British Championships: round two and Torquay

by ChessBase
8/1/2013 – A substantial number of readers will know Torquay – from the classical comedy series Fawlty Towers. It was here that Basil Fawlty tortured his guests, and it is here that the 100th British Championships are being held. After three rounds five players – three GMs and two IMs – lead with a perfect score. We bring you a selection of round two games and a historical review of the 1908 Championship.

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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.

Torquay, population 65,000, is a seaside town in Devon, England, 38 miles (61 km) north-east of Plymouth. The town's economy was initially based upon fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century Torquay began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, frequented by the crème de la crème of Victorian society and earned the nickname of the English Riviera. The famous writer Agatha Christie lived most of her life in Torquay. And it was while staying at the Gleneagles Hotel with the Monty Python team in 1971 that John Cleese found inspiration for the popular sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975, 1979).

A room with a view: John Cleese quotes the famous Torquay scene

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 two

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.f3 Nc6 5...c5 6.d5 6.dxc5 b6 6...e6 6.Nge2 6.d5 Nb4 7.a3 7.Be3 7.Nh3 d6 8.Nf2 c6 9.Be3 e6 10.a3 Na6 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.Be2 d5 6...e5 7.d5 Nd4 8.Be3 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.Qxd4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Re8 8...c5 9.dxc6 dxc6 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Qxd4N RR 11.Bxd4 Nxe4 12.Bxg7 RR 12.Nxe4 Bxd4 13.Qc2 f5 14.Nc3 Re8+ 15.Be2 Qg5 16.g3 Qe3 17.Rf1 Be6 18.Nd1 Qxe2+ 0-1 Dougherty,C-Sadorra,J (2495)/Orlando 2011/CBM 143 Extra 12...Qh4+ 13.g3 Nxg3 14.Bf6 RR 14.hxg3 Qxg3+ 15.Kd2 Rd8+ 16.Nd5 Kxg7 17.Kc3 Qe5+ 18.Qd4 Qxd4+ 19.Kxd4 Be6 20.Rc1 b6 21.b4 a5 22.b5 cxd5 23.c5 Rac8 24.Bd3 bxc5+ 25.Rxc5 Kf6 26.Rxh7 Rxc5 27.Kxc5 Rc8+ 28.Kd6 Rd8+ Wallinger,M-Ruehrig,V (2330)/Germany 1989/GER-chT/1/2-1/2 (32) 14...Re8+ 15.Be2 Qxf6 16.hxg3 Qxf3 17.Kd2 Qe3+ 18.Kc2 1/2-1/2 Schwarz,D (2286)-Kundrik,P (2260)/Slovakia 2012/EXT 2013 11...Nd5 12.Qd2 Nxe3 13.Qxe3 Be6 14.Rd1 Qa5 14...Qb6 15.Qxb6 15.Qf2 Qa5 15...axb6 16.Rd2 Ra3 17.Rc2 Bxc3+ 18.Rxc3 18.bxc3 Rfa8 18...Rxc3 19.bxc3 Ra8 15.Be2 Qb4 16.0-0 16.e5 Rfd8 16...Qxb2 17.f4 Qa3 18.0-0 Rfd8 19.Nd5 Qxe3+ 20.Nxe3 17.0-0 Qxb2 16.f4 Qxb2 17.e5 16...Qxb2 17.e5 Qb4 18.f4 Rfd8 19.Rxd8+ Rxd8 20.Rb1 Qa3 21.Rb3 Qa6 22.Ne4 Qxa2 22...Bf8 23.Nd6 Bxd6 24.exd6 c5 24...Rxd6 25.c5 25.Qxc5 Qxa2 26.Qe3 Rxd6 27.Rxb7 23.Rxb7 Bxc4 24.Bf3 24.Nc3 Qa1+ 25.Kf2 Bxe2 26.Nxe2 Qa2 26...Rd1 27.Rb8+ Bf8 28.Qc5 24...a5 25.Nd6 Bf8 26.Ne4 26.h3 a4 27.Qb6 Qa1+ 28.Kh2 Qc1 29.Qxd8 Qxf4+ 30.g3 Qd2+ 31.Bg2 Bf1 32.Qxf8+ Kxf8 33.Rxf7+ Kg8 34.Rxf1 Qe3 34...Qc3! 35.Ne4 26...Qa1+ 27.Kf2 Qf1+ 28.Kg3 Rd3 29.Nf6+ Kg7 30.Ne8+? 30.e6! Bxe6 31.Qxe6 Rxf3+ 32.gxf3 Qg1+ 33.Kh3 Qf1+ 34.Kh4 Qf2+ 35.Kg4 Qg2+ 36.Kh4 30...Kh6 31.Qb6 Bb4 31...Rxf3+ 32.gxf3 Bb4 32.h3 c5 32...Rxf3+ 33.Qf6 Rxf3+ 34.Kh2 Rxh3+ 35.Kxh3 35.gxh3 Qf2+ 36.Kh1 Bd5# 35...Qh1+ 36.Kg3 Be1+ 37.Kf3 Qf1+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Tavares,S2178Zhou,Y24690–12013E70British Championship2.11
Zhou,Y2469Burnett,J21171–02013D31100th ch-GBR 20131
Williams,S2481Weaving,R21961–02013D24British Championship2.8
Homer,S2165Ward,C24320–12013C06British Championship2.15
Eggleston,D2363Horton,A20321–02013C54British Championship2.17
Lane,G2401Shaw,P21641–02013B07British Championship2.16

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Game of the Day Rd 2 GB Ch 2013

Top ranking after round three

# Name
Score
Rating
TPR
1 GM Howell, David
3.0
2639
3052
2 GM Gordon, Stephen
3.0
2521
2986
3 GM Gormally, Daniel
3.0
2496
2967
4 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan
3.0
2469
2939
5 IM Fernandez, Daniel
3.0
2346
2953
6 GM Hebden, Mark L
2.5
2555
2489
7 IM Hawkins, Jonathan
2.5
2517
2472
8 GM Lalic, Bogdan
2.5
2489
2442
9 GM Wells, Peter K
2.5
2479
2437
10 IM Ghasi, Ameet K
2.5
2459
2469
11 GM Kosten, Anthony
2.5
2458
2402
12 IM Palliser, Richard
2.5
2453
2474
13 FM Chapman, Terry
2.5
2308
2416
14 IM Kolbus, Dietmar
2.5
2288
2533
15 Osborne, Marcus E
2.5
2269
2453
16 IM Meszaros, Gyula
2.5
2255
2392
17 GM Jones, Gawain
2.0
2643
2389
18 GM Williams, Simon
2.0
2481
2346
19 GM Flear, Glenn C
2.0
2456
2220
20 GM Arkell, Keith C
2.0
2444
2366
21 GM Ward, Chris G
2.0
2432
2424
22 IM Lane, Gary W.
2.0
2401
2384
23 IM Bates, Richard A
2.0
2375
2224
24 FM Eggleston, David J
2.0
2363
2330
25 IM Knott, Simon J B
2.0
2318
2300
26 IM Rudd, Jack
2.0
2280
2384
27 Longson, Alexander
2.0
2279
2357
28 FM Eames, Robert S
2.0
2244
2200
29 Mackle, Dominic
2.0
2216
2339
30 FM Storey, Charles
2.0
2214
2499
31 Brown, Martin
2.0
2203
2271
32 Weaving, Richard
2.0
2196
2272
33 Shaw, Peter
2.0
2164
2155
34 Hackner, Oskar A
2.0
2063
2348
35 De Coverly, Roger D
2.0
2036
2415
36 Horton, Andrew P
2.0
2032
2382
37 Broadley, Henry
2.0
1953
2281

Full results and rankings of all 106 players here

In the lead, together with four other players and a perfect 3.0/3 score: David Howell

Top seed and 2012 British Champion Gawain Jones conceded two draws and has 2.0/3

Stephen Gordon vs Dominic Mackle in round two

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. 2

1908 - Tunbridge Wells

Henry Ernest Atkins will be remembered as having entered the British Championship eleven times, winning it nine times. He had just missed out becoming the first BCF Champion in 1904 by a whisker to Napier, but quickly made up for that by winning the following year and the six after that, adding two more titles in 1924 & ’25. He even played in 1937 at the age of 65, coming 3rd= behind Fairhurst and Sir George Thomas.

Henry Ernest Atkins (centre in black jacket) facing Mackenzie

Like Napier he opted for a respectable career rather than the precarious life of a professional chess master, but unlike Napier, Atkins played in his summer holidays and at weekends. Although his work as a teacher denied him an international stage (he was maths teacher in Leicester and from 1909 was Principal of Huddersfield College), his appearance at Hannover 1902 established his credentials by coming 3rd ahead of Mieses, Napier, Chigorin, Marshall and a host of others. On his death in 1955, he was universally considered the strongest British player of the first half of the 20th century.

Arthur John Mackenzie (1871–1949) was one of the great pioneers of organised British chess. He was a founding father of the Warwickshire C. A., the Birmingham League and the Midland Chess Union, and wrote a chess column for the Birmingham Post for 40 years.

BCM said this game "had been justly admired as an example of the gospel according to Lasker, as interpreted by Atkins". In his biography of Atkins, R. N. Coles said it was "a fine example of a close game in which the actual front is narrow, but where there are potential activities on all sides".

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BCM said this game "had been justly admired as an example of the gospel according to Lasker, as interpreted by Atkins". In his biography of Atkins, R. N. Coles said it was "a fine example of a close game in which the actual front is narrow, but where there are potential activities on all sides". 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.f4 c5 5.d5 e5 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 a6 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Bd3 Bg7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Better was 12.Bd2 as the text allows Black to continue pressing on the K-side, as White's pawns block the centre. 12...g5 13.Be1 Ne8 14.h4 Nd6! 15.hxg5 hxg5 16.Nh2? too passive, allowing Black to assert control. b5 17.b3 b4 18.Ne2 f5 19.Ng3 If 19.exf5 e4 hitting rook and bishop. 20.Bc2 19...f4 20.Nh1 Nf6 21.Nf2 Rb8 22.Qe2 Nf7 23.Nfg4 Nxg4 24.Nxg4 Qd7 25.Nh2 g4 26.g3 Ng5 27.Kh1 Rb6 28.Qf2 Qe7 Defending his knight against possible attack. 29.Bd2 Rh6 Utilising his flexibilty, every Black piece is involved in the attack. 30.gxf4 Nf3 31.f5 Rxh2+ 32.Qxh2 Nxh2 33.Kxh2 33.Kxh2 Qh4+ 34.Kg2 Qh3+ 35.Kf2 Qxd3 and mate cannot be avoided. 33...Qh4+ 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Mackenzie,A-Atkins,H-0–11908A53British Championship

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