British Championships past and present

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.

Selection of games from round four

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

We provided you with pictures and standings in our previous report.

British Champions & Their Games - No. 4

1929 - Ramsgate

The British Championship has accommodated players of all stripes, each with their own back-story, but none as unusual as that of Mir Sultan Khan. He was first discovered in 1926 by Sir Umat Hayat Khan, in a Punjabi village playing the Indian form of the game, and took him under his wing. He was taught the international rules and conventions by a number of tutors, In the Spring of 1929 he was brought to the UK and was accepted for the British Championship on the strength of being Indian Champion, but apart from that, being a complete unknown. Sultan Khan’s short preparation was not helped by being illiterate, unable to speak English and suffering from malaria and chronic throat infections.

Indian chess phenomenon Mir Sultan Khan

His campaign started with a loss to the 60-year-old Rev. Hamond, but he went on to win by a clear point to the amazement of many. It was no fluke as he won again in 1932 (London) and 1933 (Hastings). His slow positional style he inherited from his grounding in the Indian rules, and his lack of book knowledge often led to hair-raising positions that spectators could scarcely fathom. It was his utter concentration and fierce will to win that carried him though.

At the end of that year, his protégé and his entourage had to return to India, where Sultan Khan was hailed as a hero, but he had had enough of chess and promptly gave it up, even refusing to teach his own son, saying he should do something better. His protégé gave him a smallholding that he farmed happily for the rest of his life, mostly sitting under a tree smoking his hookah. He died in 1966. His biography was written by R. N. Coles, who knew him as well as any Englishman.

Gerald Abrahams (right) marked a sharp contrast with his opponent here in this Round 3 game, being an erudite, witty Liverpudlian barrister and author of numerous books on chess, law and philosophy.

Round five (Friday, 02 August 2013)

These were the top pairings and results. Leaders Stephen Gorden (above left) and David Howell, who both had perfect 4.0/4 scores, played a 19-move draw against each other.

GM Mark Hebden re-joins the leaders after beating IM Ameet Ghasi

GM Peter Wells joined the leading pack after beating GM Tony Kosten

Photos provided by Brendan O'Gorman and Keverel Chess

Selection of games from round five

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Top rankings after round five

• Full results and rankings of all 106 players here

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. Here is the first of them.

British Champions & Their Games - No. 3

1938 – Brighton.

Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander was one of the most charismatic players of his time, full of a positive nervous energy that galvanised all who came into contact with him. The war imposed a seven-year break in what would have been his prime years as a player, but his work at Bletchley Park in charge of Hut 8 was invaluable. His post-war chess career is well documented; player, columnist, author, administrator, all alongside his day job at GCHQ in Cheltenham. He became champion again in 1956 (Blackpool), but soon after he retired from tournament play, as he felt he wasn’t doing himself justice at the board, and his other roles took over. He died in 1975 and his posthumous biography was a joint work by Milner-Barry, Golombek and Hartston.

Harold Vincent Mallison (right) had been at Cambridge with Lionel Penrose and worked his whole life as Maths lecturer at Exeter University. Between the wars he dominated Devon chess together with A. R. B. Thomas and Ron Bruce. More details on his life may be found Keverelchess.

In January 1938 Alexander had shown at Hastings that he was the equal of anyone, coming second with Keres ahead of Fine and Flohr, and was on top form at Brighton, coming a half point clear of Golombek and Sergeant. He hit the ground running with this Round one game against Mallison.

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.