British Championships: Howell closer to the title

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

• Results of all 53 games of this round

Top rankings after round nine

• Full results and rankings of all 106 players here

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.

Adams won again in 1997 (with Sadler), 2010 and 2011.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN 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.