British Championship: Hawkins leads, rivals closer

by ChessBase
7/26/2014 – After taking a humongous 1.5-point lead in round six, round seven saw some of the other contenders do a bit of catch-up by closing the gap to 'only' a full point. IM Jonathan Hawkins is still the tournament favorite after seven rounds, but he can not cruise to first with rivals closing fast. One key game was between GM Pert and GM Williams that is annotated by IM Andrew Martin.
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The 101st British Chess Championships are taking place 19th to 30th July 2014 in Aberystwyth in West Wales. The event is open only to exempted or qualified players. There are a number of sections: Senior Championships; Major Open; Under 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16; Rapidplay Open, Weekenders, etc.

The British Championship trophy: a piece of chess history

The first and foremost is reigning champion David Howell, who was also the overwhelming Elo favorite, and has now scored three straight wins and is now tied for second-third with 5.5/7.

Tied with David Howell at 5.5/7 is GM Nicholas Pert, who beat GM Simon Williams in round seven

IM Andrew Martin's Game of the Day

GM Nicholas Pert and GM Simon Williams play a typically interesting game

IM Richard Pert, the brother of GM Nicholas Pert, is also doing well, with 5.0/7

IM Daniel Fernandez has the highest performance among those at 5.0/7 with a 2508 performance

Some of the top boards of the British Under-11 championship

Standings after seven rounds

Rank Name Score Rating TPR W-We
1 IM Hawkins, Jonathan 6.5 2516 2752 +1.44
2 GM Howell, David W L 5.5 2650 2575 -0.43
3 GM Pert, Nicholas 5.5 2564 2585 +0.31
4 GM Hebden, Mark L 5.0 2554 2489 -0.33
5 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan 5.0 2475 2392 -0.42
6 GM Emms, John M 5.0 2456 2467 +0.37
7 IM Pert, Richard G 5.0 2430 2449 +0.41
8 IM Fernandez, Daniel Howard 5.0 2396 2508 +1.25
9 GM Williams, Simon K 4.5 2462 2460 +0.22
10 GM Arkell, Keith C 4.5 2433 2385 -0.16
11 GM Ward, Chris G 4.5 2422 2426 +0.31
12 FM Tan, Justin 4.5 2375 2343 +0.00
13 FM Lewis, Andrew P 4.5 2286 2286 +0.03
14 IM Rudd, Jack 4.5 2278 2415 +1.25
15 FM Jackson, James P 4.0 2320 2342 +0.23

Photos: John Upham by courtesy of the offical tournament site

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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
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