British Championship: Adams, Short lead after eight rounds
8/3/2011 – Tuesday was the big day: the two top seeds and leaders of the Darwin Strategic British Chess Championships faced each other in a summit game. Nigel Short played a Giuoco Pianissimo against his main rival in Britain, Michael Adams. The game was drawn after an interesting 46-move battle. The two remain in the sole lead, with three players half a point behind. Illustrated report.
The
98th Darwin Strategic British Championships are taking place in Ponds Forge, Sheffield,
from July 25th to August 6th 2011. Top seeds are Michael Adams, Nigel Short,
David Howell and Gawain Jones, making this the strongest national championship
in history. 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.
Ponds Forge, Sheffield, the leisure centre where the British Chess Championships
2011 is being played
The Championship games are 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. Play starts at 2:15 p.m. British time = 15:15h on the European continent and 9:15 a.m. New York.
Round seven
The two leaders Michael Adams and Nigel Short won their games, with Short pushing the co-leader Gawain Jones down a notch. This left the two top Brits in the lead, with David Howell, who beat Peter Wells, in sole third place half a point behind.
Michael Adams beat Simon Williams to stay in the lead
Nigel Short (behind the hands) in his game against Gawain Jones
Round seven top board results (Monday, 01 August 2011)
Brd |
White | Score |
Rating |
Black | Score |
Rating |
Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
GM Short, Nigel D | 5.0 |
2687 |
GM Jones, Gawain C B | 5.0 |
2606 |
1-0 |
2 |
GM Adams, Michael | 5.0 |
2715 |
GM Williams, Simon K | 4.5 |
2528 |
1-0 |
3 |
GM Wells, Peter K | 4.5 |
2489 |
GM Howell, David W L | 4.5 |
2625 |
0-1 |
4 |
GM Conquest, Stuart | 4.5 |
2519 |
IM Houska, Jovanka | 4.5 |
2418 |
½-½ |
5 |
GM Pert, Nicholas | 4.0 |
2555 |
IM Hunt, Adam C | 4.0 |
2436 |
1-0 |
6 |
GM Hebden, Mark L | 4.0 |
2533 |
GM Summerscale, Aaron | 4.0 |
2415 |
½-½ |
7 |
IM Bates, Richard A | 4.0 |
2373 |
IM Pert, Richard G | 4.0 |
2459 |
½-½ |
8 |
Adair, James R | 4.0 |
2212 |
IM Hawkins, Jonathan | 4.0 |
2457 |
0-1 |
Round eight
Tuesday brought the much-anticipated "summit" game between the two leaders. Nigel Short went for a Giuco Pianissimo and, after a spirited 46-move battle, the game ended in a deserved draw.
[Event "98th ch-GBR"]
[Site "Sheffield ENG"]
[Date "2011.08.02"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Short,N"]
[Black "Adams,Mi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2687"]
[BlackElo "2715"]
[EventDate "2011.07.25"]
[ECO "C50"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. Bb3 h6 8.
h3 Re8 9. d3 a6 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Nc4 Ba7 12. Be3 Ne7 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. d4
exd4 15. Nxd4 Bxc4 16. Bxc4 c5 17. Nf3 b5 18. Bf1 Qb8 19. e5 dxe5 20. Nxe5
Rb7 21. g3 Rb6 22. a4 Ned5 23. f4 Rd6 24. Qf3 c4 25. axb5 axb5 26. Bg2 Rc8
27. Rad1 b4 28. g4 bxc3 29. bxc3 Ne7 30. g5 Rxd1 31. Qxd1 Nh7 32. gxh6 Qb6+
33. Kh1 Qxh6 34. Nxc4 Qh4 35. Nb6 Rf8 36. Nd7 Rc8 37. Qd2 Nf5 38. Re5 g6
39. Rd5 Nf6 40. Nxf6+ Qxf6 41. Rd3 Kg7 42. Kh2 Rc5 43. Be4 Kh7 44. Rd5 Rxd5
45. Bxd5 Qh4 46. Bg2 1/2-1/2
Gawain Jones beat David Howell with white to regain a (shared) third place
Round eight top board results (Tuesday, 02 August 2011)
Brd |
White | Score |
Rating |
Black | Score |
Rating |
Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
GM Short, Nigel D | 6.0 |
2687 |
GM Adams, Michael | 6.0 |
2715 |
½-½ |
2 |
GM Jones, Gawain C B | 5.0 |
2606 |
GM Howell, David W L | 5.5 |
2625 |
1-0 |
3 |
IM Houska, Jovanka | 5.0 |
2418 |
GM Pert, Nicholas | 5.0 |
2555 |
0-1 |
4 |
IM Hawkins, Jonathan | 5.0 |
2457 |
GM Conquest, Stuart | 5.0 |
2519 |
1-0 |
5 |
GM Summerscale, Aaron | 4.5 |
2415 |
GM Gordon, Stephen J | 4.5 |
2533 |
½-½ |
6 |
IM Ansell, Simon T | 4.5 |
2410 |
GM Hebden, Mark L | 4.5 |
2533 |
1-0 |
7 |
GM Williams, Simon K | 4.5 |
2528 |
IM Ledger, Andrew J | 4.5 |
2435 |
½-½ |
8 |
GM Gormally, Daniel W | 4.5 |
2519 |
IM Bates, Richard A | 4.5 |
2373 |
½-½ |
9 |
IM Buckley, Graeme N | 4.5 |
2380 |
GM Wells, Peter K | 4.5 |
2489 |
0-1 |
10 |
IM Pert, Richard G | 4.5 |
2459 |
IM Rendle, Thomas E | 4.5 |
2386 |
½-½ |
11 |
IM Palliser, Richard J D | 4.5 |
2454 |
FM Eggleston, David J | 4.5 |
2318 |
1-0 |
12 |
FM Griffiths, Ryan Rhys | 4.5 |
2301 |
IM Zhou, Yang-Fan | 4.5 |
2444 |
0-1 |
Capacity audience in Ponds Forge, Sheffield, at the start of round eight
Top female player, IM Jovanka Houska, with 5.0/8 in place 18
It's the hat, isn't it? Our U8 hero from the previous
report
Photos by Epidemiac, Steve King, Adam Raoof and Steve Connor for the official site
Top ranking after round eight
Rnk |
Name | Score |
Rating |
TPR |
W-We |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
GM Adams, Michael | 6.5 |
2715 |
2760 |
+0.55 |
| 2 |
GM Short, Nigel D | 6.5 |
2687 |
2762 |
+0.79 |
| 3 |
GM Jones, Gawain C B | 6.0 |
2606 |
2679 |
+0.87 |
| 4 |
GM Pert, Nicholas | 6.0 |
2555 |
2500 |
-0.29 |
| 5 |
IM Hawkins, Jonathan | 6.0 |
2457 |
2580 |
+1.32 |
| 6 |
GM Howell, David W L | 5.5 |
2625 |
2664 |
+0.49 |
| 7 |
GM Wells, Peter K | 5.5 |
2489 |
2461 |
-0.11 |
| 8 |
IM Palliser, Richard J D | 5.5 |
2454 |
2339 |
-0.97 |
| 9 |
IM Zhou, Yang-Fan | 5.5 |
2444 |
2318 |
-1.05 |
| 10 |
IM Ansell, Simon T | 5.5 |
2410 |
2411 |
+0.16 |
| 11 |
GM Gordon, Stephen J | 5.0 |
2533 |
2484 |
-0.45 |
| 12 |
GM Williams, Simon K | 5.0 |
2528 |
2404 |
-1.01 |
| 13 |
GM Conquest, Stuart C | 5.0 |
2519 |
2489 |
-0.20 |
| 14 |
GM Gormally, Daniel W | 5.0 |
2519 |
2384 |
-1.12 |
| 15 |
IM Pert, Richard G | 5.0 |
2459 |
2456 |
+0.02 |
| 16 |
IM Hunt, Adam C | 5.0 |
2436 |
2427 |
+0.03 |
| 17 |
IM Ledger, Andrew J | 5.0 |
2435 |
2370 |
-0.51 |
| 18 |
IM Houska, Jovanka | 5.0 |
2418 |
2440 |
+0.35 |
| 19 |
GM Summerscale, Aaron P | 5.0 |
2415 |
2418 |
+0.13 |
| 20 |
IM Rendle, Thomas E | 5.0 |
2386 |
2360 |
-0.12 |
| 21 |
IM Bates, Richard A | 5.0 |
2373 |
2446 |
+0.89 |
| 22 |
Jones, Victor G L | 5.0 |
2153 |
2358 |
+2.10 |
Game-of-the-day video reports by IM Andrew Martin
Highly entertaining live
coverage of the event by ChessBase author Andrew
Martin
LinksThe 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. |
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