British Championship: Bazakutsa leads, Sivanandan among chasers

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/5/2026 – Svyatoslav Bazakutsa took sole possession of the lead at the British Chess Championship after defeating nine-time champion Michael Adams in round four. The 18-year-old Ukrainian now has a perfect 4/4, half a point ahead of a five-player chasing group. Among them is 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan, who continued her strong start by beating fifth seed Ameet Ghasi with the black pieces. | Photo: Yury Krylov
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Upset wins by Bazakutsa and Sivanandan

Ukrainian IM Svyatoslav Bazakutsa moved into sole first place at the British Chess Championship after defeating nine-time champion Michael Adams in Tuesday's fourth round. The 18-year-old sixth seed is the only player in the 109-player field to retain a perfect score, having won all four of his games.

Playing white, Bazakutsa outplayed Adams in a slow strategic battle arising from an English Opening, as he made good use of the initiative in a queenless manoeuvring battle.

The youngster eventually reached a rook ending with an extra pawn, although engines assessed the position as equal.

Adams defended for a long time, but eventually faltered in the technical ending. Bazakutsa took full advantage of the error and converted the position into a memorable win.

Svyatoslav Barazutsa

Svyatoslav Bazakutsa during round three | Photo: Yury Krylov

Five players are half a point behind the leader on 3½/4: Shreyas Royal, Harry Grieve, Marcus Harvey, Yichen Han and 11-year-old Bodhana Sivanandan. Sivanandan joined the chasing group with an upset victory as black against fifth seed Ameet Ghasi.

The game reached a symmetrical position in the early middlegame, but a couple of timid moves by Ghasi allowed Sivanandan to seize the initiative. She then converted her strategic advantage into a win in remarkably precise fashion. Her 3½/4 performance has earned her 20.2 rating points after four rounds.

Ghasi 0-1 Sivanandan

Ahmeet Ghasi, Bodhana Sivanandan

Ahmeet Ghasi resigns the game against Bodhana Sivanandan | Photo: Yury Krylov

Shreyas Royal

Shreyas Royal, the youngest player to achieve the grandmaster title in British history, defeated 12-year-old prodigy Supratit Banerjee on Tuesday | Photo: Yury Krylov

Standings after round 4

Rk. Name TB1
1 Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav 4
2 Royal, Shreyas 3,5
3 Grieve, Harry 3,5
4 Harvey, Marcus R 3,5
5 Han, Yichen 3,5
6 Sivanandan, Bodhana 3,5
7 Mcshane, Luke J 3
8 Adams, Michael 3
9 Czopor, Maciej 3
10 Waldhausen Gordon, Frederick 3
11 Roberson, Peter T 3
12 Williams, Simon K 3
13 Pert, Richard G 3
14 Chow, Sam 3
15 Hebden, Mark L 3
16 Badacsonyi, Stanley 3
17 Ledger, Andrew J 3
18 Han, Qixiang 3
19 Ghasi, Ameet K 2,5
20 Willow, Jonah B 2,5
21 Mahadevan, Siva 2,5
22 Gordon, Stephen J 2,5
23 Mcdonald, Neil R 2,5
24 Kanyamarala, Tarun 2,5
25 Jackson, James P 2,5

...109 players

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Topics: Bodhana Sivanandan, British Championship 2026, Svyatoslav Bazakutsa
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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