British Championships: Howell closer to the title
8/8/2013 – David Howell defeated Danny Gromally, while his main rival Mark Hebden drew in round nine. That puts the younger GM a full point ahead of Hebden, with eight players following up half a point behind. With two rounds to go things are looking very good for David. In today's historical review we look at another very young champion, actiaööy the youngest ever. Recognise him in the thumbnail?
A record-breaking number of over 1000 players are taking part in the 2013 British Championships, attracted by a combination of the beautiful venue and the fact that it’s the 100th in a series stretching right back to 1904. This year it is taking place in the Riviera International Centre in Torquay. There are 23 different sections at the 2013 British Championships, catering for all ages and abilities, but the main focus of interest is on the Championship itself. There are 106 players taking part, of whom 33 are titled players, including thirteen grandmasters. The Championship runs from 29th July to 10th August 2013.
Top results of round nine
Top rankings after round nine
| Rnk | Name |
Score
|
Rating
|
TPR
|
W-We
|
| 1 | GM Howell, David W L |
8.0
|
2639
|
2790 | +1.30 |
| 2 | GM Hebden, Mark L |
7.0
|
2555
|
2626 | +0.93 |
| 3 | GM Jones, Gawain C B |
6.5
|
2643
|
2459 | -1.45 |
| 4 | GM Gordon, Stephen J |
6.5
|
2521
|
2575 | +0.81 |
| 5 | GM Lalic, Bogdan |
6.5
|
2489
|
2464 | -0.07 |
| 6 | IM Zhou, Yang-Fan |
6.5
|
2469
|
2466 | +0.16 |
| 7 | IM Ghasi, Ameet K |
6.5
|
2459
|
2544 | +1.15 |
| 8 | IM Palliser, Richard J D |
6.5
|
2453
|
2472 | +0.45 |
| 9 | GM Arkell, Keith C |
6.5
|
2444
|
2463 | +0.42 |
| 10 | IM Meszaros, Gyula |
6.5
|
2255
|
2398 | +1.78 |
| 11 | IM Hawkins, Jonathan |
6.0
|
2517
|
2416 | -0.93 |
| 12 | GM Gormally, Daniel W |
6.0
|
2496
|
2461 | -0.23 |
| 13 | GM Wells, Peter K |
6.0
|
2479
|
2453 | -0.10 |
| 14 | GM Flear, Glenn C |
6.0
|
2456
|
2309 | -1.32 |
| 15 | IM Fernandez, Daniel |
6.0
|
2346
|
2457 | +1.40 |
| 16 | Tambini, Jasper |
6.0
|
1979
|
2341 | +3.52 |
Selection of games from round nine
Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
Game of the day by Andrew Martin
Rd 9 Game of the Day GB Ch Torquay 2013
Photos provided by Brendan O'Gorman and Keverel Chess
To really appreciate how far the event has come in its 100 years, one needs to take the opportunity to look back at some of the milestones on the way – the great characters, the champions and their games. To do this, IM Andrew Martin is using his computer skills to pick out some key games from the past and run his expert eye over them. Similarly, Bob Jones, local chess history writer, is compiling a set of ten pages, each on a past champion and one of his/her games. These will appear, one at a time, in the daily championship bulletins.
British Champions & Their Games - No. 9
1989 – Plymouth
The Penrose era of dominance ended in 1969, and even though he continued to play most years throughout the 1970s his par score was six points. The fact was that a new generation of players was rapidly emerging, inspired by the Fischer phenomenon; Keene, Hartston, Mestel, Speelman, Nunn, Miles, Short – all burst on to the scene, each winning the title once or twice. But none could dominate as Atkins and Penrose had done. Also, with the chess calendar exploding world-wide and their GM titles securing invitations to play abroad for bigger prize-money, it was more difficult to fit in “the British”.
And then came another, from the depths of rural Cornwall, who wasn’t even born when Ray Keene won in 1971, namely Michael Adams. After passing a number of chess milestones in his early teenage years, the event came to the borders of his home county. After some early draws, he finished WWW to come clear first, ahead of the 20-somethings, King, Mestel and Norwood. At 17 he was the youngest champion and his GM title was confirmed.
[Event "British Championship 1989"] [Site "?"] [Date "1989.07.23"] [Round "10"] [White "Plaskett, Harold James"] [Black "Adams, M."] [Result "*"] [ECO "A30"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2013.07.15"] [SourceDate "2013.07.17"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. c4 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Be7 8. Nc3 d6 9. Rd1 a6 10. e4 Nbd7 11. Qe3 Qc7 12. b3 O-O 13. Bb2 Rac8 14. Nd4 Rfe8 15. Rac1 {My opponent has problems in selecting the best squares for his rooks. In this slow manoevring type of game I felt that I would be happier than my opponent as I had the clear cut plan of redeploying my black-square bishop.} Bf8 16. h3 Qb8 17. Re1 g6 18. Rcd1 Bg7 19. f4 {Opening up the game, which must be a mistake as my forces were better placed than his.} ({He should continue manoevring e.g.} 19. Qd2 {In any case, my position was entirely successful and this was the reason for White deciding on direct action.}) 19... e5 20. fxe5 Nxe5 21. Rf1 Bc6 {With the idea of ...b5. Althpough White can capture it, he is loath to do so, due to its ineffectual counterpart on g2.} 22. a4 Ba8 23. Rf2 Nfd7 24. Rdf1 ({Correct is} 24. Nd5 {when} Nc5 25. Nf6+ {could not be played because of}) 24... Nc5 25. Rd1 {Diagram [#]} Nxb3 {This simple but effective tactic allows me to make a decisive material gain.} 26. Nxb3 Nxc4 27. Qf3 Nxb2 28. Qxf7+ Kh8 29. Rxb2 Rc7 (29... Rxc3 {was tempting but this accurate move driving White's queen from its advanced post is more effective. Although only a pawn up the powerful black square bishop makes it difficult for White to put up much resistance..}) 30. Qf2 Rxc3 31. Nd2 Rf8 32. Qe1 { Diagram [#]} Bd4+ 33. Kh1 Re3 34. Qg1 Rd3 {Diagram [#] The double attack on rook and queen decides the game.} *
Adams won again in 1997 (with Sadler), 2010 and 2011.
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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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