6 17. Rhg1 g5 18. g3 g4 19. Nd4 Nd6 20. Rac1 Rhc8 21. b3 Ne8 22. Rgf1 Nd8 23. e5 f5 24. Rfd1 Nb7 25. Rd2 Nc5 26. Rcd1 Ng7 27. Nc4 Nxd3 28. Rxd3 Rd8 29. Na3 Ne8 30. Ke3 Rac8 31. R3d2 Rb8 32. Rd3 Rbc8 33. R1d2 Rb8 34. Kf2 Rbc8 35. Ke2 Ra8 36. Ke3 Rab8 37. Ke2 Ra8 38. Kf2 Rac8 39. Rd1 Rb8 40. R3d2 Rbc8 41. Ke1 Ra8 42. Rd3 Rab8 43. R1d2 Ra8 44. Kd1 Ng7 45. Kc2 Ne8 46. Kb2 Ng7 47. Nc4 Be8 48. Ka3 Rdc8 49. Nb5 Bc6 50. Rd4 Ne8 51. Nbd6 Rd8 52. Nxe8 Rxd4 53. Rxd4 Kxe8 1/2-1/2


Mickey Adams was put under pressure by IM Yang-Fan Zhou

[Event "98th ch-GBR"] [Site "Sheffield ENG"] [Date "2011.08.05"] [Round "11"] [White "Adams,Mi"] [Black "Zhou,Y"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2444"] [EventDate "2011.07.25"] [ECO "B40"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Qb6 10. a3 f5 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Nxf6+ gxf6 13. Qh5+ Kd8 14. Bd3 Bc5 15. Bd2 f5 16. b4 Be3 17. Qe2 Bxd2+ 18. Qxd2 a5 19. Rd1 axb4 20. axb4 Re8 21. h4 Ra3 22. Kf1 Qd4 23. Rh3 Rg8 24. Rf3 Ba6 25. Qf2 Bxd3+ 26. Rfxd3 Rxd3 27. Rxd3 Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Kc7 29. Ra3 Kb6 30. Ra5 Kb7 31. c4 d5 32. h5 dxc4 33. Rc5 Kb6 34. Rxc4 Rd8 35. g4 fxg4 36. Kg3 Rd1 37. Kxg4 Rg1+ 38. Kh4 h6 39. Re4 Rh1+ 40. Kg4 Rg1+ 41. Kf3 Rh1 42. Re5 Rf1+ 43. Kg3 Rg1+ 44. Kf2 Rh1 45. Kg2 Rh4 46. Kf3 Rh1 47. Rxe6 Rxh5 48. Kg4 Rb5 49. Rxh6 Rxb4 50. Kg5 Rb1 51. f5 Rg1+ 52. Kh5 Kb5 53. f6 c5 54. f7 Rf1 55. Kg6 Kb4 56. Rh5 Rxf7 57. Kxf7 c4 58. Ke6 c3 59. Rh2 Kb3 60. Kd5 c2 61. Rxc2 Kxc2 62. Ke4 1/2-1/2

Round eleven top board results

White
Score
Rating
Black
Score
Rating
Result
GM Adams, Michael
8.0
2715
IM Zhou, Yang-Fan
6.5
2444
½-½
GM Gordon, Stephen J
6.5
2533
GM Short, Nigel D
8.0
2687
½-½
GM Jones, Gawain C B
7.5
2606
GM Pert, Nicholas
7.0
2555
½-½
GM Wells, Peter K
6.5
2489
IM Hawkins, Jonathan
7.5
2457
½-½
GM Howell, David W L
6.5
2625
Adair, James R
6.5
2212
1-0
IM Rendle, Thomas E
6.5
2386
GM Gormally, Daniel W
6.5
2519
0-1
IM Bates, Richard A
6.5
2373
IM Palliser, Richard J D
6.5
2454
½-½

Top final rankings after eleven rounds

Rnk
Name
Score
Rating
TPR
W-We
1
GM Adams, Michael
8.5
2715
2713
+0.19
2
GM Short, Nigel D
8.5
2687
2726
+0.64
3
GM Jones, Gawain C B
8.0
2606
2658
+0.85
4
IM Hawkins, Jonathan
8.0
2457
2613
+2.28
5
GM Howell, David W L
7.5
2625
2612
+0.08
6
GM Pert, Nicholas
7.5
2555
2539
+0.17
7
GM Gormally, Daniel W
7.5
2519
2441
-0.68
8
GM Gordon, Stephen J
7.0
2533
2536
+0.14
9
GM Hebden, Mark L
7.0
2533
2385
-1.73
10
GM Conquest, Stuart C
7.0
2519
2477
-0.39
11
GM Wells, Peter K
7.0
2489
2479
+0.05
12
IM Palliser, Richard J D
7.0
2454
2372
-0.96
13
IM Zhou, Yang-Fan
7.0
2444
2369
-0.83
14
IM Houska, Jovanka
7.0
2418
2450
+0.60
15
IM Buckley, Graeme N
7.0
2380
2393
+0.29
16
IM Bates, Richard A
7.0
2373
2454
+1.33
17
GM Williams, Simon K
6.5
2528
2377
-1.76
18
GM Summerscale, Aaron
6.5
2415
2450
+0.67
19
IM Rendle, Thomas E
6.5
2386
2391
+0.29
20
FM Eggleston, David J
6.5
2318
2288
-0.38
21
FM Griffiths, Ryan Rhys
6.5
2301
2350
+0.92
22
Adair, James R
6.5
2212
2408
+2.67
23
Lalic, Peter D
6.5
1978
2313
+4.51

Titles and play-off

The tie between the leaders, Michael Adams and Nigel Short, meant there would be a play-off for the title: two rapid play games, at the rate of 20 minutes for all moves plus ten minutes per move. In case of a tie then an Armageddon game. The first game, in which Nigel had white, was drawn, the second was convincingly won by Adams, who thus became the 2011 British Champion.

[Event "98th British Championships 2011, Tiebreak"] [Site "Sheffield/United Kingdom"] [Date "2011.08.06"] [Round "2"] [White "Adams, Michael"] [Black "Short, Nigel D"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B16"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2687"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] [TimeControl "1200+10"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O Nd7 9. c4 Qc7 10. Nh4 h5 11. h3 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 O-O-O 13. Rd1 Bd6 14. d5 Rde8 15. Be3 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. b4 Nd7 18. dxc6 Qxc6 19. c5 f5 20. Rd4 Qc7 21. Rc1 Kb8 22. Nf3 Rd8 23. c6 Nf6 24. b5 Rxd4 25. Nxd4 b6 26. Qb2 Rh6 27. Nf3 Rg6 28. Ne5 Rg8 29. Rd1 Nd5 30. Nd7+ Ka8 31. Nf6 Nxf6 32. Qxf6 a6 33. Rd7 Qf4 34. Rd8+ 1-0

IM Jovanka Houska became British Womens Champion 2011, scoring 7/11 (+5, =4, –2). Jovanka also became English Womens Champion 2011.

Photos by Epidemiac, Steve King, Adam Raoof and Steve Connor for the official site


Game-of-the-day video reports by IM Andrew Martin


Round eight: Buckley,Graeme N (2380) - Wells,Peter K (2489)


Round nine: Howell,D (2625) - Ansell,S (2410) [B43]

The two final rounds will go up this weekend and can be watched here.


Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 11 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Reports about chess: tournaments, championships, portraits, interviews, World Championships, product launches and more.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register