8/6/2018 – 105th British Championship took place in Hull, England from July 28th to August 5th, and was narrowly won by top seed Michael Adams after a rapid and blitz tiebreak. Adams and Luke McShane were tied with 7 points from 9 games after the classical Open competition. It was Adams' sixth title, while McShane remains the strongest British player never to have won the national championship. Jovanka Houska had the best score among women with 5.0/9 for her eighth British title. | Photos: Arnold Lutton / BritishChessChampionships.co.uk
new: ChessBase 16 - Mega package Edition 2022
Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training!
Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. 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.
Williams main teaching method behind this set of two DVDs is to teach you some simple yet effective set ups, without the need to rely on memorising numerous complicated variations.
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures. “Open and half-open files” and “the pawn chain” will be covered extensively on this video course. New: now also available as stream!
€29.90
McShane runner-up after tiebreak match
There has only very rarely been a dull British Championships, and that prospect was well and truly put paid to when no fewer than four of England's 2600+ players showed up to Hull for this year's edition, attracted no doubt by the £10,000 first prize.
From the outset it was always going to be hard for anyone else to break into that clique. Only one game was lost by any of them other than to one another:
This messy position remains perfectly balanced after either 36...axb4 or 36...h6, but McShane with just a few minutes on his clock played 36...h5? which ran into the surprising refutation 37.Ng2! suddenly overloading Black's queen. After 37...Kh7 38.cxd6 Nf6 39.Ne5 Black cannot survive.
This win for David Eggleston (pictured) in the second round was the start of an impressive run for the 30-year-old IM, who would go on to defeat two more grandmasters in Hull.
There then followed several rather peaceful rounds (though there was some pain involved in my loss of a very drawable endgame against Gawain Jones). The results, for instance, of round 5 featured 7 draws on the top 10 boards:
We pick up the action in round seven, when Gawain Jones attempted to use some preparation in a rather technical line against Adams:
Suddenly, it appeared as if Adams might run away with the title, without even being held to a playoff. He was then half a point clear, due white in the next game, and had played almost all his pursuers. Then came round eight, where Howell defeated yours truly in a game whose action was almost entirely confined to the first 20 moves:
Although the distribution of material with a rook and two minor pieces against a rook and two minor pieces is a very common one in practical play, there is very little literature on the subject apart from that dealing with questions relating to the bishop pair.
David Howell drew with Jones and Adams but lost to McShane in Round 9 | Photo: Roger Noble
Meanwhile Nick Pert, who was England's Olympiad 5th board in 2012 and is due to reprise the role this year, held Adams to a nervy draw with Black.
Many club players have their favourite pet opening variations which aren’t necessarily main lines. It’s important to know how to handle these variations as your opponent will likely know his systems well. In this DVD, GM Nicholas Pert provides a detailed Black repertoire against many of these Offbeat Opening choices.
So, going into the final round, the standings were:
The latter two players drew uneventfully with each other, securing Eggleston a GM norm.
The 3rd and 4th boards saw attempted technical grinds by one or other player, neither of which really got off the ground. However, the bloodthirsty chess on the top boards made up for it:
Among the open games the only opening with which White can really fight for an advantage in the long term is the Ruy Lopez. But in order to make this serious effort, he has buckle down and learn a whole series of sub-variations. That is what the professionals do, including of course Viktor Bologan, who now reveals the secrets of his own grandmaster repertoire.
Then, the crowd was treated to the spectacle of a tiebreak match for the title (as in, for instance, 2012 and 2017). I have annotated the rapid games, leaving the two blitz games for another day — both of those were convincingly won by Adams, whose time management was simply better.
Rook endings are amongst the most frequently encountered endgames there are, and so your training effort will be quickly repaid in the form of half and full points. Knowing even a few rules of thumb and key methods makes life a great deal easier and provides a guiding light even in complex positions. This DVD focuses on the important themes which are to be found in common rook endings.
Presumably, McShane's sartorial choices are not responsible for his "always a bridesmaid" result in the British Championship [-Ed.]
McShane receives his prize | Photo: Roger Noble
Upon receiving his trophy, Adams thanked the city of Hull and the tournament sponsors, particularly Capital Developments Waterloo Ltd, and remarked that he was proud to have won what he called "the strongest British Championship that there has ever been".
Adams and the winner's trophy | Photo: Roger Noble
Ultimately, there was a great deal of fighting chess being played, a lot more than one might think if one visited after three or four rounds! This was also true away from the top table — the narcissist in me feels compelled to point out the following beautiful swindle. Can you spot it? White to move and win:
Simon Says review of the British Championship
GM Simon Williams took a look at the key British Championship moments in his latest Simon Says show.
On this DVD IM Trent shows the Albin Counter-Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5). Trent found a number of extremely dangerous Theoretical Novelties which will truly put the Albin Counter-Gambit back on the map.
All live commentary webcasts
ChessBase once again provided daily live commentary, produced remotely from its Hamburg studio and anchored by IM Michael Rahal, who was joined alternately by GM Karsten Mueller and IM Oliver Reeh.
Click or tap a prior round to view that show
All available Championship games
The British Championships is plural, and the "Championship" section won by Adams is but one of several events which ran in parallel. The "Major Open" winner will qualify for the Championship tournament next year, but are also held in Hull were senior and youth tournaments, as well as short tournaments on the weekend and a rapid tournament. The British Championships are undoubtedly an attractive event for chess players of all ages and all skill levels.
There was one fascinating game between a junior player and a well-known English arbiter who proved his worth as a player too:
The Under-21 title was shared between the Joseph McPhillips and Australia's 8th GM Justin Tan (also a British citizen studying in Edinburgh). IM Jovanka Houska remains the best performing female player in the U.K. after reclaiming the British Women's Champion title for the third straight year.
Congratulations to the winners, a round of applause for the organisers. See you in 2019!
Daniel FernandezOnce part of a 'golden generation' of young players in Singapore, he moved to England in his late teens and attended Cambridge University. Immediately after graduation, he began training as a time series analyst and also working on his chess, finally becoming a grandmaster in November 2017. He writes chess articles frequently and with enjoyment, and his first chess book is out in May. Away from the board, he enjoys table-tennis and language learning.
The new Komodo Dragon 3 engine has gained 100 Elo points in playing strength over its predecessor when using a processor core in blitz. That's a huge improvement for a program that already reached at
an Elo level of over 3500!
The Stonewall Attack (d4 followed by e3 and possibly f4) is an old-fashioned opening, almost forgotten, not thought to give White any advantage at all. Yet it still packs a punch and is not so easy to defend against. It is especially good for club players
White gains space on the queenside, forces the opponent to use their own resources right from the start of the game and creates a complicated position.
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures. “Open and half-open files” and “the pawn chain” will be covered extensively on this video course. New: now also available as stream!
€29.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.